PRE-PRODUCTION – THE FOUNDATIONS

What is a feature film?

A feature film is one with running time of not less than 90 minutes made usually on 35mm film and intended primarily for release in cinemas. Subsequent release on all Types of television – satellite and cable – and release on video or DVD now form such an increasing part of any long term distribution of a feature film that it may also be a substantial part of the financial package.

The treatment

So how does a feature film come about? The script may be based on an existing work – a book or play – or may be an original, but whatever the source, the initial document on which interest is roused is called a treatment (see sample on page 9). The best way to describe a treatment is to imagine that you are viewing a feature film and then have to write a precis in prose describing in the most visual terms possible the plot and characters. The difference for the scriptwriter is that he only has his imagination to call on at this stage.

The treatment may be enhanced with more detailed descriptions of the characters and their relationships in an introduction and some initial presentations may go further than a treatment, be in two columns and termed an outline script. The two columns which are common practice (or ought to be!) in all forms of script usually show the action or picture on the left and the sound (dialogue, music and/or sound effects) on the right.

THE SCRIPTWRITER

We now come to the basic problems facing the untried or budding scriptwriter.

• 1.How far should you go at this stage speculatively?
• 2.What is the most suitable presentation?
• 3.To whom should you send your idea?

The recommendations are as follows.

Script development stages

The normal development stages for a script are:

• (a)Treatment
• (b)Outline script
• (c)Dialogue script
• (d)Shooting script

The scriptwriter eventually has to be prepared to go as far as (c) and (d) above, but (d) may be written by the director who is ultimately responsible for the overall creative content of the film and may want to work out in detail (perhaps in collaboration with the writer) the precise planning and timing of each shot.

The first question usually asked when seeing a film or television programme being made is, ‘What on earth do all these people do?’ The chapters that follow in this book help to demystify all the creative, technical and craft jobs in these industries, concentrating particularly on possible starting points for anyone wanting to make it in Films or Television.

The silhouette illustration is reproduced with the kind permission and assistance of Neil Roe and the Museum of the Moving Image, London.

So how far should you go speculatively? The answer should probably be only as far as (a) and (b) although you may be tempted by anyone showing signs of interest who finds it easy to say ‘I’d like to see the idea developed more fully’. It can however be argued that a treatment or outline script ought to be sufficient to judge the potential and enough for the producer to raise seed money for the project. Seed money is finance to enable a dialogue and shooting script to be commissioned, for a director to do some initial work and for more detailed location surveys to be carried out and a budget to be worked out. But seed money has always been extremely difficult to find because there is still the greatest risk and very few of the pieces of the jigsaw may be in place.

Pieces of the jigsaw

Here are some of the disparate pieces which may be a long way from fitting together.

• Who is the most suitable and bankable director and will he be available at the time when the production might be scheduled?
• Who are the most suitable and bankable actors and will they be available?
• Will the right director and actors come together in order to attract and satisfy finance for the production?
• Where will the finance be found and on what terms?

What is the most suitable presentation?

The most suitable presentation for which a scriptwriter should establish interest is a treatment. This is advisable for two reasons:

Providing sufficient information

It ought to provide sufficient information on plot, characters and style to allow assessment by a director or producer. Equally, it should not be so long that it provokes the easy excuse ‘I haven’t had time to read it’ from established film people who are normally very busy and may have a pile of scripts submitted from all over the world.

Copyright

It is very difficult to establish proof of copyright on a treatment but the front page should state clearly the title and underneath, ‘A treatment for a feature film’, the author’s name and address and the word ‘copyright’ or the acknowledged symbol © and the date.

Proof of copyright can also be established as follows:

• Posting yourself a copy by registered post.
• Lodging a copy with the Union, BECTU, 373-377 Clapham Road, London SW9 9ET. Tel: (020) 7346 0900.
• Seeking advice from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. Their address is: The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, 15 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JN. Tel: (020) 7833 0777. Website: www.writersguild.org.uk

To whom should I send my idea?

Log on to www.thescriptvault.com and seek advice from The Scriptwriter magazine (see Appendix).

Directors

Study the work of film directors and also read the trade papers (see Appendix) to see whether directors you think might be interested are just starting or in the middle of a production. Every director thinks about his next project but the more prestigious the director, the more choosy he can be. Nevertheless, good ideas and good writing are still at a premium.

Directors do not like to be ‘Type cast’ but obviously they may develop some continuity of style and therefore it may be foolish to send an idea for a very small scale parochial drama to a director renowned for big budget science fiction epics. Equally, your idea might be a mould breaking one that appeals.

How do you contact directors? In Britain via:

If a director is interested in your script, he will know the producer or production company with whom he prefers to work and will introduce you.

Producers

You may however choose to make a direct approach yourself and send your idea to a producer, especially if you do not know a suitable director.

This is perhaps the moment to clarify the exact role of a producer on a feature film.

The producer is in overall charge of the project, selecting and employing the key creative people – the writer, director, cameraman, art director and principal actors and actresses, all of these in collaboration with the director who may himself have been selected by the producer or may come to the producer with the project.

The producer is responsible for raising the finance and subsequently supervising the expenditure, keeping backers and investors happy with how their money is being spent. He is also concerned with keeping a happy atmosphere in the unit as a whole, keeping the project within schedule and budget, taking responsibility if an extension of either is justified.

He is not directly concerned with creative and artistic aspects of the film but his judgement in these matters, especially when it is mixed with financial considerations, should be appreciated and accepted by those in creative positions.

Extremely amicable relationships develop between producers and directors, where each respects the extent of the other’s responsibilities, for both, and indeed the whole unit, should have exactly the same ultimate aim – to produce the finest film which will appeal to the widest audience in spite of often irksome restrictions in budget and schedule.

By sending your script to a producer, if the idea appeals, he will be responsible for providing the seed money and he will then be the person who will draw up a contract for you either by acquiring your treatment or commissioning you to develop it further.

You can find the names of producers and/or production companies from Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT), 45 Mortimer Street, London W1W 8HJ. Tel: (020) 7331 6000. Fax: (020) 7331 6700.
or New Producers Alliance (see page 13)

or from the directories listed in the Appendix. Try to find those companies that concentrate on the production of feature films. This is sometimes difficult as directories do not always break down companies into categories and some further research may be necessary.

THE FILM STARTS TO COME TOGETHER

Following the progress of an imaginary feature film, let us assume that a producer who owns or works for a production company has a director who is interested in a subject and seed money has been obtained to acquire rights from a writer, a script developed and a budget prepared.

We now come to what has all too often proved to be the most difficult and sometimes the most lengthy part of feature film production – the raising of production finance and negotiating the deals attached.

In the great days of Hollywood, the majors operating from their own studios provided the package which followed a well-tried formula of a good script, a well-known director plus some of their contract stars who would virtually guarantee the loyalty of an audience. Thus the business side of finding the finance was more straightforward, only hampered by the whims of the moguls and their stars who could dictate completely the creative content of the film and even cancel a complete production at any stage.

In Britain, the same situation prevailed to a lesser extent through dealings with the major distributors of films, both US and British, some of whom also owned studios. A percentage of finance obtained from a distributor, who is the equivalent of a wholesaler in industry, guaranteed a release of a film to one of the major circuits often because they also owned the cinemas.

The owners and operators of cinemas are called exhibitors but as these became fewer and more fragmented, finance or a guarantee from a distributor no longer ensured that the film would receive a wide showing, thus making the whole proposition less attractive to investors who were prepared to top up the whole package.

Most countries, in order to encourage a native film industry whose products may be great potential exports as well as sometimes being good public relations, provide tax

incentives for investors; in Britain arrangements have only fairly recently come into force to encourage investment.

So how does a producer find the finance? Increasingly, the BBC and other television organisations have followed the brave (now sadly defunct) initiative of Channel Four and financed feature films in whole or in part either through their own subsidiaries or through independent companies. The attraction, apart from the profits possible through world wide cinema release, is the option on the television and ancillary rights which now form an increasing part of the total package.

Apart from these sources, merchant banks, the pre-sale of some TV or other rights and even private investors may be involved. If the subject invites co-production, this has become increasingly popular with multifarious interests from anywhere in the world.

Branagh’s ‘Henry V’

One of the most novel projects as far as finance was concerned was Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V. Calling on its experience as a kind of up-market repertory theatre, Renaissance Film Productions, the off-shoot of the theatre company of the same name, set about raising finance in comparatively small amounts from individuals, rather like the system of ‘angels’ in the theatre. The success of the film leads one to hope that more feature films could be set up in this way, thus avoiding some of the crippling interest charges on loans that often accompany other forms of finance which, in turn, delay interminably the arrival of the break-even figure before all those involved in the project begin to see any profit.

There is another factor peculiar to the film industry: the producers of the film, who are the equivalent of manufacturers in industry, are the last in the chain to receive any money. The exhibitors take the money at the box office and this is termed the gross. The distributors who have made the arrangements with the cinemas then take their percentage, leaving the balance (the net) to go to the producer who is first faced with

• recovering the production cost of the film and
• paying off interest charges which may have formed part of the package.

It is not suggested that any newcomer will necessarily be involved in this wearisome business of raising finance but it will give you some idea of the possible time involved from the moment that somebody has a good idea to when the cameras actually start to roll.

It will also give you an indication of how far down the line individuals can be whose contract gives them a share of the producer’s net profit. For only after all the costs mentioned above have been met, can the producer’s share of the profit be termed ‘net’.