Our Services - WORKSHOPS Film Production Management Series

Film Production Management WORKSHOPS (Click the titles to see more info):

1.a) WORKSHOP: Intro Level Film Budgeting For Film Directors, Students, etc.This is very much budgeting 101 with simple charts and rules-of-thumb, as well as increasing awareness of the rights and responsibilities of the filmmaker regarding the formulation of the budget. All sections of the budget are overviewed and enough details are learned to allow the attendee to understand the film budget process.

1.b) WORKSHOP: Middle Level Film Budgeting For Film Production The emphasis is on managing a film budget PREVIOUSLY PREPARED (as is the usual case for most film productions) from the aspect of Producers, UPM’s and Assistant Production Accountants during prep-shoot-wrap – the attendees will be able to make changes to a budget already prepared by a studio/financier etc.

1.c) WORKSHOP: Senior Level Film Budgeting For Film Professionals Emphasis is on creating a film budget from scratch, using MMB, EP Budgeting, Showbiz, etc. for Line Producers, AD’s and Production Accountants. This is really 2 courses in one - learning the software itself and learning how to estimate costs. This course should be given in coordination with a software sales company like EP or Showbiz Software. The course has certain steps which need to be reviewed for each group of attendees, depending on their expertise

2.WORKSHOP: Managing the Weekly Cost Report The very confidential Weekly Cost Report measures how the department, the location, the production, etc. is doing as compared to the Approved Budget. Knowing how to read, influence, defend or challenge the film production’s Weekly Cost Report is key to surviving and expanding in today’s very budget conscious Film Industry. Many examples are drilled with Excel spreadsheets to give the attendees a working knowledge.

3.a) WORKSHOP: Intro Level Production Accounting This course is designed to train Assistant Accountants in the fundamentals of film accounting at an introductory level. It is a very practical hands-on approach. This course introduces you to the fundamental film accounting practices, systems and forms used throughout the North American film industry, and indeed throughout the world.

3.b) WORKSHOP: Senior Level Production Accounting This course is designed to train Assistant Accountants to upgrade to a full Production Auditor. It is a combination of "1.b)WORKSHOP Intermediate Level Managing a Film Budget" and the "2.WORKSHOP on Weekly Cost Reports". Additionally, the three responsibilities (Reporting, Auditing and Bookkeeping) of the Production Auditor are reviewed one-on-one to upgrade where necessary.

4.WORKSHOP: How to Calculate Payroll for ATL and BTL This is a unique course that is either addressed in an overview sense, for Producers, UPM's, independent filmmakers, etc. who want to budget in ATL and BTL labor costs in more detail, or it is a full course to train someone to be a Payroll Accountant. A knowledge of the industry and a head for numbers is a requirement.

5.WORKSHOP: Line Producer Cost Control Points The primary concern of the Course is to give any aspiring Line Producer, Unit Production Manager or new Film Producer an understanding into the       five basic ways that incurs costs in filmmaking. This understanding is a      prerequisite to the skills needed to controlling shooting costs and thereby generating the best possible Film with funds available.

6.Other Ideas In Development...Any Suggestions?

Workshops:

1.a) WORKSHOP: Intro Level Film Budgeting For Film Directors, Students, etc.

a)      Managing a prepared budget from the aspect of a film director or film student - the director learns that he/she is also ‘directing the money’.

·         The workshop addresses the responsibilities and rights of a director in making last minute changes to the shooting schedule and to the daily shot list.

·         Real life examples are given of how to offset the cost of what they want as a shot with a corresponding cost-savings in other areas. 

·         There is an emphasis on “knowing what to ask” rather than getting into the costing details.

·         This is very much budgeting 101 with simple charts and rules-of-thumb, as well as increasing awareness of the rights and responsibilities as the filmmaker regarding the formulation of the budget.

·         This course is also the right course for novice producers, or for producers with a no previous budgeting exposure (e.g. agents, actors, editors, etc.)

Return to top of page

1.b) WORKSHOP: Middle Level Film Budgeting For Film Production

a)      Managing a prepared budget from the aspect of Producers, UPM’s and Assistant Production Accountants during prep-shoot-wrap – making changes to a budget already prepared by a studio/financier etc.

·         Emphasis is placed on breaking down the budget into sections:

1)      ATL, BTL, Other, Post – familiarity with terms.

2)      ATL discretionary and non-discretionary costs

3)      BTL discretionary and non-discretionary costs

4)      Overview of differences of costs between TV and Feature Film

5)      Concept of comparative overall costs for:

                                                              i.            Shooting in HD

                                                            ii.            Shooting in 16 MM

                                                          iii.            Shooting in 35 MM

6)      the impact of budgeting for different shooting hours for different categories of crew,

7)      managing the production for rest violations

8)      managing the budget for shooting hours

9)      out-of-town additional costs

10)  other.

·         Attendees will learn the rules of  calculating the hours-to-gross and knowing how to think with OT rules and fringes. This could be done with manual/Excel spreadsheets to avoid the cost of the attendees buying software.

·         Note: I could give another course to train students in the application of film budgeting software in coordination with a software sales company like EP or Showbiz.

·         This would entail hands-on examples and the attendees would leave with Excel and MMB templates.

Return to top of page

1.c) WORKSHOP: Senior Level Film Budgeting For Film Professionals

a)      Creating a film budget from scratch, using MMB, EP Budgeting, Showbiz, etc. for Line Producers, AD’s and Production Accountants. This is really 2 courses in one - learning the software itself and learning how to estimate costs. This course should be given in coordination with a software sales company like EP or Showbiz Software. The course has certain steps which need to be reviewed for each group of attendees, depending on their expertise:

1.      Familiarize the attendees with the final budget and how it will be viewed by financiers, executive producers, etc.

2.      Familiarize the attendees with the budgeting software’s overall features and how they are utilized by production mangers, accountants, etc.

3.      Familiarize the attendees with the navigation budgets,

4.      Demonstrate the main features of Globals, Sub-Groupings, Fringes and have the attendees practice entering to their own laptops/demo computer.

5.      Demonstrate the correct way to prepare a budget for one ATL account (Stunts) and have the attendees practice entering to their own laptops/demo computer.

6.      Demonstrate the correct way to prepare a budget for one BTL account with the attendees (Chief Electrician-Gaffer) and have the attendees practice entering to their own laptops/demo computer.

7.      Demonstrate the correct way to prepare a budget for kit rental fees (Chief Electrician-Gaffer) and have the attendees practice entering to their own laptops/demo computer.

8.      Work with the attendees to copy paste, use magic buttons and libraries.

9.      Work with the students to format their printouts in a professional manner.

10.  Depending on the extent of hours/days available for the workshop, work towards finishing a budget that the attendees can reform and expand upon in the future for their own projects.

11.  In addition to a copy of my book and any course binder of materials, all attendees will receive a CD containing an example budget, their local area’s union rules and fringes, Excel examples of calculating SAG and crew OT and rest violations, screen-recordings of the steps learned above.

Estimating: Real life methods of finding and retrieving live costs in a live location – the use of the internet, phone books, equipment directories, union rate and fringe sheets, etc. will all be emphasized. Various templates will be used as examples, with drills and shortcuts. If possible in their area, arrange for a tour with an equipment house and with a props house. The concept is to leave the attendee with the confidence that he/she really can prepare a budget from scratch that is valuable.

Return to top of page

2.WORKSHOP: Managing the Weekly Cost Report

General Summary:The very confidential Weekly Cost Report measures how the department, the location, the production, etc. is doing as compared to the Approved Budget. Knowing how to read, influence, defend or challenge the film production’s Weekly Cost Report is key to surviving and expanding in today’s very budget conscious Film Industry. It is safe to say that for a Producer, Line Producer or Production Manager, the Weekly Cost Report is a career maker or breaker. In most cases, only the Studios, Financiers, veteran Producers and experienced Unit Production Managers ever get to see this report.

NOTE: all schedules in this workshop are fictitious examples created for your use and practice; they not taken from actual film productions.

Purpose:

a)The primary purpose of this on-line course is to train a novice Film Producer, Line Producer, Unit Production Manager or Department Head how to manage the film production by means of the Weekly Cost Report. The practical applications to real-life cost reporting situations are not available in Film Schools, nor even to most crew working in the business.

b)      The secondary purpose of this workshop is to help a Director, Assistant Director, or any film crew member, have more control over their artistic creativity through participation in the Weekly Cost Report process. By knowing the rules of reporting actual costs to the Studio/Financiers, the course graduate can defend challenges to his/her creative decisions, as well as make intelligent proposals for cost trade-off’s (that is, utilize a cost-savings for an interesting shot previously not budgeted for).

      Note: this workshop is applicable to any budget above a ‘shoestring’ budget.

End Result of the Course:

A course graduate who can read, influence, defend or challenge actual cost variances to the Approved Budget, as presented by the Weekly Cost Report (sent to all Executives, producers, Financiers associated with the film production).

How It Works:

The workshop follows a sequential list of reading and practical assignments. The assignments have “right answers” supplied in the body of the course to allow you to check yourself. The reading assignments are Adobe Reader-PDF pages downloaded simply by clicking the blue page numbers. All of the examples are in Excel format and can be saved to your computer. If you have any troubles, you can reach me at any time by emailing me at budgets@talkfilm.biz :

Prerequisites

Those who do this course should have been exposed to professional Film Budgets, or be a graduate of the Practical Film Budgeting Workshop.

Return to top of page

3.a) WORKSHOP: Intro Level Production Accounting - I have a full course called Film Production Accounting 101. The emphasis is on the very practical requirements of an accounting clerk. The expectations of the Production Accountant when hiring a junior film accountant are universal - ability to route, file, retrieve and understand fundamentals of accounting entries, etc. This workshop drills many of these fundamentals to a point where you will be a candidate for work in the Accounting Department. It helps if you have some accounting experience, but is by no means a prerequisite (the basics of accounting are few and are covered at the beginning of the workshop). The five basic accounting enrty modes, which are most important to film production, are drilled - 1.Accounts Payable-Invoices Received in the Mail, 2.Accounts Payable - Check Requisition, 4.Journal Entries, 5.Petty Cash and 5. Purchase Orders.

3.b) WORKSHOP: Senior Level Production Accounting - This workshop is primarily for assistant accountants who have had experience in the film production business, although accountants of any background are invited. The course's emphasis is on the Weekly Cost Report and the aspects pf the Film Budget that most assistant accountants never are exposed to. Other accounting functions usually addressed by the production Accountant, but not understood by the assistant accountant will be addressed as required (for example, bank reconcilaition procedures, IRS/CRA reporting responsibilities, etc.)

4.WORKSHOP: How to Calculate Payroll for ATL and BTL - the payroll accounting fundamentals which are universal in scope are covered. Once the fundamentals are drilled and known well, the details of calculating the payroll for Above-the-Line and Below-the-Line are covered. The practical aspects of the course depend upon the attendees knowing the union rules in their area, so emphasis is placed on knowing how to calculate a practical film production payroll for the area the attendees are working in.

5.WORKSHOP: Line Producer Cost Control Points - many Line Producers come to the production from their experience as an Assistant director, a developer, commercial production, a 'Show Runner' on variety programs, etc. Their expertise on Line Producing a film or TV production in a higher budget range may be wanting. Indeed, I have trained several Line producers while they were on-the-job - a delicate matter, as they are supposed to be the leaders, and yet don't know the nuances of managing the costs.

6.WORKSHOP: Other Ideas In Development...Any Suggestions?