Film Finance for writers

Compare this to a bad movie weekend opening of fifteen million dollars on an opening night for a film that cost over one hundred fifty-million dollars ( production costs only)

•That means the initial investment has recouped only ten percent of its profit. Take that at a minimum six out of ten films amass losses like melted jell-O and you understand why High Definition DVD is on the way to your store.

As a writer, we write what we choose, and hope other sees it as marketable. As noted, several times, I have tried to produce a film for less than five thousand dollars. In my movie, I am the director, the writer and producer. There are no people who need to be released, no trademarks to be cleared or copyrights licensed. It's about nature and on public land. Hopefully errors and omissions insurance will be cheaper.

But as a writer, you have to consider that Porsche may not want to make an in kind donation to a medium or major size film production. Films are financed in a variety of ways. Many have private investors( JP Morgan etc. ) Most films were financed through a countries film board ( Germany and France)

In Hollywood they are financed by multinational conglomerates. The studios like any other business can borrow money, but they need cash flow to remain viable. Another rub, MGM is gone as the boys from AMC's "Sunday Morning Shoot" out said last week. So the studios are motivated to stay in business or be bought out like "Dream Works."

That doesn't leave many major studios to buy our scripts. Some have compared the situation in Hollywood to that of Detroit. The glory days are way over and both are headed toward instinction. Epstein states this in his column. This I think is true, based on my $5000 dollar theory. Anyone including me can borrow a camera, get cheap editing software and buy a DVD burner. Why watch Nicole, If can watch someone like her for less? I can sale my movies for five dollars out of my trunk. Or better yet give a percentage of the profits and consign the movie for downloading over the Internet to recoup the five thousand.

Hollywood believes that you want more bad movies. But since February 2005 moviegoers have stayed home. Maybe its X-Box, extended

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