Theatrical movie resource composition and production process

First of all, let’s talk about film-related business units:

1. The producer is responsible for the early market research of the film to see whether there is a prospect in the film market for similar films (for example, the box office situation , popularity, possibility of sequels, etc.) to determine whether the film is worth producing. If the answer is yes, then they will find the investment producers and related personnel of the film group they belong to, and start selecting directors, scripts, actors, sponsors, etc.

The producer is generally the legal representative of the main investor or a big-name figure in the film and television industry who is helpful in selling the film. The producer is the soul of the entire film and determines the style, type and market direction of the film.

2. The producer of the film: the investor of the film or someone who can attract sponsors.

The commercial nature of a film determines that the producer is the master of a film and has the right to decide all matters regarding the filming of the film, including what kind of script to cast, hiring directors, photographers, actors and dispatching of films The producer manages the production funds on its behalf, reviews the filming expenses and controls the entire filming process. After the film is completed, the producer also needs to develop and print the film to promote and sell it to the market. Producer generally refers to the boss of a film company or an agent of an employer. Responsible directly to the producer.

3. Distributor, the ultimate goal of film shooting is to show it in theaters. The distributor is responsible for the film’s promotion, scheduling, purchasing advertising, signing contracts with theaters, etc. In the end, the film sells box office, which will 4%-6% of the box office revenue is given to the distributor as agency fee.

4. The theater chain is a management company with many franchised movie cities. The theater chain distributes films and promotional materials to various theaters, and is responsible for the guidance of film schedules and the sales of advertising spaces in theaters. Their income is 2%-5% of the annual box office. After the film is screened, in addition to paying taxes and fees, 60% of the box office is used as the theater's income, and the remaining part is used as a return to the producer and investors.

After the producer decides to invest in filming after preliminary market research, the film will then proceed to script preparation, director, actors and other processes.

The first stage: take the script to the National Film Administration for filing and apply for a shooting license

After the production team gets a good script, before shooting, the person in charge of the film and television team You have to go to the local Radio, Film and Television Bureau to apply for a filming license with your script project.

The second stage: entering the preparatory stage

Having a complete script requires an excellent director. The director is undoubtedly very important. The director can determine the perception of the final film to everyone.

There are a director and an assistant director in a movie. The director is responsible for photography, costumes, makeup, etc., and the assistant director is mainly responsible for recruiting actors.

After the preparations are completed, the scene is shot, and all the shots are completed before finalization. The next step is film and television post-production.

After the film is produced, use the filing license to apply for a release license. Application for a release license takes a long time, usually about a month. Release promotion can be carried out after a screening license.

After the film production is completed, the producer will find a distributor to distribute the film. The distributor will negotiate with the producer on the split of accounts, and will promote the film after reaching an agreement.

After obtaining the release license, make copies, apply for keys, schedule dates, send copies to theaters, do publicity, purchase advertising, negotiate bill sharing ratios, and sign contracts with theaters (although this part is a lot (Signing on behalf of Zhongshu)), the distributor begins to look for channels (advertising platforms) to promote the film, and the distributor will promote it on major platforms based on the distribution budget. There are also physical jobs, such as sending dozens of people to movie theaters across the country to do events, do publicity, fix advertising spaces in movie theaters, watch the show, supervise tickets, etc. The publisher does these jobs and earns money from the box office. , when the film is finally sold out, part of the investor’s share will be given to the distributor as agency fees.

After reaching the release date, theaters will schedule ticket sales

The total box office of Chinese movies in 2019 has reached more than 60 billion. Everyone must be curious about how such a large amount of money is divided. Woolen cloth? Now let’s talk about how the box office of a movie is divided.

At the beginning of the article, we have already mentioned that the producers, producers, distributors, and theaters participate in box office sharing. But they can't share it directly from the total box office, because the total box office has to pay a special business tax of 3.3% and deduct a 5% special fund for the film industry. Therefore, the remaining 91.7% is regarded as the "divisible box office" of a movie.

1. Of the divisible box office, cinemas and theater chains retain 57%, while China Film Digital retains 1-3% as distribution agency fees. The remaining 40-42% goes to film producers and distributors (40% in most cases).

2. The distributor of the film will charge 5-15% of the box office attributable to the producer and distributor as a distribution agency fee. That is, 2-6% of the divisible box office is used as the distribution agency fee.

3. In many cases, the distributor prepays the film's promotion and distribution costs, and the distributor will charge an agency distribution fee of 12-20%. If the issuer commits to guaranteed issuance, buyout of issuance, prepayment of production costs, etc., it will charge higher distribution agency fees.

4. Some films are at a competitive disadvantage in the same period. In order to increase the number of film screenings, theaters and theater chains are promised box office rebates. Rebates generally account for 3-5% of the divisible box office. The box office rebate formula collected by the producer is: 1*(1-0.033-0.05)*40%*(1-0.1)=0.33, which is the producer’s share of accounts under normal circumstances.

5. Taking the above situation as an example, a film with a final box office of 100 million will receive about 33 million in box office rebates. The cost is 60 million yuan, and the target box office is more than 200 million yuan. The reasonable publicity and distribution cost for movie promotion in China is about 10% of the target box office. That is to say, another 20 million yuan will be used as publicity expenses. The total cost is 80 million yuan. If other recycling channels are not considered, according to the above calculation, it will indeed take 240 million yuan to recover the cost.