Looking for opinions:
I’m in the early stages of planning a micro-budget feature film and will be asking everyone to work with no payment unless the film makes a profit. But I want to give my cast and crew some hope of income. I was thinking of offering a contract that gives a certain percentage of profit to key cast and crew members. This way, if the film makes money, they will make something, if it doesn’t then we all worked for experience and exposure. Has anyone done anything similar to this? If so, how did you break down the percentages (as in who gets what percent)? Does anyone have a contract that fits the bill or know where I could find a template? Thanks all! Much appreciated!
Thanks for your insights, Dan. I'mon the front end of this thing and learning as I go.
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Dan's given you some good incite. Under a subchapter S corporate structure, you can sell shares to raise the capital. Remember that no matter how you approach it, you will have expenses to at least feed the cast & crew (not to mention equipment/location costs and other stuff at this point). No matter what, you're gonna need some up-front money or foot the production costs yourself.
Thanks, Doug. Yes. I'm aware of that. I plan to do a mixture of my own money and money I've raised. Selling stocks in it is a good idea. Maybe I could even give a small number of shares to cast and crew as in lieu of payment. And offer the chance for them to invest some of their own money, thus making them more committed and with a greater stake in the outcome.
A good microbudget requires a tremendous amount of work and a big chunk of your life for both cast and crew. What's your track record? Unless you're someone like Jason Blum, who's done it successfully over and over again, why would someone trust you and sign on for a percentage? And what do you do halfway through the film when Crewperson A says I'm doing twice the work of Crewperson B and Castmember C and deserve a bigger percentage?
Eric, I would give no guarantees or even the idea that we expect to make money. It's a longshot. But, what I'm saying is that should the film be sold and distributed that, should there actually be money left after expenses that I'd be willing to share with those who made it possible. This is my baby and I expect to spend a ridiculous amount of time, effort, and money on it. But I can't do it alone. I'm simply looking for advice from those who have done it before on how to navigate the waters.
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Thom: I'd suggest starting with a small under-5K film first to get some actual experience with your crew/cast.
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Dan - When it comes to "budget", it's in the eye of the 'banker' (I'm the banker). I produce shorts primarily as training/learning projects for students and wannabes and recently wrapped a little two day shoot with a cast of 3 and a crew of 5. It cost me about $500 just to feed 'em. I can turn out a festival worthy short for about $1,000; for &10K, I'm going for an Oscar winning short.
I spoke on a panel with the woman who runs Crewfund - that might might an option for you.