time from pre-production to revenues?

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
What would you say is the typical length of time from pre-production of an indie feature length film to when you recoup you costs and perhaps start making a profit? One year? Two years? Three years? I have only filmed a few shorts, am curious about the timeline from start to 'finish' (revenue streams) of an indie feature? Any comments / experience greatly appreciated.
randall
 
Another how long is a piece of string question. I know some people that can finish features in the span of three months top-to-bottom (and profit, yes) and then some will take a pair of years to finish.

We started pre-production in july/August of 2010 and we are just now nearing completion. End of May/Beginning of June 2012. So just about two years.

It's completely dependent on project, assets, so on and so forth. There's no specific amount of time.

However, I'd suggest you get whatever you're doing under 60K done and over with COMPLETELY in eight months or less.

We just started pre-pro on our 10K Challenge feature in April and targeting to be completely finished and ready to deliver in time for Halloween.
 
Also, I know you've got a lot of questions, it's good that you're looking to take a jump. Check out the User Films section, there're a lot of projects with a lot of info, various genres etc being completed or are completed and doing the dance.

Spend a few days scouring similar to how you would Film Specific, only from the side of people actually trying to do something decent versus just make a quick buck like on FS.
 
arniepix said:
Your typical indie film never recovers it's costs.
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And you are basing this broad brush statement on? There is no such thing as your "typical" indie... they are all over the map in terms of budgets, quality, experience of the film maker and his crew, genre, cast and who is behind distributing them. The budgets range from $0 to many $M's. Many do recoup and even make a profit... There are many factors involved but it all starts with the cast, budget amount and how the project is financed. The OP asked how long would it take for an indie to recoup...
 
Randall_Oelerich said:
What would you say is the typical length of time from pre-production of an indie feature length film to when you recoup you costs and perhaps start making a profit? One year? Two years? Three years? I have only filmed a few shorts, am curious about the timeline from start to 'finish' (revenue streams) of an indie feature? Any comments / experience greatly appreciated.
randall
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The typical distribution cycle is usually 2-3 years... You may not see any revenue for about a year after your completed film goes into traditional distribution channels. But again there are many variables involved and the contract you have in place with your distributor and sales agents. The film has to be marketed and sold and the money takes a while to filter back to the film maker. Sometimes there is an advance agreed upon up front... Self distribution and sales would likely make returns come to you faster...
 
Alexa 1 said:
And you are basing this broad brush statement on? There is no such thing as your "typical" indie... they are all over the map in terms of budgets, quality, experience of the film maker and his crew, genre, cast and who is behind distributing them. The budgets range from $0 to many $M's. Many do recoup and even make a profit... There are many factors involved but it all starts with the cast, budget amount and how the project is financed. The OP asked how long would it take for an indie to recoup...
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Typical may have been the wrong word choice, but the sentiment is correct, the vast majority (probably in excess of 80%) of indie/low budget/micro budget never re-coup the costs of production. My employer has in indie distribution wing. They talk a lot about what a bitter pill it is for producer to accept that $50K distribution deal on a $500K film, but that's a very typical deal.

As far as start of pre-pro to finished film ready to start re-couping, I think 18 months to 2 years would be pretty typical.
 
Take it or leave it, but spending more than eight to ten months (one year maximum) on your ultra low budget or nano budget feature is a bad idea if it has very little potential to do much of anything. I'm not saying rush it to the market, but if you aren't making the next multi million dollar feature film, or a real-deal festival darling, you're spending too much time in production/post.

That's me saying that knowing that we're pretty much two years in because VFX "crew" is severely understaffed.

Get in, get out, move on (again, unless you've got the next festival darling or a mulit mill earner.)
 
Statistically, it's a terrible investment. As an education expense, perhaps it's reasonable, given the costs of university. Always best to spend other people's money.

Ten thousand films apply to Sundance, and perhaps 30 get deals there. It's brutal.
 
That's a pretty good way to look at it, although I think you should invest some of your own money in it as well before you invest someone else's. Just me, though.

But, if you see it as an education, one feature film will not be enough, and you want to graduate from your freshman year so you can get on to your sophomore effort and MAYBE get a return on your investment as you do.
 
Alexa 1 said:
And you are basing this broad brush statement on?
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The fact that the vast majority of indie features never make any money. The vast majority of indie features never get a distribution deal. A large number of them don't even get into decent festivals.
 
arniepix said:
The fact that the vast majority of indie features never make any money. The vast majority of indie features never get a distribution deal. A large number of them don't even get into decent festivals.
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"Great" indie features can and do make money, "great" indie features find distribution and also get selected to "great" film festivals... Notice how many times I used the word "great"? Because "Great" is what you have to produce in today's market place in order to succeed. If a film maker doesn't have the knowledge, talent and experience to produce, budget and finance a "great" commercially viable film that can recoup, get into festivals and get distribution... then that is another story for discussion. Get my point? There is a reason a lot of indie films go nowhere... For a starters the market is saturated with sub par, bad acted, and no name indie films... especially in the Horror genre...
 
On micro budget, as long as its you and yours doing post for the cost of 0$, take forever with that. Replace money with post time; your film (if decent script, & material shot) will improve.
 
Randall_Oelerich said:
What would you say is the typical length of time from pre-production of an indie feature length film to when you recoup you costs and perhaps start making a profit? One year? Two years? Three years? I have only filmed a few shorts, am curious about the timeline from start to 'finish' (revenue streams) of an indie feature? Any comments / experience greatly appreciated.
randall
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Where were you when Faith Granger was posting her Deuce of Spades project in the User Films section? As a novice filmmaker, she came out of nowhere and showed everyone HOW IT'S DONE. From concept to completion, marketing, recouping of costs and PROFIT. It was her first feature to boot.
 
I remember that Deuce of Spades thread was great. Just haven't seen any recent posts in there. If you can replicate her intensity and dedication you might have a shot. But she also hit on a movie concept that really resonated with a group of people and she seemed to have the ability to get people excited and wanted to be involved.
 
prexdealer said:
... But she also hit on a movie concept that really resonated with a group of people and she seemed to have the ability to get people excited and wanted to be involved.
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She made a project for her target audience and stuck to it. She made it for around $40k and had already earned revenue of just over $200k in her first three months. That was last year and she's been four walling it ever since. I loved that she held down a full time job and shot every weekend until it was done.
 
the actual time may vary depending on the production but they're always measured in light years :-)
 
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