Where does the money go? Post Production costs

Lorie Marsh

Thu, 08/26/2010 - 01:43

During post production, we may find another nuance to Lost in Sunshine's story that we didn't plan for in the script.  This is what can happen during editing.  :) 

Viewers can glean bits of story and character traits from individual scenes, but the overall rhythm and pacing of the movie will reveal itself first to the editor as she pieces together the footage from the shoot, then to Jentri as she reviews the editor's progress. 

So many factors influence which takes get selected for an edit: performance, lighting, camera movement, sound, and the je ne sais quoi of one take over another.  Editing is like the final push in a movie's "delivery;" you knew there was a baby coming, you may have known its gender or its size before birthing set it - but, you didn't know it would sport a full head of hair until it finally joined the outside world!

Post production costs comprise the following categories:

• Editing
• Sound editing
• Lab costs
• Visual Effects
• Music
• Titles

Inclusive in these categories are some of the deliverables we'll need to anticipate for the finished movie: soundtrack(s) broken down into particular formats, titling on separate visual tracks, an HD master, masters in other formats, etc. etc.  Unfortunately, many indie filmmakers learn the hard way that they need certain deliverables in order to fulfill any distribution deals they may secure.  And, they run into problems finding the money to pay for the stuff after the fact!  IFP's Rough Cut Lab provided a great overview of these after-the-fact, but essential costs when I attended it with the film, jumping off bridges.

We forecast our post production costs to run about a third as much as our production costs - hovering close-ish to $70,000.

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