MFJF map · UK
From script to screen: the main players, the deals and the process
The producer is the person the film happens to: there before anyone, still answering emails years after. Everyone else joins for a stretch. This map follows the deals and documents a film runs on, from the first read to the last sale, and who is in the room at each step.
Material and rightsBefore there is a project
Producers hunt for a story that will work on a screen and that matters to them personally, because they will push it uphill for years.
DevelopmentFour months to two years, or more
Where scripts are written, rewritten, read, argued about, paid for in stages and, most of the time, abandoned. A healthy indie has fifteen projects in development knowing two will be made.
Packaging and the marketsMonths
Once there is a draft the producer believes in, the job becomes attaching the elements that make the film financeable, then taking the package to the people with money.
Green light, prep and the shoot8 to 16 weeks of prep; 4 to 10 weeks of shooting
A green light means the finance has closed. The producer's job changes shape: every document that crosses the desk commits the film to something.
Post and delivery4 to 9 months
The film is edited, effects completed, a score composed, sound built, credits cross-checked; executive producers are consulted on cuts. If the shoot went over, the producer is looking for finishing money.
Release and recoupmentA year or more
Pre-sold territories pay the balance of their minimum guarantees on delivery. Without a deal, the film goes to festivals to build heat; a festival can make or break an independent film.
