What you’ll learn
- Know what an option agreement and chain of title are, and why nobody finances a film without them.
- Be able to read a budget top sheet and a cost report and say what they are telling you.
- Know what a financing plan, a term sheet and a recoupment schedule do.
- Be able to keep the documents an office runs on: the grid, the submissions log, purchase orders and invoices.
Where this leads
By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.
The paperwork behind a project
8 minBefore there is a film there is a stack of agreements. These are the ones you will hear named in your first week.
- readRights: the option, the chain of title and the NDA3 min
- readWhat a project carries when it goes out3 min
- checkCheck: rights and the package2 min
The paperwork behind the money
8 minFour documents follow a film from financing to delivery: the budget, the cash flow, the cost report and the recoupment schedule.
- readBudget, cash flow and the cost report3 min
- readFinancing paperwork: the plan, the term sheet and the waterfall3 min
- checkCheck: budgets and financing2 min
The paperwork of the office day
9 minWhat an intern is actually handed: orders, invoices, insurance certificates, grids and minutes.
- readOrders, invoices, certificates and the grid3 min
- taskTask: build the three documents you will be asked for3 min
- checkCheck: the office day3 min
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Sources and references
Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.
Check it yourself
This course is written from our own experience of the industry. These are the authorities that set the rules, so you can check anything here for yourself.
- Pact production agreements, terms of trade and rights paperwork
- BFI: British certification and tax relief the cultural test and what a production has to file
- Companies House what a production company files, and what you can look up about one
- Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) the rules on holding cast and crew personal data
- GOV.UK: HM Revenue and Customs PAYE, VAT and the reliefs a production company claims
Every link checked 19 September 2026.
