Film Financing

For independant UK companies, such as 'Warp Films' who have no obvious form of income, as they are not part of a conglomerate - there is other ways of acheiving finance for their productions. Firstly, they must start off with a pitch for their idea, this must have all details about your idea, if possilbe investors are to contemplate investing. This is includes, details of all above the line costs & a rough estimate of below the line costs. The producer must secure funding before they can start any of the filming.

Government Grants - These allow for investment into films, in return for economical and national benefits, such as employment, culture development and national advertising. The sources of these grants can be The UK Film Council and/or the National Lottery. A success story of this method, is 'The Escapist (2008), directed by Rupert Wyatt. This was funded by the National Lottery and Irish Film Council, and made around £8,000,000 profit.

They can also receive funding through tax schemes, such as 'Producers Tax Credit' , which offers direct cash. This way, Tax Shelters are also available, saving money for the invester - as they are not charged tax. An example of a film made this way is The Dark Knight (2008), which made a profit of around £600,000,000.

The final way they can aqquire financing  is through pre-sales, where the producer sells the rights to distribute the film, before it is made.

If for any reason, the budget is cut, this can affect the production of the film heavily. The changes that have to be made, are firstly cuts to the above the line costs, i.e cast, director. This is because these take up the majority of the budget. It is best to aqquire your finance from several sources, as if one pulls out, it will have less devasting effects than if you were relying on a single investor.