Costs
From ForcaWiki, the simple encyclopedia
| In one sentence | All the money a business, or a movie, has to spend to keep running or to get made, also called expenses. |
|---|---|
| Category | Finance |
| Related | Above the Line, Below the Line, Cash |
Think about everything you have to spend money on just to keep a lemonade stand running: lemons, sugar, cups, and maybe a small fee to set up your table. Add all of that up, and you get your total costs.
A movie works the same way, just at a much bigger scale. Costs are every dollar spent to make the film happen: paying the writer, director, and lead actors, a group called Above the Line, paying the crew and renting equipment, a group called Below the Line, and everything else like locations, food for the set, and insurance. Businesses also call this "expenses," which is just a different word for the same idea.
Why tracking costs matters
Whatever money a movie eventually earns has to cover its total costs before there is any profit left for anyone to share. Because of that, producers keep a running tally throughout filming, often called a cost report, so they always know exactly how much of the budget has been spent so far and how much Cash is left to keep going.
Fun facts
- Splitting costs into above-the-line and below-the-line buckets lets everyone quickly see how much went to the famous names versus everything else needed to actually make the movie.
- Going even a few days over schedule can quietly add a lot to a movie's below-the-line costs, since more shooting days mean more days of paying the crew and renting equipment.
- A movie can be a genuine creative success and still lose money overall if its total costs end up higher than everything it eventually earns.