Negative Cost
From ForcaWiki, the simple encyclopedia
| In one sentence | The full cost of actually producing a movie, including the above the line and below the line budgets, financing costs, and a safety cushion for surprises. |
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| Category | Film and Television |
| Related | Above the Line, Below the Line, Budget, Completion Bond |
Imagine adding up literally everything it costs to put on a school play: every rehearsal, every costume, every borrowed light, plus a little extra set aside just in case something unexpected comes up. That full, honest total is the real cost of the whole production.
Negative cost is that full total for a movie: the combined Above the Line and Below the Line costs, plus certain other costs like financing costs, the fee for a Completion Bond, and a contingency reserve, extra money set aside for surprises, usually around 10 percent of the combined above the line and below the line costs. The name comes from the physical film negative that a finished movie used to be recorded onto.
Fun facts
- The contingency reserve inside negative cost exists because almost every movie runs into at least a few unexpected costs during filming.
- Negative cost is the real, full cost figure used later when calculating a movie's Net Profits.
- A movie's negative cost can end up quite different from its original planned Budget, especially if filming runs into trouble.