ELO-E2527 - Film Financing and Distribution, Lecture, 10.10.2022-2.12.2022
This course space end date is set to 02.12.2022 Search Courses: ELO-E2527
Financing a blockbuster film through the 50/50 scheme
Assignment 1
It is January 2023. You are developing a biopic for a big domestic audience in an established company. For the purposes of the exercise, let’s say it is Helsinki-filmi / now Aurora Studios.
It is your idea and you have written the concept for the film, not yet anything like treatment or script. This is your first feature as a producer and creator.
You know this project is not for the international marketplace and international financing is not an option based on what the film is about. In your view the project has a good chance of scoring well in the so called 50/50 scheme of the automatic support system of the Finnish Film Foundation. You want to make a commercial film and sell lots of tickets. You choose to aim for that, the dead line in Jan 2024.
Feel free to decide who the person you make the biopic of is, as long the person is interesting enough for the big audience. If you can’t think of anyone, feel free to pick an internationally famous Finn, such as any of the F1 drivers or Karita Mattila or Esa-Pekka Salonen, for example. Let’s say the budget is ca. € 1,6 - 2 M.
Make your case for other producers in the company considering the point system you can find on the webpage of FFF. Explain to others why your project will score high in this scheme. Present the choices you intend to make regarding talent and financing partners to be among the three projects that get this funding each year. Why your project will be a winner? Make a template score sheet of the project and explain it. Can you apply for development support for the project from Finland or abroad?
Make a timeline for what needs to happen and when over the course of 2023 in order to have everything in place by January 2024 to have the best application. If you do not think this is possible, you can make a two year timeline and only apply in 2025.
When putting together the presentation, make sure it is easy to follow, has titles for different chapters about different angles to your case, such as ‘Key talent’, ‘Financing partners’ etc.
NOTE: You can team up or do this in pairs. Please note that it might be tricky for a non-native speaker to do this assignment alone. Assignment 2 is easier in that regard.