Text : the Studios (制片厂、电影公司)
The principal sources of motion picture financing comes from the major studios: Columbia, MGM (米高梅 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)好莱坞五大电影公司之一), Paramount (Paramount (派拉蒙）电影公司), Twentieth-Century Fox, United Artists (,联美公司, 在1981年并入米高梅公司，改称为米高梅——联美娱乐公司，以出品007系列电影知名) Universal, and Warner Bros. Consequently, the majority of critical and commercially important films are studio-affiliated projects. Major studios have the most clout(影响力) in terms of financing, distributions, and availability of “name” talent （利用有名的明星）. For these reasons, most producers ultimately seek studio affiliation. There are , however, a number of stumbling blocks that stand in the way.
First, it is rare for a studio to commit itself to （承诺，答应负责）production financing (供以经费) without a substantially developed package ( i.e, script , stars, director, budget, etc.). It may agree to develop a property （开发某种所有权） with an independent （producer）, and in such cases the studio will purchase a property such as a book, an idea, a story, or a script from an independent producer and finance its development and packaging（它也许会同意与一位独立制片人开发某种所有权，在这种情况下，制片厂会向独立制片人购买如一本书、一个想法、一个故事或一个剧本的所有权，并且为该所有权的开发和一揽子计划制定提供资金）. But many more pictures are developed than are produced, and in some cases the producer may have a difficult time regaining ownership of the original property. Generally, a development deal（协议） is a step deal, in which the studio pays the producer and other persons who are contributing to the property’s development (such as a writer or director) a salary and sometimes expense money （其它费用）, in increments as the projects is developed （随着项目的进展，这些费用也逐步增加）. Step one might be the outline for the screenplay. A first-draft script（剧本第一稿） would follow as step two, and so forth（等等） into production. The studio will retain（保留） the right to back out at any step along the way.
A development deal is made officially when the parties involved sign a letter (called a deal memo、协议备忘录), outlining terms of the agreement such as salary, time schedule, screen credit（摄制人员名单） and the percentage participation in the film’s profits.（影片利润分成） A formal contract containing the details of the agreement and industries standard legal boilerplate（电影业标准法律条款） is negotiated（谈判） and prepared by agents and attorneys while the project is in active development. The salary for which one negotiates in the development deal(开发协议) is the entire salary the individual will receive if and when the picture is actually produced. This may involve impressive sums of money（大笔的钱）, but the majority of that money is speculative(冒风险的，推测的). A development deal contract will usually allow for a very small portion of that salary to be paid during development. A deal with a major studio is almost always a production/distribution (P/D) deal in which the studio ties up (牢牢掌握) distribution rights from the beginning. Since the studio is financing the production, it will be in a powerful position to negotiate a distribution deal that weighs heavily in its favor. Given the sophisticated （复杂的，老练的）accounting techniques for which the major distributors have gained a formidable（令人生畏的） reputation, the independent producer is generally advised to negotiate for a large up-front producer’s fee（前期制片人费）, and not expect much additional income from profit participation in the picture.
Another disadvantage to the studio deal, at least for the beginning producer with a modest-or low-budget picture（中、低成本影片） is that the studios are not generally interested in small films. There are also built-in overhead expenses（内部管理费） involved in running a studio facility（制片厂内部设施） that boost(提高、推动) production budgets by as much as 25 percent. Production and distribution costs for most studio films are so high that they must hedge their bets（下注） with expensive name stars, name producers and name directors.
When a studio makes a commitment（做出承诺） for production costs, it is not uncommon to require the producer to provide protection against over budget costs by securing a completion bond（完工保证书）. This bond is supplied by a third party called a completion gurantor（完工保证人）. The bond guarantees to cover over budget expenses .thereby guaranteeing that the film will not go unfinished for lack of funds. Most completion gurantors will provide over budget production up to $2 million per picture.
In addition to, or in lieu of（替代）, a completion guarantee（完工担保）, some distributors will withhold a portion of the producer’s fee until the picture is completed. This money will be the first used to cover over budget expenses. In such cases, the producer will receive the withheld portion of his fee only after the distribution has recouped（偿还） all of its production costs.
There are also cases in which the producer is further induced（促使，诱导） to control the budget and schedule by means of a penalty formula（罚款）. For example, if a production goes over budget, the producer’s profit participation is decreased by a predetermined formula. The standard formula for a large studio film is 1 percent of the producer’s participation for every 1 percent that the picture goes over budget.
A final consideration in studio financing is that the studio will insist on（坚持） creative control over the picture（对影片创作的控制权）, with power to override（无视，不理会） the producer whenever there is a difference of opinion. Overriding a producer isn’t something a studio likes to do. A producer is hired to do a job, the less the studio interferes（干涉）, the better. However, in order to protect its investment, the studio invariably insists on artistic control, including final cut of the film. An experienced name producer with a good truck record（成绩辉煌） may negotiate（谈判） for some of this power, but the majority of independents must relinquish（将。。。让给） creative control to the studios.
unit 2 making a film
new words
epic 史诗
individual 个人
draw 拍摄
sketch 大纲, 小品
allot 分配 摊派
personnel 人员 职员
chronologically 按时间顺序
documentary 记录片
solicit 请求 恳求
grants 资助金
location外景场地
scout寻找
casting挑选演员
footage 曝光的胶片长度
rushes毛片 样片
dailies 工作样片
workprint 供剪接用的正片
editing 剪辑
condense 压缩
hone 磨练 （剪接）
identically 同一, 一样
version 版本
duplicate 复制
text
Film production（影片生产） ranges from multimillion（数百万） dollar Hollywood epics to individuals drawing film “sketches” with a super 8 camera. Although film vary widely in terms of budgets allotted（配给预算）, personnel involved（投入人力） and intended uses（使用意图）, many of the processes（程序） required to create film are similar for all productions, production and postproduction periods.
Preproduction is the time for planning and preparation. Fiction films （故事片）usually begin with a script（剧本）, while unscripted documentaries may start as a written proposal （书面计划）outlining what is to be filmed. The filmmaker (or film producer) draws up a budget of the movie’s estimated（预计的，估计的） cost and arrange for financing. For higher-budget films, this usually involves（牵涉、包含） soliciting （恳求）investors, film distributors, grants（资助金） or a television contract. Lower-budget films are often financed out of pocket （现金支出）, something with the hope of recouping（收回） costs after the film is finished. During the preproduction period, locations (the sites where the film will be shot) are scouted, casting is done (for a fiction project) and the film crew（摄制组） is put together.
The production period essentially begins when the cameras rolls（滚动，转动）. Since film equipment is extremely expensive, it is rented for the duration（期间，持续时间） of the film’s production, or only on the days it is needed. Fiction film production may take place in a studio or “on location”, while documentaries are rarely filmed in studios. During production, film footage is sent to the laboratory（洗印厂） for processing（前进，进展）. The footage that comes back from the lab is called rushes or dailies（工作样片）. Rushed are usually workprint（供剪接用的正片）, that is, a protection copy（保护性拷贝）of the original film（原底片）.
The postproduction period begins once the principal(主要的，重要的) photography（片子） is completed. Editing（剪辑） is done to condense what are often hours of rushes into a watchable film. It is usually on the editing table that the movie can be seen in its entirety（完整、全部） for the first time. Films are often substantially（实际地，大量地） rearranged and reworked during editing. A rough cut is honed（磨练、剪接） to a fine cut（精剪）, and , when a satisfactory version is complete, the original film is cut identically（同样的，相同的） to the workprint and then duplicated（复制）. Several prints（底板）, or copies, are made. Finally, the completed prints are distributed（分布、散布、分配）---sent out into the world to find their audience.
Unit 3 researching the market
New words
Sensible 切实的
Gross 总收入
Routinely 定期的，常规的
Deceive 欺骗
Conventional 传统的
Approximately 大约
Negative 底片
Multiple 倍数
Promote 宣传、推销
Balance 余额
Cautious 小心地，谨慎地
Approach 方法、手法
Campaign 运动、活动
Protection 保护
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It is now possible for the producer to determine a sensible（切实的） budget for production. By conducting a market research study of box office grosses(总收入) for similar films over the past several years, a producer may get a pretty good idea of the grosses to expect from his film. These box office figures are routinely(定期地) reported in weekly Variety（《综艺》） and are available in back issues （过刊）either from the Variety office at 154 West 46th Street, New York, New York 10036, or from any film library such as the Margaret Herrick Library（玛格丽特 赫利特图书馆） at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science（电影艺术与科学院） in Los Angeles, the American Film Institute Library（美国电影研究所图书馆）, also in Los Angeles, or libraries at universities with strong cinema departments（实力雄厚的电影系）.
The producer must carefully select which film to include in his market research. It is easy to be deceived by grosses for pictures that happened to break out of a conventional run（传统上演模式） to become box office hits（引起轰动的影片票房收入、票房佳绩）. Those films are exception and it is foolish to begin a motion picture project expecting such a lucky break. The “hit” figure may used to sell the investor on the notion that your picture has a chance to become a hit. Now the producer must look to similar films that simply ran a standard circuit（标准轮演模式） for low-budget horror films and never broke out, never became hits. This research will indicate a box office gross that is relatively safe for the producer to expect from his horror film.
A standard industry rule （电影行业的标准规则）says that a picture must gross approximately（大约） three times its negative（底片） cost to break even（收支相抵、不赔不赚）. The multiple（倍数）of three takes into account（考虑到了，涵盖了） the theater’s cut（影院的利润份额）, the distributor’s cut（发行商提成）, the cost pf promoting the film（影片推销费用）, etc. Once the producer determine his anticipated box office gross（预期的票房收入）, determined by his market research, he divided by three to determine the maximum amount of money to spend on making his film. This will be the amount of money that he may reasonable expect his film to retune. If the producer then budget his film for less than this amount, the balance（余额） will be the expected profits.
The following is an example using fictitious（untrue, not real） horror films for the market research study.
Title
Worldwide Gross ($)
Swamp Menace
Attic Killers
Death by Design
The Closed Room
Vengeance Is Mine
Fear for Me
2,525,000
2.800,000
1,625,000
2,100,000
1,850,000
2,600,000
Total
13,500,000
The average worldwide gross for the six films is $13,500,000÷6=$ 2,250,000. Dividing this figure by the standard multiple(倍数) of three, a producer will see that a sensible（实际的） maximum budget for this genre（a sort of art） will be $750,000. If he budgets the film for less, say $500,000, the balance of $250,000 will be the expected profits. Obviously, if you can produce a quality picture for even less, say $200,000, your profit potential will be that much greater.
Even with this cautious(谨慎的) approach to budgeting, there is no guarantee that a film will be successful. Success depends on the quality of the completed picture, on a reasonable distribution deal（发行协议）, and the public’s reaction to both the film and the advertising campaign. However, investors will be greatly comforted by this market research, knowing that you have hedged your bet（两面下赌注）, carefully weighing the downside（认真对待下滑趋势）, and budgeting the picture with maximum protection for the investors.
