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Completion Guarantor
A completion guarantor signs off with your investors, for example TELEFILM Canada or a broadcaster with to whom you’ve arranged a pre-sale, guaranteeing that your film will be completed and delivered. If you cannot finish it, for whatever reason, the guarantor will take it over and shoot the remaining script. There are a very small number of guarantors in Canada; check with your lawyer and investors for names and recommendations.
Tip:
- If you sense an emerging problem that might interfere with completion of your film, alert your guarantor as soon as possible. Perhaps, given some leeway time, they can help you fix the situation.
- On lower-budget films, sometimes investors don’t require a guarantor and instead ask for certain protections, such as placing fees in escrow until the film is completed. Make sure you are very clear on funders’ expectations as early as possible in the project cycle.
There are two ways of approaching your relationship with your guarantor: either defensively, since it is their job to look at the risks involved in making your movie, or collaboratively, as an ally in your production. If you choose the positive route, a guarantor can be a producer’s best friend. You two have the same goals: they are in the business of risk analysis, and as a producer you want to protect your project from all risk so that you the producer remain in control. They can help you anticipate and remedy any problem elements.
Your guarantor can also help you with difficult situations that might threaten the film’s budget, such as a cast or crew member who is disrupting the shooting schedule with personal problems or in being unable to deliver the level of skill required for their position.
First Assistant Director (First AD)
Probably in the development stage, and certainly before you can talk to a guarantor, a First Assistant Director can help you build the skeleton of your film and give you a preliminary breakdown of the production elements: the number of days you need to shoot (the shooting schedule), what crew will be needed on certain days to deliver the scenes and effects required, and how many unit or location moves are needed or that you have to realistically make in one 12 hour day. In this preliminary breakdown of the script the AD can do a scene-by -scene tally of the elements involved at each step, such as the number of extras per scene, what props are involved, or whether you have to hire policemen to direct traffic around the shoot. Of course, every element translates into money, not to mention time and/or days.
Production Manager (PM)
Tip:
- Producers tend to think they can spend the entire contingency in production; however, this is a mistake. Ideally, you will save your contingency funds for the post-production phase, since changes or problems at that point can quickly add up to big bucks. For instance, an extra day or two of mixing, another few weeks in picture edit or purchasing an extra song that makes the world of difference could cost between $10,000 and $30,000.
A Production Manager (PM) can take the scene-by-scene elements the AD has compiled and build a pre-production and production budget based on those needs. PMs normally work with you during pre-production, production and for at least one week of the wrap-up (they do not normally deal in post-production). They add finer detail to the actual production or principal photography plan, taking into account the opinions pf people like the art director, location manager, construction manager and director of photography about creating sets, size of crews, duration of stages of pre-production and shotting and timing of hires for each phase. They build the budget and check their guesstimates back with each department early in pre-production.
A good PM always builds a 10% contingency into the plan, to spend on unexpected expenses.
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