|
EntertainmentIndustry.name
A “greenlit motion” picture can take roughly six to twenty-four months to go from script to screen.
This process generally consists of five stages:
- Project Development
- Packaging
- Continued rewrites all along the way
- Financing
- Pre-Production
- Production (or principal photography)
- Post-Production
- Distribution
- Marketing
- Prints and Advertising
- Revenue Sources
- Release Cycle
After an approved screenplay has been polished, the project enters the “packaging” stage, during which the studio or production company pursues the director, principal actors and other key creative personnel.
During this time, the film’s budget is also usually fine-tuned and a preliminary production schedule is strategized as different elements come on board.
In most cases, the consideration of any new element (an A-List star or director, a new location, etc.) necessitates continued script development to accommodate commitment prerequisites.
For example, Alien was originally written for a male lead, it had to be rewritten to cast Sigourney Weaver. Erin Brockovich was originally written as a seven-act lower budget television movie of the week. When Julia Roberts came on board, that obviously opened up more dramatic scene opportunities as the budget was expanded for the big screen — and her stardom.
|
