Film studio in the context of "Film budgeting"

⭐ In the context of film budgeting, what key distinction exists between a film's 'gross budget' and its 'net budget' for a film studio?

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⭐ Core Definition: Film studio

A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; however, most firms in the entertainment industry have never had their own studios, but have rented space from other companies instead. Day-to-day filming operations are generally handled by a production company subsidiary.

Another type of company is an independently owned studio facility, which does not produce motion pictures by itself; such facilities only sell studio space.

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👉 Film studio in the context of Film budgeting

Film budgeting refers to the process by which a line producer, unit production manager, or production accountant prepares a budget for a film production. This document, which could be over 130 pages long, is used to secure financing for and lead to pre-production and production of the film. Multiple drafts of the budget may be required to whittle down costs. A budget is typically divided into four sections: above the line (creative talent), below the line (direct production costs), post-production (editing, visual effects, etc.), and other (insurance, completion bond, etc.). For productions distributed by a third party the budget excludes film promotion and marketing, which is the responsibility of the film distributor. Film financing can be acquired from a private investor, sponsor, product placement, film studio, entertainment company, and/or out-of-pocket funds.

When it comes to reporting the budget of a film, the amount of the budget represents the gross budget, which is the grand total of actual spending to produce the project and not to be confused with net budget, which represents the final out of pocket for the producer after government incentives or rebates ("If you pay $50 for something but have a mail-in coupon for a $10 rebate, your gross spending still amounts to $50."). One of the consequences of the Sony hack was the release of budget information of many films or TV shows, including the 2015 Adam Sandler film Pixels. The actual cost to produce Pixels, or the "grand total", was $129.6 million and the net budget for Sony came to $111 million after they received a government rebate in Canada that covered a portion of their gross spend (cost) in the amount of just over $18 million. Even though Sony's out of pocket for the film was reduced because of the incentive, it does not negate the fact that the actual cost (amount spent during production to make the film) was still $129.6 million.

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Film studio in the context of Old media

Old media, also called traditional media or legacy media, are the mass media institutions that dominated prior to the internet, particularly print media, film studios, music studios, advertising agencies, radio broadcasting, and television. Old media institutions are centralized and communicate with one-way technologies to a generally anonymous mass audience.

Old media are often contrasted with new media, which are typically computer- or smartphone-based, and are to some extent interactive and comparatively decentralized. These new media enable people to telecommunicate with one another peer-to-peer or through social media platforms, with widespread use and availability through the internet.

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Film studio in the context of Film industry

The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post-production, film festivals, distribution, and actors. Though the expense involved in making film almost immediately led film production to concentrate under the auspices of standing production companies, advances in affordable filmmaking equipment, as well as an expansion of opportunities to acquire investment capital from outside the film industry itself, have allowed independent film production to evolve.

In 2019, the global box office was worth $42.2 billion. When including box office and home entertainment revenue, the global film industry was worth $136 billion in 2018. Hollywood is the world's oldest national film industry, and largest in terms of box-office gross revenue.

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Film studio in the context of Universal Studios Lot

Universal Studios Lot is a television and film studio complex located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, California, and is part of the entire Universal Studios complex, which also includes the adjacent Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. It is the production site of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and is owned by Comcast through its subsidiary NBCUniversal. The lot officially opened the gates of Universal City on March 15, 1915. The lot began offering its modern studio tour in 1964, which eventually evolved into the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. Today the Universal Studios Lot is made up of 400 acres, which includes more than 30 sound stages, the Brokaw News Center and 165 other separate structures.

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Film studio in the context of Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)

The Walt Disney Studios, located in Burbank, California, United States, serves as the corporate headquarters for the Walt Disney Company. The 51-acre (20.6 ha) studio lot also contains several sound stages, a backlot, and other filmmaking production facilities for Walt Disney Studios's motion picture production. The complex also houses the offices for many of the company's units, including the film and TV studios Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, ABC, Disney Channel, Freeform, and Marvel Studios; the units of 20th Century Studios, 20th Television, Searchlight Pictures and FX Networks are set to move to this location from Century City at the end of 2025.

Walt Disney used the earnings from the successful release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to finance the construction of the Burbank studio. Disney is the only major film studio out of the Big Five that does not currently offer regular tours of their studio lot to the general public. Since the mid-2000s, Adventures by Disney has offered tours of the studio, but only as an integral component of their Southern California tour package. The other way to tour the studio is to join the official Disney D23 fan club, which offers tours to members every few months. The studio used to open to the public once a year in November on the Saturday before Thanksgiving (with some exceptions) for its annual Magical Holiday Faire craft sale, but stopped hosting the Faire around 2003. As an aid to visitors, many buildings on the Disney lot are currently marked with identifying signs that include historical information and trivia about each site.

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Film studio in the context of Warner Bros. Entertainment

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment and media corporation headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Founded on April 4, 1923, by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games. It is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios and a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

The company is known for its film studio division, the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Castle Rock Entertainment and the Warner Bros. Television Group. Bugs Bunny, a character created for the Looney Tunes series, is the company's official mascot.

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Film studio in the context of Cinecittà

Cinecittà Studios (pronounced [ˌtʃinetʃitˈta]; Italian for Cinema City) is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios were constructed during the Fascist era as part of a plan to revive the Italian film industry and to compete with Hollywood.

Filmmakers such as Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Mel Gibson and Luca Guadagnino have worked at Cinecittà. More than 3,000 movies have been filmed there, of which 90 received an Academy Award nomination and 47 of these won it. In the 1950s, the number of international productions being made there led to Rome being dubbed "Hollywood on the Tiber."

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Film studio in the context of Film promotion

Film promotion is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. Sometimes this is called the press junket or film junket. Film promotion generally includes press releases, advertising campaigns, merchandising, franchising, media, and interviews with the key people involved in making the film, such as the film's actors and directors. This process is an important part of any release because of the inherent high financial risk; film studios will invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximize revenue early in the release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal about half the production budget. Publicity is generally handled by the distributor and exhibitors.

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Film studio in the context of Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation (corporation name since 1950), commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production and distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Skydance. Founded on May 8, 1912, it is the sixth-oldest global film studio and the second-oldest in the United States behind Universal Pictures, and it is one of the "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles.

In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor put 24 actors and actresses under contract and honored each with a star on the logo. In 1967, the number of stars was reduced to 22 and their hidden meaning was dropped. In 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. The company's headquarters and studios are located at 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California.

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