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461
Men and Money
Behind Moving Pictures
Do you iivJerstand tlie organization of filmland ? Do yon realize the amount of money involved in this industry ivhich — in America at least — is the third greatest of its country ? Do yon understand how the various producing companies have groum to their present importance ? In this article the ivritcr has set out as briefly and simply as possible just hoiv and by ichom film production is sponsored.
by Mackenzie Winter
The ramifications of the motion picture world are great and puzzling. Tiie fmance of film-making is bewilderingly involved from the moment a man buys a share in a film company to the moment a film-goer paj^^s his entrance fee at a cinema.
Let us begin with the production of a film. Few people realize how much it actually costs to produce a picture. A quarter of a million pounds is sometimes spent on a big spectacle such as Grand Hotel, although £80,000 is recognized as being a fair figure for a " super " film, £40,000 to £60,000 for a good programme picture, £10,000 to £20,000 for a less important production, or a " quickie."
Of tliese production figures, the actual negative on which a picture is " shot " is the least expensive. It rarely reaches five percent of the total. Actors' salaries are generally reckoned to amount to twenty-five per cent of the total ; ten per cent is approximate for the technical staff and perhaps fixe per cent for actual recording costs ; ten per cent for scenario and story rights ; twenty-five per cent for " sets " (scenery) and locations. The remaining twenty per cent or so is marked to overhead expenses.
These figures are semi-official. They are based on statistics given by Wills Hays, the " Tzar " of filmland.
General overhead expenses are a considerable item. When twenty per cent is allowed for this charge with each picture, this percentage applies only to the actual costs of the film in question, and not to the ordinary rumiing expenses of the studio. Whether a picture is in production or