Film Scheduling and Actors

Bringing your film under budget or on budget begins before day one of production and even pre production. The biggest cost to your film is probably the lead actor if you are dealing with movie stars. If your film production schedule is 25 days or 5 weeks of 5 day shoots, but you only need your star for 10 days, schedule your film around making the top priority of having those 10 days be consecutive. That way, when you make your offer Joe Smith, aka The Biggest Movie Star on the planet, and your film budget only allows you to offer a fraction of his quote, it will be easier to sell it to his agent and his agent will have any easier time selling it to his client if he only has to work a short amount of time. Make sure the actor's contracts allow you to use his name and appearance in all marketing and material so you can benefit from his starpower. If you use this strategy effectively, you can save money on your star costs to spend on other film production needs, like special effects. Understanding scheduling is an important tool that has a direct impact on your movie budget. Check here for guidelines on how much you should budget for actors.

-Adam