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什么是创意制片人与财务制片人?—— 国际电影商业基础课程

Into按页 按页 2023-01-29

2022| PLUS ONE 线上课程

 A Professional Basic Course of International Film Business 

 国际电影商业基础 


课程导言

A Professional Basic Course of International Film Business,中文翻译为“国际电影商业基础”,这门线上课程内容的来源于英国 The London Film School(伦敦电影学院)的MA研究生课程 International Film Business的导师Dr. Angus Finney, 他在英美完成传媒与影视相关专业的本科与研究生,后在CASS Business School卡斯商学院完成了博士学位,在国际电影行业从业多年,主要擅长的领域是国际电影融资、采购与发行,目前他也是剑桥商学院MBA针对于娱乐文化这部分内容的客座教授,不论是在学术层面还是工作经验上都足以解决诸多从业者在工作与学习中遇到的问题。


在实际的工作中,制片人本质上是需要「 Close the Deal 」, 去达成一个个交易与合同,从项目的初期开发,到制作发行都离不开“电影商业”。我们与他共同开发了这门课程的线上和线下版本,因为想要更多同学可以学习到这类入门级的课程,学习到专业的词汇与商业谈判中的逻辑,即使翻译难度也比较大,我们也最终完成了整体内容的呈现,若有不足之处,还希望大家能积极指出。但毋庸置疑的是,对于国际电影商业的了解,在全球范围内从事影视行业的工作,是一个必不可少的学习过程,跟着Dr. Angus的学习也改变了我的职业生涯,希望短短线上课程可以带让听者拥有更广阔的视角,增强不断开拓国际市场的能力。

本语音课程将聚焦介绍电影产业价值链,包括影视前期项目开发、项目打包融资、制作、销售、后期宣传发行和衍生开发等内容。站在制片人的角度上,去学习电影融资策略,包括前期准备、中期拍摄、后期制作和发行阶段如何筹集与运用资金;站在投资人,私募与对冲基金,银行和发行公司的角度去思考电影项目投资与风险管控,为国际电影项目建立多种融资方案与了解合理洽谈条款的重要性。


第一课:The Difference Between the Creative and Financial Producer 创意制片人与财务制片人的区别(免费试听)


第二课:What Is the Film Value Chain and Why It Is Important?什么是电影产业价值链以及它为什么重要(免费试听)


  以下是付费内容  

第三课:The Film Value Chain Model and Current Restructuring 电影产业价值链


第四课:The Hook of Good Stories and Role of Genre 好故事与类型

第五课:Working with Writers and Developing Material 与作者协同工作


第六课:The Art of Presenting and the Pitch 演说呈现

第七课:Creative Management 创意人才管理


第八课:Film Finance I 电影融资(上)

第九课:Film Finance II 电影融资(下)


第十课:Sales and Markets 电影的销售与市场

第十一课:Film Distribution and Exhibition 电影发行与放映

第十二课:Film Promotion and Audience Behavior 电影宣传和观众行为


第十三课:Streaming 流媒体

第十四课:Future of Production 制作的未来


  适用人群 

制片、导演、投资人、国际发行方向从业者


 特别鸣谢

The London Film School 

伦敦电影学院


翻译:王紫菲

剪辑 & 校对:张紫曦


以下正式进入试听(Free Trial)

 A Professional Basic Course of International Film Business 

  国际电影商业基础  Unit 1 



创意制片人与财务制片人的区别?

  The Difference Between the Creative and Financial Producer  


Hi, my name's Angus Finney. I'm a professor and a fellow at Cambridge University and the course director on this basic course on the international film business. 

大家好,我叫安格斯·芬尼。我是剑桥大学的教授和研究员,同时也是这门国际电影商业基础课程的导师。


Welcome to my presentation, which is looking at creative producers and financial producers, and also looking at the overall role of the lead producer. 

欢迎收听我的课程,这节课我们会主要聊到创意制片人和财务制片人,以及首席制片人这几个角色的总体工作范围。


So starting with the concept of a lead producer, this is the role that is undertaken by the key project manager, the person or the team who have acquired the underlying rights to the story, who have dealt with the intellectual property, who have maybe hired the writer or writers and paid them for their work, and also packaged the project. 

让我们先从首席制片人这个概念讲起。这个角色是由负责项目的核心经理人或团队担任的,他们已经获取了故事相关版权,处理了知识产权方面的手续,可能还聘请了作家或编剧并打包了整个项目。


So obviously, they have dealt with the key elements, the five key elements of the package, which included of course script, producer, budget, director, and key cast. There are other kinds of producers that also have different titles.

显然他们已经接触过打包项目的五个要素了,也就是剧本、制片人、预算、导演还有主演。除了首席制片人之外,还有一些挂有其他头衔且职能各异的制片人。


And it's important before I talk about the difference between the creative and the financial producer, to cover them off so that people on this course understand exactly what we call different types of producers in the western film model.

所以在介绍创意制片人与财务制片人的区别之前,我有必要先介绍一下这些职位,让在上这节课的同学们能够清楚明白为什么在西方的电影制作模式里我们要把制片人分门别类。


So in addition to the lead producer who, if you like, is the most important project manager, and will control and see the film all the way from concept to exploitation. There is also a line producer.

首先,我们可以把首席制片人(Lead Producer) 看成最重要的那个项目经理,他们负责掌控全局,从创意构想开始到市场开发为止全程把控制片进度。此外,还有一个岗位叫制作统筹,也可以算作项目经理。


The line producer is effectively a project manager. And they have the skills to be able to break down the script into a schedule and into a budget. And they are going to be running, if you like, the production day by day, hour by hour, and will have considerable control over the expenditure per day on that film budget and film production.

制作统筹是有能力把剧本转换成日程安排表并做出预算计划的一群人。他们会在每时每刻关注制片动态,并严格控制电影预算和电影制作的每日支出。


You also have something called the co-producer. The co-producer might be a producing partner who's sharing the rights and sharing the production responsibilities.

还有一种制片人被称为联合制片人 (Co-Producer)。联合制片人可能是参与制片工作,或共同享有成片的相关权利,也可能是分担制片工作的地区合作伙伴。


Or it might be a co-producer under an official territory agreement with China, which has 15 official co-production treaties. It might be a production with an official co-producer in a territory like new Zealand or the UK etc. 

或者是签署了许可地区的相关协议,例如中国联合制作/发行的协议,有些电影可能会拥有15个联合制作的地区。它可能是与新西兰或英国等地区的联合制片人共同合作的作品。


Associate producer is a different kind of credit. It's normally a more junior credit. It's someone who effectively has probably done a lot of work on the development or the packaging of the project, but is not yet mature enough to be given a lead producer credit. 

协同制作人(Associate Producer)是另一种头衔。通常这是较初级的岗位。实际上,协同制作人可能已经在项目的开发或打包上做了很多工作,但还不够成熟,无法被称为首席制作人。


And then we come to the executive producer. Now I'm aware from experience in China that the executive producer is not such an important role in the Chinese model.

接下来就是执行制片人(Executive Producer)。我知道在中国模式里,执行制作人不是一个很重要的角色。


But in the Western model, executive producer is normally aligned with the finance, all the sales, and distribution of the film. Someone who is extremely experienced in putting film finance together, someone who has helped probably the project and the producer at a high level in terms of advice, introductions, and the ability to be able to make sure that all the key elements of film finance, in terms of risk management, are in place. 

但是在西方模式里,执行制作人通常会负责电影的融资、销售和发行。能胜任这个工作的是能够把电影财务方面管理得妥妥当当的行家,是为制片人和电影项目出谋划策、指点迷津,并有效整合电影融资过程中所有重要元素,从而实现风险管控的重要人物。


It's a very important distinction between the Chinese model and the western model that an executive producer is seen as someone with considerable influence on the film rather than as a lowly position. 

所以不同于中国,在西方模式里执行制片人不是人微言轻的职务,而是对电影项目有着极大影响力的关键角色。


It might also mean that their own company have put up money or they're running an international sales and distribution operation that is important to the success or otherwise of the film. 

有可能这些执行制片人自己的公司给您的项目投入了资金,或者他们正在开展对于您电影的成功来说至关重要的国际销售和发行业务。


To go back to the varying roles of film producer, whilst the screenwriter is at the heart of the development process, the producer should be right there next to him or her supporting and driving the process.

让我们再说回电影制片人的不同分工。编剧是项目开发过程中的核心,而制片人在此过程中则应该在TA身旁保驾护航。


Producers often initiate films, raise money for rights to adapt ideas and material, hire the screenwriters and during the process, constructively analyze and develop the script drafts in partnership with the writer or writers. Producers rarely write or heavily re-write screenplays, ideas. In certain cases, editing or restructuring is one task, fully fledged writing is quite another. 

制片人是电影的发起者,为能拍片而筹备资金、聘请编剧,并在他们创作过程中,积极地分析和改良剧本。制片人是很少自己创作或是大篇幅重写剧本和故事创意的。在一些情况下,剪辑和调整电影叙述结构可以是同一回事,但炉火纯青的编剧则完全是另一回事。


One of the key jobs of a producer is to work out how to make his or her writer write better. My analysis is that the independent film industry, especially the Western model, tends to divide producers into two vaguely defined camps: the creative producer and the financial producer. Very few practitioners are uniquely talented in both disciplines. 

制片人的一个重要工作就是让TA的作家把故事写得更动人。据我分析,独立电影产业,尤其是在西方模式里,倾向把制片人们划分到两个阵营,简单来说就是创意制片人和财务制片人。很少有人是在两个阵营里都能把业务做得超群绝伦的。


Theoretically, an effective producing combination is one where two people, one creatively skilled one financially astute and capable, work together on developing and producing projects and building a sustainable company. 

理论上来说,一个有效的制片团队就是由两个人组成的,一个创意非凡,一个财思敏捷,两个人相扶相持,在开发制作电影的路上做彼此坚实的伙伴。


Other experienced producers build a team of varying talents around them, that complements and enhance their operation. For example, the UK's extraordinarily experienced Jeremy Thomas has built a team that includes a highly capable manager and financial operator in Peter Watson, an experienced creative development executive in the late Hercules Bellville and a leading sales executive in Tim Haslam who has managed HanWay, the sales arm of Thomas’ film activities before going on to run his own company Embankment (Films). 

也有经验丰富的制片人会组建一个拥有各路人才的团队来优化运营。比如说,身经百战的英国制片人Jeremy Thomas就组建了他的团队Han Way,其中包括负责财务的Peter Watson, 负责创意开发的已故的Hercules Bellville,和顶尖电影销售Tim Haslam,后来Tim成立了自己的电影公司“Embankment”。(补充:Jeremy Jack Thomas,中国观众熟知的代表制片作品是《末代皇帝》,制片作品几乎遍布全球,与亚洲不少知名导演,创作者合作过,是真正意义上的国际制片人。)


Whilst Thomas drives the selection of ideas, projects, writers and directors, he's constantly in touch with these key executives who in turn, help shape his slate and future business. That said, Thomas tends to always develop with a director attached from the start of the development process, making the director, the central filmmaker from the start. 

Thomas在潜心筛选创意、项目、编剧、导演的同时,还和这些核心负责人一直保持联系,而这些负责人,则辅助他发展投资项目和未来业务。除了和这些负责人的配合之外,Thomas还会从项目开发开始就和一个固定导演合作,让这个导演从一开始就成为掌舵的主导演。


As I mentioned earlier, the term executive producer is often applied to the producer who takes a specific role in co-financing a feature. However, over the past decade, the term has become much abused. Executive producer credits have been insisted upon in return for early development commitments or early attachment without active responsibility for the filmmaking process.

正如我之前提到的,“执行制片人”一词通常用于描述在联合融资的电影项目里负责特定任务的制片人。但是,在过去十年中,该术语已被滥用。可能一些人并没有在电影制作过程中起任何积极作用,而只是在制片开发初期有付出或职务,却仍然被冠以执行制片人的头衔。


Credits are insisted upon for relatively small and straightforward contributions to a film's overall financial package. For example, American independent films sometimes credit more than half a dozen executive producers or even more, somehow denigrating the credit itself. Public funds and their executives can also be an issue. Heads of funds can elect to either take a credit or pass on a credit. 

这样的头衔可能颁给那些对电影整体的财务方面付出较少且较直接贡献的人。举个例子,美国的独立电影可能有时会把执行制片人的头衔颁给6、7个人甚至更多,所以从某种程度上有点贬低了这个头衔。另外,如何给公共基金机构及他们的决策者头衔有时也是个难题。基金负责人可以自己选择是否接受片尾头衔的致谢。


Above all, lead film producers should know the details of the financial aspects of their project and not delegate ultimate financing responsibility to an executive producer.

对首席制片人来说,最重要的一点是,他们需要对电影项目的财务方面了如指掌,而不是简单把最终融资责任权委托给一个执行制片人。


So this brings us to the creative producer. One of the key functions of the creative producer is to develop a strong set of relationships with talent. While directors and actors are important, the writer is where the development process kicks into action.

现在,我们来聊一下创意制片人。创意制片人的关键作用之一是与各类电影人才建立牢靠的关系。导演和演员固然重要,而作家(或编剧)也是制作团队里举足轻重的角色,因为他们是让项目的开发工作拉开帷幕的人。


Producers normally build up a trust and understanding over a considerable period of time with writing talent, whether it comes through story ideas, structural suggestions, or an ability to help the writers improve their work, the producer needs to have the writers’ respect and trust. 

一般情况下,制片人会通过长期努力与写作人才之间建立信任和理解。无论是为作家提供故事和结构方面的建议,还是帮助作家提升作品质量,制片人总需要使用种种途径获得作家的尊重和信任。 


Creative producers read, solicited, and in many cases, unsolicited scripts, treatments and story outlines. These normally come to them either through writers, writer directors, talent agents, contacts, or friends.

创意制片人不仅阅读他们自己征求过的作品,还在很多情况下阅读自己没有征求过的剧本、大纲和故事梗概。这些通常是作家、作家导演自己直接发给他们的,也有可能是人才中介、熟人、或者朋友间接发的。


In addition, the producer will have his own ideas and sources. The creative producer develops relationships with publishers and attempts to see advanced book lists and upcoming proofs, and work as soon as possible. 

另外,制片人也有自己的想法和资源。创意制作人会和书籍出版商建立合作关系,以便以最快的速度提前看到即将出版的书单、样本和作品。


If they think that a book has potential for a screenplay, an option may be paid to the author of that work to protect the right to adapt it for a film, normally that option is for a specific period. After which the option lapses in the screenplay, rights revert to the author of the original work. 

如果他们认为某本书具有改编成剧本的潜力,那么可以向该作品的作者支付一笔费用,以锁定将其改编成电影的权利,通常这种选择是在特定时期内进行的。若未在合约期限进入拍摄,翻拍的权利就会回到原著作者的手中。


Many producers take out a two to three year option on a work or option for less time but with automatic renewals. Options are normally renewed because the development process has demonstrated progress and the producer believes that the project can reach fruition.

许多制片人会锁定一个作品二到三年的的改编权,也有可能拿到的期限短一些、但会自动续约。当开发过程有了进展,制片人觉得这个项目能开花结果时,他们就会去延长合约。


The creative producer also develop strong relationships with writers, actors, and directors, and their agents and managers who represent such talent. After all, it is their flair and competence when dealing with an attaching talent that helps them develop successfully. This area marks out the importance of the balance between the producer, the writer and the director, if the writer is also not the director.

创意制作人也会与作家、演员和导演及他们的公司和经纪人建立牢靠的关系。归根结底,他们在与各种人才接触合作中所展现的洞察力和才能是使得项目顺利开发的主要原因。当作家和导演不是同一个人时,保持制片人、作家和导演之间平衡对于创意制片人来说就格外重要了。


The skill of passing a project from a writer onto the appropriate director lies at the heart of the producer’s role. Managing creative egos and sensibilities is a highly complex task.

将项目从作家手上顺利传递给合适的导演是制片人这一职责的核心所在。管理自尊心很强、充满感性的创意人士是一项非常复杂的任务。


And the producer will often need to keep the writer and the director separate for a period of development, rather than expose the director’s view point too directly upon the writer too early. In addition, no writer wants to hear solely from the head of the development or a script editor. He or she wants to have the attention of the lead producer and direct feedback where possible. 

制片人通常需要在开发过程中将作家和导演分开一段时间,而不是太早将导演的观点直接暴露给作家。另外需要注意的一点是,没有任何作家愿意只听开发总监或脚本编辑的意见,毕竟他们希望得到首席制片人的注意并在可能的情况下获得直接的反馈。


This brings us to the role of the financial producer. The financial producer, in my terms of reference, is the person or the executive responsible for bringing together the different elements of the film's budget.

再让我们来聊一下财务制片人。在我看来,财务制片人是负责将电影预算的不同内容汇总在一起的那个人。


Like the creative producer, they too are aware of the relative value of the project. That means that they need to know how much the different elements, including the book or source material, the writer, the director, the cast and the genre of appropriate are worth in the marketplace. 

就像创意制片人一样,他们也对项目的相对价值格外敏感。这意味着他们需要知道电影项目里各个要素的市场价值,包括书籍或原始素材、作家、导演,演员阵容和相应电影类型的估值。


The financial producer will have a strong understanding of previous performance of the aforesaid elements, and will have box office sales figures on previous films, genres, and performances around the world.

财务制片人将对上述要素的过往市场表现有深刻的了解,并掌握全球范围内各类电影、类型、明星在票房销售数据。


All this information and research helps the producer build a convincing pitch for the positioning of a film in the financing and distribution marketplace. It is the financial producer who should know all the different international sales companies, key distributors in different territories, private equity and banking finance sources, public subsidy funds both national and supranational, and key executives within the medium and the larger film production distribution companies around the world, they need to know how different institutions and business cultures operate. And critically, which people make decisions within them. 

所有的这些信息和调查都有助于制片人为电影在融资和发行市场上进行定位,并提出一个令人信服的提案。财务制片人应该了解市面上各种各样的国际销售公司、不同地区的主要发行人、私募股权和银行融资方面的资源、国家和超国家的公共补贴资金、以及世界各地中型和大型电影制作发行公司的高管;他们需要了解不同的机构和商业文化是如何运作的,至关重要的是,他们要知道哪些人是这些地方的决策者。


This will include not just chief executives, but also assistants, script editors, development executives and marketing executives, or projects need support and champions to gather momentum. A strong producer needs to build a case for a project.

这不仅包括首席执行官,还包括助理、脚本编辑、开发主管和营销主管,甚至还要去挖掘那些缺乏支持者和提倡者来推动的项目。优秀的制片人需要证明他手头项目的价值。


A key element of this process is testing in the marketplace. This process requires considerable contacts and ability to gauge the right time to launch a project. The objective is to determine whether the marketplace will support a project or whether a screenplay package do not actually add up. This is not to suggest the market’s determination is universally or empirically correct. 

此过程中一个关键步骤就是在市场上进行测试,而这不仅需要运用大量的人脉,还需要制片人具备估量项目最佳上市时间的能力。测试的目标是为了查明项目是否在市场上有发展空间,以及电影的各项元素总和在一起是否能产生理想的商业价值。当然,这并不是要表明这样的市场判断是绝对正确或有实证意义的。


Many world famous hit projects that went on to box office success were widely rejected at the early or package stages, including Oscar winning films, such as The King's Speech. Others that appeared to appeal can fall at the final financing stage due to inherent problems and weaknesses that only become apparent at the point that financiers and distributors are forced to become partners and make commitments in order for a film to enter production. 

许多世界著名的热门电影项目也曾在开发或是打包阶段被否定过多次,包括像《国王的演讲》这样的奥斯卡获奖电影。其他一些看起来很吸引人的项目可能会在最后的融资阶段由于固有的问题和弱项而失败。这些问题和弱项只有在融资者和发行商被迫成为合作伙伴并缔结合约,以使电影进入制作阶段时才会显现出来。


Financiers and distributors ONLY READ ONCE. Sending out incomplete early drafts or projects without crucial elements such as director or key cast attached can waste executives’ time. A producer normally has one bite of the Cherry.

融资者和发行商只读一遍剧本。所以在缺乏类似导演和主演这样的关键元素时就把早期的剧本或项目发给他们看,可能就是在浪费他们的时间。通常,一个制片人只有一次机会。


Waiting until the screen plays well developed with strong attachments will normally pay considerable dividends. As Nick Manzi, experienced head of acquisitions at Lionsgate points out, I won't look at a film until it's got everything. I need to make an assessment including the cast, the director and the budget. Otherwise, I am wasting everyone's time, including my own. 

等到剧本发展成熟且确定好了导演演员再去和融资者和发行商沟通一般能保证更可观的结果。就如狮门娱乐公司的项目采购总监Nick Manzi所说:“如果一个电影项目不是万事俱备,我看都不会看一眼。因为我需要对包括主演、导演及预算在内的一切进行预估。不然,我就是在浪费大家和我自己的时间。”


So to recap, the important elements around a creative producer and their role and a financial producer, is the way that they combine. I think it's really important that people share different responsibilities and bring different skills to the same project. 

总结一下,关于创意制片人和财务制片人最为重要的一点就是这两者的兼容与配合。我认为人们共同分担不同的责任、为同一个项目带来不同的技能,是一件非常重要的事情。


This is complimentary and it means that people are working in an alignment of interest. That to me, is an essential part of being able to navigate the very complex film entertainment value chain. 

这是一种互补的行为,也就是说人们是为了共同的利益而奋斗。在我看来,通力合作、优势互补是对于实践电影娱乐价值链来说不可或缺的一部分。


My sense is that the creative producer needs to be very, very strong on being able to read scripts, to be able to read material, and being able to talk to writers and directors in a way that brings to bear their creative management skills. It's also important that the financial producer does not stretch too far into the creative process.

我觉得,创意制片人需要具备非常非常强的能力,不仅要能够阅读剧本和各种资料,还有能够在和作家和导演这样的创意人员沟通时发挥他们管理技能。而财务制片人不要太过干涉创意过程也是很重要的。


In other words, separated and clear roles can help a film production move forwards much more effectively than when people are a little bit confused, and like a football team, players are out of position.

也就是说,清晰的分工能让电影制作更有效地向前推进,而一个因为分工不明确而陷入困惑的制作团队如同一支队员站位错误的足球队。


That brings us to the end of this session on creative and financial producers. 

这节关于创意制片人和财务制片人的课到这里就结束了。


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