Film & TV Production Finance: Budgets, Recoupment & Box Office Waterfall
Finance a fictional independent feature: build the top sheet, stack equity, presales, tax incentive and gap loan, schedule the cash, split the box office, then run the recoupment waterfall, the break-even and four scenarios, in 8 graded labs.
The first lesson is free — no account needed.
About this course
A film and TV production finance course that finances one fictional independent feature from top sheet to backend in a spreadsheet, for independent producers, film finance and business affairs staff, film school students and investors in film projects. You total the above- and below-the-line budget with contingency and the completion bond fee, stack equity, presales, a tax incentive and a gap loan into a finance plan and test the gap against the lender's limit, schedule costs and drawdowns over six periods and size the bridge financing, split the weekly domestic box office between cinemas and the distributor, lay out and discount the revenue windows, run gross receipts down the recoupment waterfall to the backend split, work the waterfall backwards to the break-even box office and compare four scenarios from flop to upside. Illustrative terms and figures, educational only, not investment or legal advice. The first lab is free.
Lessons
- Budget Top Sheet: Above & Below the Line, Contingency & FeesFree
- Financing Plan: Equity, Presales, Tax Incentive & Gap Loan Pro
- Production Cash-Flow Schedule & Bridge Financing Pro
- Box Office to Distributor Rentals: the Weekly Exhibitor Split Pro
- Revenue Windows: Theatrical, Streaming, TV, International & Timing Pro
- The Recoupment Waterfall: Who Gets Paid, in Which Order Pro
- Break-Even Box Office: Working the Waterfall Backwards Pro
- Scenario Comparison: Flop, Downside, Base & Upside Pro