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59-855: Sigma Films is a film production company based in Glasgow, Scotland . The company was formed in 1996 by Gillian Berrie , David Mackenzie and Alastair Mackenzie – a producer, director and actor respectively. Over the last twenty years the company has been responsible for film releases including Starred Up (2013), Under the Skin (2013), Perfect Sense (2011), Hallam Foe (2007), Red Road (2006), Young Adam (2003) and Dear Frankie (2004). In 2017, Sigma began production on big-budget historical epic Outlaw King for Netflix. The company regularly co-produces films with international partners such as Lars von Trier's company Zentropa Entertainments – including Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005), After

118-420: A cast and crew of hundreds, while a low-budget, independent film may be made by a "skeleton crew" of eight or nine (or fewer). These are typical crew positions: In production, the film is created and shot. In this phase, it is key to keep planning ahead of the daily shoot. The primary aim is to stick to the budget and schedule, which requires constant vigilance. More crew will be recruited at this stage, such as

177-464: A certain appeal of the film to a possible audience. Not all films make a profit from the theatrical release alone, however, the studio mainly targets the opening weekend and the second weekend to make most domestic profits. Occasionally, a film called a "word of mouth film" does not market strongly but its success spreads by word of mouth. It slowly gains its audience. These are special circumstances and these films may remain in theaters for 5 months while

236-748: A charity providing opportunities in the screen industries to young people. Around 25 young people aged between 16 and 25 form a production company to make a professional, budgeted short film under an intensive programme mentored by the country's leading industry professionals. 75% of JUMPCUT's alumni go on to forge careers in the film industry. JUMPCUT's first film was sci-fi short Good Souls (2013), directed by Elizabeth Randon and starring Daniel Cahill, Finlay MacMillan, and Bobby Rainsbury. It premiered at goNORTH Festival in Inverness. The next batch of emerging filmmaker's made Dropping Off Michael (2015), starring Brian McCardie and his nephew Michael McCardie. The film

295-538: A film, create and edit the sound and music, and mix the final cut on a home computer. However, while the means of production may be democratized, financing, traditional distribution, and marketing remain difficult to accomplish outside the traditional system. In the past, most independent filmmakers have relied on film festivals (such as Sundance Film Festival , Venice Film Festival , Cannes Film Festival , and Toronto International Film Festivals ) to get their films noticed and sold for distribution and production. However,

354-441: A freelance job held by recent university graduates, does not feed scripts into the system that are ready for production nor already produced. "Coverage" is a way for young screenwriters to be read and their ideas might make their way up to an executive or famous producer and result in "meet and greets" where relations with up-and-comers can be formed. But it has not historically yielded ideas studios pursue into production. The studio

413-430: A green light may have protracted difficulties in making the transition to pre-production and enter a phase referred to as developmental hell for extended period of time or until developmental turnaround . Analogous to almost any business venture, financing of a film project deals with the study of filmmaking as the management and procurement of investments . It includes the dynamics of assets that are required to fund

472-415: A pairing of producers with writers , where they develop a "take", a basic story idea that utilizes the concept given by studio executives. Often it is a competition with several pairings meeting with studio executives and "pitching" their "take". Very few writing jobs are from original ideas brought to studios by producers or writers. Perhaps one movie a year will be a "spec" script that was purchased. Once

531-526: A production and post-production facility located in the old Govan Town Hall . The project was inspired by a trip to Zentropa's 'filmbyen' ('film city' in Danish) in 2000, a film studio complex located in Hvidovre just outside Copenhagen, Denmark. At that time Glasgow desperately needed a production base for both indigenous and visiting productions. With the help of Helena Ward, Steve Inch and Lenny Crooks, Berrie secured

590-601: A sequel. They will additionally acquire a completed and independently financed and produced film. Such notable examples are Little Miss Sunshine , The English Patient , and Roma . Studios hold general meetings with producers and screenwriters about original story ideas. "In my decade working as a writer, I knew of only a few that were sold and fewer that made it to the screen," relays writer Wayne Powers. Alan Watt, writer-director and Founder of The LA Writer's Lab confirmed that completed original screenplays, referred to as "specs", make big news when they sell, but these make up

649-418: A typical film run is closer to 5 weekends. Further earnings result from pay television purchases, foreign market purchases and DVD sales to establish worldwide distribution gross of a film. Once a screenplay is "green-lit", directors and actors are attached and the film proceeds into the pre-production stage, although sometimes development and pre-production stages will overlap. Projects which fail to obtain

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708-445: A very small portion of movies that are ultimately given the green light to be produced by the president of a studio. The executives return from the retreat with fairly well-established instructions. They spread these concepts through the industry community, especially to producers they have deals with (traditional studios will have those producers in offices on their lots). Also, agents for screenwriters are made aware. This results in

767-636: A voluntary therapist in a London prison. The film was critically acclaimed and won numerous awards including the BAFTA Scotland 2014 Best Film and Best Director Awards, seven BIFA nominations and holds a remarkable 99% Rotten Tomatoes score. Sigma also co-produced Jonathan Glazer 's multi-award winning Under the Skin (2013) starring Scarlett Johansson . The majority of the film was shot undercover with hidden cameras and non-actors in real locations in Scotland. The film had its World Premiere at Telluride at

826-479: Is customary for the production office to arrange a wrap party , to thank all the cast and crew for their efforts. For the production phase on live-action films , synchronizing work schedules of key cast and crew members is very important. For many scenes, several cast members and many crew members must be physically present at the same place at the same time (and bankable stars may need to rush from one project to another). Animated films have different workflow at

885-749: Is directed by Icelandic filmmaker Olaf de Fleur Johannesson. In late 2016, Sigma begun work on a TV pilot called Damnation for the USA Network which is directed by Mackenzie and exec produced by Berrie . Described as an epic saga of the secret history of the 1930s American heartland, it chronicles the mythic conflict and bloody struggle between big money and the downtrodden, God and greed, charlatans and prophets. The show stars Logan Marshall-Green and Killian Scott . Tony Tost , James Mangold , David Mackenzie , Gillian Berrie and Entertainment 360s Guymon Casady and Daniel Rappaport executive produce for Universal Cable Productions . In May 2017, Damnation

944-454: Is drawn up to plan expenditures for the film. For major productions, insurance is procured to protect against accidents. Pre-production also includes working out the shoot location and casting process. The Producer hires a Line Manager or a Production Manager to create the schedule and budget for the film. The nature of the film, and the budget, determine the size and type of crew used during filmmaking. Many Hollywood blockbusters employ

1003-882: Is producing the historical epic which will be released internationally on Netflix. Over the years, Sigma Films has also produced a number of up and coming director's short films including Johnny Barrington – Trout (2007) & Terra Firma (2008), Paddy Considine – Dog Altogether (2007), Jane Linfoot – Seaview (2013), and Colin Kennedy – I Love Luci (2010). As well as nurturing writing and directing talent, Sigma regularly brings on new producers and has mentored Brian Coffey – Hush (2017), Swung (2015), The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015), Starred Up (2013), Citadel (2012), and I Love Luci (2010), and inspired Anna Duffield – Trout (2007), Dog Altogether (2007), Terra Firma (2008), Seaview (2013) & Donkeys (2010) . Gillian Berrie founded Film City Glasgow,

1062-404: Is the film distributor who at an early stage attempts to choose a slate of concepts that are likely to have market appeal and find potential financial success. Hollywood distributors consider factors such as the film genre , the target audience and assumed audience, the historical success of similar films, the actors who might appear in the film, and potential directors. All these factors imply

1121-533: Is the endless close-ups of hammering bodyparts without a story. Von Trier is the first to have realised this and produced valuable quality porn films for women. Zentropa's initiative spearheaded a European wave of female-friendly porn films from directors such as Anna Span , Erika Lust and Petra Joy , while von Trier's company Zentropa was forced to abandon the experiment due to pressure from its English business partners. In July 2009, women's magazine Cosmopolitan ranked Pink Prison as No. 1 in its Top Five of

1180-460: Is up!" to inform everyone that a take is about to be recorded, and then "quiet, everyone!" Once everyone is ready to shoot, the AD calls "roll sound" (if the take involves sound), and the production sound mixer will start their equipment, record a verbal slate of the take's information, and announce "sound speed", or just "speed", when they are ready. The AD follows with "roll camera", answered by "speed!" by

1239-601: The Advance Party Project created from an idea by Gillian Berrie , Sisse Graum Jorgensen , and Lars von Trier . Advance Party was specifically designed to break feature film debutant directors into the industry and produced Andrea Arnold 's Red Road (2006) and Morag MacKinnon 's Donkeys (2010). Both films star a mixture of the same characters and cast including Kate Dickie , Martin Compston , Natalie Press , Tony Curran and James Cosmo . Red Road played in

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1298-610: The Palme d'Or competition at Cannes Film Festival in 2006, winning the Jury Prize , whilst Donkeys won Best Film at the 2011 BAFTA Scotland Awards. Gillian and David's second feature film collaboration was Hallam Foe (2007), starring Jamie Bell and Sophia Myles . It won many awards including a Silver Bear in Berlin 2007, the Golden Hitchcock and Kodak Award for Cinematography at

1357-438: The film editor reviewing the footage with the director and assembling the film out of selected takes. The production sound (dialogue) is also edited; music tracks and songs are composed and recorded if a film is intended to have a score; sound effects are designed and recorded. Any computer-generated visual effects are digitally added by an artist . Finally, all sound elements are mixed down into "stems", which are synchronized to

1416-432: The internet has allowed for the relatively inexpensive distribution of independent films on websites such as YouTube . As a result, several companies have emerged to assist filmmakers in getting independent movies seen and sold via mainstream internet marketplaces, often adjacent to popular Hollywood titles. With internet movie distribution, independent filmmakers who choose to forego a traditional distribution deal now have

1475-481: The property master , script supervisor , assistant directors, stills photographer , picture editor , and sound editors . These are the most common roles in filmmaking; the production office will be free to create any unique blend of roles to suit the various responsibilities needed during the production of a film. Communication is key between the location, set, office, production company, distributors and all other parties involved. A typical day shooting begins with

1534-519: The 2015 Scottish BAFTAs . Coffey also produced director Colin Kennedy's first-feature, Swung (2015), starring Elena Anaya , Owen McDonnell and Elizabeth McGovern also premiered at EIFF and received nominations at the BAFTA Scotland Awards. Coffey's latest production, supernatural horror film Hush (2017), stars Florence Pugh , Ben Lloyd-Hughes and Celia Imrie . The film was made in association with L.A. based Thruline Entertainment and

1593-872: The 65,000 square foot building which was the original Govan Town Hall and raised £3.5 million for its redevelopment. Film City is home to post-production companies Serious and Savalas (and their Dolby theatre) and production companies including Keo, Finestripe and Hopscotch. The University of the West of Scotland also has a base there. It has also been used as a studio for film and television productions including; Jon S. Baird 's Filth (2013), Lynne Ramsay 's Ratcatcher (1999), David Mackenzie 's Hallam Foe (2007), Shona Auerbach 's Dear Frankie (2004), BBC 's Mrs Brown's Boys , Frankie Boyle 's Tramadol Nights , WWII zombie trilogy Outpost (2008–2013), Idris Elba starring Legacy (2010) and most recently supernatural horror film Hush (2017). Sigma founded JUMPCUT,

1652-472: The Dinard Festival of British Cinema 2007, and the 2008 National Board of Review Award for Top Independent Film, as well as numerous other nominations including for Bell and Myles' performances. Sigma and Zentropa collaborated again to make David Mackenzie 's sixth feature film, sci-fi romance Perfect Sense (2011). The film follows a burgeoning romance between Ewan McGregor and Eva Green against

1711-567: The First Draft. Preliminary discussions are minimal with studio executives but might be quite detailed with the producer. Next, a screenwriter writes a screenplay over a period of several months, or however long it takes. Deadlines are in their contracts but there is no pressure to adhere to them. Again, every writer's process and speed vary. The screenwriter may rewrite the script several times to improve dramatization, clarity, structure, characters, dialogue, and overall style. Script Coverage,

1770-678: The US] starring Luke Treadaway and Natalie Tena . Astonishingly it was filmed over four and a half days at the Scottish music festival T in the Park in 2010 where the cast and crew had to adopt a kind of guerrilla filmmaking approach to shoot amidst the chaos of a music festival alongside over 100,000 revellers. It premiered at both T in the Park in 2011 and at Austin's SXSW . Sigma's Brian Coffey collaborated with Irish production company Blinder Films to produce Ciaran Foy 's Citadel (2012). Foy's involvement in

1829-494: The Wedding (2006), Dear Wendy (2004), Brothers (2004) and Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002). Sigma have their production and post-production facility at Film City Glasgow. Gillian Berrie began by making David Mackenzie 's short films California Sunshine (1997) and Somersault (2000) before she went on to produce Mackenzie's debut feature The Last Great Wilderness (2002). The film stars Alastair Mackenzie and

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1888-406: The ability to reach global audiences. Zentropa Zentropa , or Zentropa Entertainments , is a Danish film company started in 1992 by director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen . Zentropa is named after the train company Zentropa in the film Europa (1991), which started the collaboration between von Trier and Jensen. It has produced over 70 feature films and has become

1947-548: The advent of home video in the late 1970s, most major films have followed a pattern of having several distinct release windows. A film may first be released to a few select cinemas , or if it tests well enough , may go directly into wide release . Next, it is released, normally at different times several weeks (or months) apart, into different market segments like rental , retail , pay-per-view , in-flight entertainment , cable television , satellite television , or free-to-air broadcast television. The distribution rights for

2006-486: The backdrop of a global epidemic of people losing their senses one by one. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and picked up numerous awards at film festivals around the world including Edinburgh , Bratislava and Philadelphia International Film Festivals. Immediately after Perfect Sense , Mackenzie directed the comedy musical You Instead (2011) [released as Tonight You're Mine in

2065-448: The best women's porn, calling it the "role model for the new porn-generation". In November 2017, in the wake of the Me Too movement , nine women – all former employees at Zentropa – spoke of an "ingrained" culture of abuse at the studio. Several of those interviewed said that their treatment had prompted them to stop working in the film industry altogether. Jensen, the company's co-founder,

2124-409: The camera and sound stop recording. The script supervisor will note any continuity issues, and the sound and camera teams log technical notes for the take on their respective report sheets. If the director decides additional takes are required, the whole process repeats. Once satisfied, the crew moves on to the next camera angle or "setup", until the whole scene is "covered." When shooting is finished for

2183-419: The camera operator once the camera is recording. The clapper loader , who is already in front of the camera with the clapperboard , calls "marker!" and slaps it shut. If the take involves extras or background action, the AD will cue them ("action background!"), and last is the director, telling the actors "action!". The AD may echo "action" louder on large sets. A take is over when the director calls "Cut!" and

2242-424: The crew arriving on the set/location by their call time. Actors usually have their own separate call times. Since set construction, dressing and lighting can take many hours or even days, they are often set up in advance. The grip , electric and production design crews are typically a step ahead of the camera and sound departments: for efficiency's sake, while a scene is being filmed, they are already preparing

2301-615: The development process proceeds from there and how much detail a writer returns to the studio to divulge before beginning writing can vary greatly. Screenwriters are often protected by the union, the Writers Guild of America , or WGA. The WGA allows a screenwriter to contract for One Draft, One Revision, and One Polish. Bob Eisle, Writer and Member of the Guild Board, states, "Additional writing requires an extension of contracts and payment for additional work". They are paid 80% of their fee after

2360-403: The film are also usually sold for worldwide distribution. The distributor and the production company share profits and manage losses. Filmmaking also takes place outside of the mainstream and is commonly called independent filmmaking . Since the introduction of DV technology, the means of production have become more democratized and economically viable. Filmmakers can conceivably shoot and edit

2419-622: The film is advertised and promoted . A B-roll clip may be released to the press based on raw footage shot for a "making of" documentary, which may include making-of clips as well as on-set interviews separate from those of the production company or distributor. For major films, key personnel are often contractually required to participate in promotional tours in which they appear at premieres and festivals and sit for interviews with many TV, print, and online journalists. The largest productions may require more than one promotional tour, in order to rejuvenate audience demand at each release window. Since

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2478-455: The film is carefully designed and planned. This is the phase where one would narrow down all the options of the production. It is where all the planning takes place before the camera rolls and sets the overall vision of the project. The production company is created and a production office established. The film is pre-visualized by the director and may be storyboarded with the help of illustrators and concept artists . A production budget

2537-520: The film was a result of Advance Party II. The film stars Aneurin Barnard and James Cosmo and it premiered at SXSW 2012 where it won the Midnighter Audience Award. Next, Sigma produced Starred Up (2013), again directed by David Mackenzie and starring Jack O'Connell alongside Ben Mendelsohn and Rupert Friend . The story is based upon writer Jonathan Asser's real-life experiences as

2596-586: The filmmaking and liabilities incurred during the filmmaking over the time period from early development through the management of profits and losses after distribution under conditions of different degrees of uncertainty and risk. The practical aspects of filmmaking finance can also be defined as the science of the money management of all phases involved in filmmaking. Film finance aims to price assets based on their risk level and their expected rate of return based upon anticipated profits and protection against losses. In pre-production, every step of actually creating

2655-486: The images on the screen, and the film is fully completed ("locked"). Distribution is the last stage, where the film is released in movie theaters or, occasionally, directly to consumer media ( VHS , VCD , DVD , Blu-ray ) or direct download from a digital media provider. The film is duplicated as required (either onto film or hard disk drives ) and distributed in cinemas for exhibition (screening). Press kits, posters, and other advertising materials are published, and

2714-675: The largest film production company in Scandinavia. It owns a number of subsidiary companies in Europe. Zentropa is also responsible for creating a large studio complex called Filmbyen (Film City), where both Zentropa and many other film-related companies are located. Zentropa may be best known for creating the Dogme 95 movement, leading to such acclaimed films as Idioterne (1998), Festen (1998) and Mifunes sidste sang (1999). In 1998, von Trier made history by having his company Zentropa to be

2773-572: The media and real life, as well as many other sources, to determine their yearly agenda. For example, in a year when action is popular, they may wish to explore that topic in one or more movies. Sometimes, they purchase the rights to articles, bestselling novels, plays , the remaking of older films , stories with some basis in real life through a person or event, a video game , fairy tale , comic book , graphic novel . Likewise, research through surveys may inform their decisions. They may have had blockbusters from their previous year and wish to explore

2832-441: The next one. While the crew prepares their equipment, the actors do their costumes and attend the hair and make-up departments. The actors rehearse the script and blocking with the director, and the camera and sound crews rehearse with them and make final tweaks. Finally, the action is shot in as many takes as the director wishes. Most American productions follow a specific procedure: The assistant director (AD) calls "picture

2891-416: The next shooting day. Later on, the director, producer, other department heads, and, sometimes, the cast, may gather to watch that day or yesterday's footage, called dailies , and review their work. With workdays often lasting fourteen or eighteen hours in remote locations, film production tends to create a team spirit . When the entire film is "in the can", or in the completion of the production phase, it

2950-784: The producer and writer have sold their approach to the desired subject matter, they begin to work. However, many writers and producers usually pass before a particular concept is realized in a way that is awarded a green light to production. Production of Unforgiven , which earned Oscars for its Director/Star Clint Eastwood , as well as its screenwriter, David Webb Peoples, required fifteen years. Powers related that The Italian Job took approximately eight years from concept to screen, which, as Powers added, "is average." And most concepts turned into paid screenplays wind up gathering dust on some executive's shelf, never to see production. Writers have different styles and creative processes; some have stronger track records than others. Because of this, how

3009-461: The production phase, in that voice actors can record their takes in the recording studio at different times and may not see one another until the film's premiere. Animated films also have different crew, since most physical live-action tasks are either unnecessary or are simulated by various types of animators . This stage is usually thought of as starting when principal photography ends, but they may overlap. The bulk of post-production consists of

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3068-399: The same time as Starred Up , then played Venice Film Festival and has since won over 20 awards and 90 nominations all over the world. More recently, Brian Coffey at Sigma produced Robert Carlyle 's directorial debut The Legend of Barney Thomson starring Carlyle , Emma Thompson and Ray Winstone . The film opened the 2015 Edinburgh International Film Festival and won Best Film at

3127-439: The scene, the assistant director declares a "wrap" or "moving on", and the crew will "strike", or dismantle, the set for that scene. At the end of the day, the director approves the next day's shooting schedule and a daily progress report is sent to the production office. This includes the report sheets from continuity, sound, and camera teams. Call sheets are distributed to the cast and crew to tell them when and where to turn up

3186-596: The use of film , most film productions are now digital . Today, filmmaking refers to the process of crafting an audio-visual story commercially for distribution or broadcast. Film production consists of five major stages: The development stage contains both general and specific components. Each film studio has a yearly retreat where their top creative executives meet and interact on a variety of areas and topics they wish to explore through collaborations with producers and screenwriters, and then ultimately, directors , actors, and actresses. They choose trending topics from

3245-615: The world's first mainstream film company to produce hardcore pornographic films , under the division Puzzy Power . Three of these films, Constance (1998), Pink Prison (1999), and the adult/mainstream crossover-feature All About Anna (2005), were made primarily for a female audience and were extremely successful in Europe, with the first two being directly responsible for the legalising of pornography in Norway in March 2006. Women too like to see other people having sex. What they don't like

3304-539: Was co-produced by Zentropa and premiered in Toronto in 2002. Following their first feature, David Mackenzie directed Young Adam (2003) starring Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton . The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2003 in the Un Certain Regard competition and won Best Film and Best Director at the 2003 BAFTA Scotland Awards. Meanwhile, Sigma strengthened links with co-producer Zentropa , developing

3363-610: Was directed by Zam Salim and picked up the audience award at the Glasgow Short Film Festival and a nomination for Best Short Film at the BAFTA Scotland 2015 Awards. JUMPCUT's latest production, Misgivings (2016) was filmed in May 2016 at Film City Glasgow and is directed by Adrian Mead. The film was written by Jahvel Hall, starring Kathryn Howden and Scott Reid. Film production Although filmmaking originally involved

3422-600: Was picked up to series by the USA Network and will be released by Netflix outside of the US. In 2017, production began on David Mackenzie's tenth feature, Outlaw King . The film stars Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce , with Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing James Douglas , Florence Pugh playing Elizabeth de Burgh and Billy Howle as Edward, the Prince of Wales . Sigma Films' Gillian Berrie

3481-573: Was specifically accused of sexual misconduct and sidelined from operations. An internal memo stated that he would no longer exercise "influence on the daily leadership of the company [and] will not partake in any management meetings." According to von Trier, Jensen stepped down and passed to Anders Kjaerhauge as CEO of Zentropa when the former's further allegations of harassment came to light. Zentropa won many awards and nominations from local ceremonies including Robert and Bodil , as well as two Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for In

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