Why Production Value?

Production Value aims to transfer knowledge and experience in the areas of scheduling & budgeting and beyond.

At the heart of Production Value is the firm conviction that it is beneficial for the European film industry to combine the respective experience of “creative partners” (producers and directors) and “operational partners” (line producers/production managers and first assistant directors), also in the interest of the film project itself.

In European filmmaking, funding is often insufficient to fully realise the creative vision of the director and the producer. All too often it is too late when directors and producers realise that there is a serious gap between the estimated cost of their film and the funding they have been able to raise. Line producers and assistant directors are the key people who bridge the gap between creative vision and feasibility. They can offer creative solutions if they are informed early enough and clearly enough about the bare facts of a production. They also have a vast experience in evaluating and handling difficult shooting situations, in securing a shoot even under extreme conditions. For this reason, producers and directors should consider them as creative partners and not only as operational staff. It is in this spirit that the Directors Guild of America has opened its membership to assistant directors and unit production managers.

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Production Value professionalises and supports upcoming line producers and assistant directors to be able to cope with the various challenges and tasks. The participants will learn about the enormous benefits that early budgeting and scheduling can have for medium and high budgets projects. Creating a reliable plan should be a priority for producers and directors, as it is easy to make mistakes, particularly when venturing outside of one’s national film production territory. Moreover, given the recent development of regional funds and tax funds — despite the jungle of criteria and rules — preliminary plans can bring in money.