S$200,000

Just heard from Colin and Yen Yen that their film Singapore Dreaming grossed S$450,000 (USD 300,000) after a 9 week run in Singapore. Colin mentioned in their blog that this was the highest grossing non-Mediacorp Singapore film. Their qualification refers to the fact that they did not have the marketing nor distribution clout of Mediacorp, the mega media conglomerate in Singapore. However, they did have the backing of another, albeit smaller conglomerate in Golden Village who threw their heft behind this release, opening it in 18 screens with posters, trailers and marquees everywhere. No expense was spared by Golden Village for this Singapore film.

That Singapore Dreaming grossed S$450,000 with their help provides interesting information for me, a producer and director who wants to make work about and for Singaporeans. Of course the gross may be more than $450,000 at the end of the day after you factor in DVD sales, TV sales, overseas sales etc. So let’s say, the gross, after three years is S$500,000.

My conclusion is this, if I wanted to make an independent non-Mediacorp feature film whose primary market is Singapore, one that has mass appeal, something you can bring your whole family to, then, if I want to BREAK EVEN, the film must not cost more than S$200,000 to produce.

How did I arrive at $200,000? Of the $500,000 that they will have grossed, I conjecture that more than half will go to distributor fees, hall hire fees as well as marketing costs eg organising press screenings, conferences, buying ad space, printing posters, striking 18 prints, making DVD/press kits,
So, what can one produce for $200,000? In this day an age when people boast that they can make a feature for $300, $200,000, seems alot of money. But I don’t refer to those kind of films, I refer to the films where the crew/actors are paid a fair wage, that the production actually has insurance for them. It would have to be shot on video (DVCam?) with small lighting kit and skeletal grip equipment. The should will likely be about 3 weeks, shot in Singapore or Malaysia, be a contemporary small scale plot oriented drama about anything as along as its is enjoyable, has mass appeal, something you can bring your whole family to watch. As usual, for this kind of industrial narrative-focused production, script and actors are key. So films along the lines of Sepet, Iranian children’s films would probably be do-able for this budget and have a good chance of opening in 10-18 screens. Or you could make a ghost movie though you can’t have a period drama, special effects, car chases, helicopter shots, no not for $200,000.

If you want to attempt something more edgy or adventurous in terms of structure or content, may be documentaries, I say just gather a group a friends and start shooting. So that even if it doeesn’t get released, or goes straight to video, you don’t lose your trousers and you don’t have to be too burdened about ensuring a return on investment for your backers and more importantly, you had fun while you were doing it