A project begins with a group of creative people who craft an idea for a film or television production that they believe will resonate with viewers.

With a compelling script idea, the producer begins development. This phase involves extensive rewriting until it is built into a final screenplay or teleplay. The script development sets both the creative tone and the financial tone for the project. The producer must also raise financing for production; negotiate agreements for locations, actors and equipment. This financing comes from a variety of sources – individuals, private funds, and the presale of a project’s distribution rights. Many times these presales are to one buyer like a major studio, which could offer financing for a project in return for complete ownership and control of the project upon its completion.

During the production phase, the script is committed to film. This phase involves monumental coordination of hiring staff, scouting and securing film sites, ordering equipment, and costuming and capturing the plot on film. This phase can last anywhere from a few weeks to many months.

Once a project has been filmed, it moves to post-production where attention turns to picture editing, sound and music composition. The production and post-production phases are capital intensive, requiring significant financing and state of the art technology and facilities.

Once a film is complete, it must be marketed and distributed. This phase is the key to the economic viability of a project. Marketing and distribution campaigns can be either “guerrilla” strategies, where producers self-distribute directly to cinemas and broadcasters, or multi-million dollar marketing efforts by distributors.

The final phase of a film is the exhibition, where the finished product is presented to the viewing audience. The most popular exhibitions are the theatrical release through a cinema, DVD release or broadcast television. However, increasingly important platforms for exhibition include film festivals, DVD, video-on-demand, satellite, internet, mobile phones and a variety of personal viewing technologies.