Finance plan · waterfall recoupment · investor returns · PDF export
Prototype v1
Project
The name of your project. Appears on the cover of the generated PDF report.
Your all-in production budget in USD. Every percentage input on this page calculates off this master figure.
Director's name — appears on the PDF cover page. No calculation impact.
Producer's name — appears on the PDF cover page. No calculation impact.
Co-producer 1 (territory 1)
The headline tax credit or rebate rate in Co-Producer 1's territory. e.g. 33% UK HETV, 25% Irish Section 481, 30% Australian PDV, 25% QPPR.
The portion of the total budget spent in Co-Producer 1's territory that qualifies for the rebate. Typically 60–80% for co-productions.
The lender's fee to advance the rebate before it is paid by the tax authority. Typically 10–20% of the gross rebate. Net rebate = gross rebate minus this fee.
Co-producer 2 (territory 2)
Tax rebate rate for the second co-producing territory. Set to 0% if there is no second co-producer.
Portion of the total budget qualifying for Co-Producer 2's rebate. Set to 0% if there is no second co-producer.
Lender fee to monetise Co-Producer 2's rebate early. Same logic as Co-Producer 1.
Pre-sales / minimum guarantee
Total contracted or projected pre-sales / MG as a % of budget. e.g. 45% on a $10M film = $4.5M gross MG. Net to cash-flow is calculated after deducting commission, WHT, CA fee, and finance fees.
Sales agent's commission on the gross MG, deducted before the net flows to production. Typically 10–15%.
Bank or lender's fee for discounting / advancing the MG. Expressed as a % of the gross MG. Typically 15–25% depending on lender and territory risk.
GAP finance & equity
GAP bridges the remaining funding shortfall by lending against unsold territory rights. Typically 10–20% of budget. Set to 0% if no GAP is required.
GAP lender's interest or facility fee as a % of the GAP principal. Typically 15–25%. Reduces the net contribution of GAP to the capital stack.
Private equity already committed or being raised, as a % of budget. Excludes soft money and rebates. The model will calculate the remaining balancing equity still required.
Fees deferred by cast or crew until revenues are received. Treated as a soft equity contribution to the capital stack. Expressed as a % of budget.
Foreign sales & distribution
The sales agent's high estimate of total achievable foreign sales across all unsold territories. The model runs this at 100% / 70% / 50% / custom % to stress-test the waterfall.
Sets the fourth waterfall scenario column. e.g. 40% means only 40% of the projected foreign sales estimate is assumed to be achieved. Useful for deep downside stress-testing.
Sales agent's ongoing commission on foreign territory receipts flowing through the collection account. Typically 12.5–20%. Deducted in Tier 3 of the waterfall.
Blended withholding tax rate across territories. Varies significantly by country — 1% is conservative for a mixed slate. Can be 5–10% for specific territories such as Japan or Korea.
Fee charged by the collection account manager (e.g. Fintage House, Freeway Entertainment) on all gross receipts. Typically 1–2%. Deducted first — Tier 1 of the waterfall.
Fixed amount charged by the sales agent for market expenses — Cannes, AFM, EFM screenings, travel, materials. Typically $50K–$150K depending on film profile and sales strategy.
Waterfall parameters
Contractual annual return on equity invested, paid to investors before profit sharing begins. Typically 15–20% p.a. Applied in Tier 7 of the waterfall on capital recouped.
Reserve withheld for US guild residuals (SAG-AFTRA, DGA, WGA) under a CAMA. Typically 5–10% of gross. Set to 0% for non-US productions with no guild obligations.
Producer's priority share of net profit taken before the backend pool opens to investors and talent. Typically 25–50%. Negotiated in the investor term sheet.
Assumed number of years from investment to revenue receipt — used to calculate the simplified IRR. Typically 2–3 years from greenlight to first meaningful sales receipts.
Backend profit participation — splits must total 100%
Investors' share of the net profit pool after the producer corridor has been taken. Typically 40–60% depending on deal structure.
Producer's backend share. Talent participations and co-producer backend obligations are typically paid from within this pool.
Talent's direct backend participation — only if they have a gross or net deal direct with the collection account. Set to 0% if their backend is paid from within the producer's pool.
Anticipated Theatrical Release Projections
Toggle on to unlock box office P&L — domestic BO and ancillary revenues will flow into the top of the waterfall
Toggle ON if the film has a theatrical release. This unlocks the box office P&L section and routes domestic box office receipts and ancillary revenues (VOD, Pay TV, streaming) into Tier 0 of the waterfall.
Optimistic domestic box office gross. Maps to the 100% waterfall scenario. Ancillary revenues (VOD, Pay TV, streaming, international) are calculated automatically from this figure.
Base case domestic box office gross. Maps to the Medium (70%) waterfall scenario.
Conservative domestic box office gross. Maps to the Take (50%) waterfall scenario.
Downside domestic box office gross. Maps to the Custom scenario column.
Exhibitor's share of gross domestic box office. Typically 50%. The remainder (net BO) is used as the basis for calculating ancillary revenue streams.
Total P&A (prints and advertising) spend in dollars. Typically $150K–$500K for limited/platform releases, $500K–$3M for wide releases. Deducted as a fixed distribution cost before producer receipts.
Distributor's commission on total box office and ancillary revenues combined. Typically 15–25% depending on deal structure (output deal vs territory deal).