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What are we going to talk about and why ? 2
23 year old guy $ 7,225 (aprx 3.25 L)
14 days execution & after work
ROI > 28000 % in 2 years
Project ????? Small Mexican border town.
International fame
Many project offers $ 2,040,920 (aprx 9.1 cr) From poverty to riches
A study on ‘El Mariachi’ movie:
By Team 3: Lessons for Project Saurabh Kumar Chaubey (56) Srikanth Gali (60) Management Vinay Prabhakar (67) Success
3 4 Why El-Mariachi or any movie production is a project
They have a clear goal and purpose
They have a team of people with defined goals
All of the team needed to work together to achieve the goal.
There is a definite time constraint in terms of when the goal needed to be achieved 5 Attributes of film industry
Film industry deals with intangible product development
Shaped to directly address a deadline oriented business need
Require significant investments for large movies up to $100 million.
It is built against a specification open to change
It rely on specialized production protocols and technologies
Require the collaboration and integration of teams having specialized skills like Actors, technician, makeup artists
It require careful analysis, design, execution, and integration
It should be delivered with much attention to audience 6 Hollywood production system 7 Hollywood movie organization - crew
Director: storytelling, creative decisions, looking after acting
Assistant Director: shooting schedule, logistics of the production. Several types of AD - different responsibilities.
casting director: finds actors through actors audition
location manager: finds and manages film locations. Pictures are shot in the controllable environment of a studio sound stage.
production manager: production budget and production schedule
director of photography: cinematographer supervises the photography of the entire film
director of audiography: supervises the audiography of the entire film 8 More Crew….
production sound mixer
sound designer
Composer
art director
costume designer
makeup and hair designer
The storyboard artist creates visual images to help the director
The choreographer 9 ROI
Name of The Movie Budget Revenue ROI Lord of The rings $111 million $1.1 billion 1008% There’s Something About $31 million $370 million 1094% Mary The Hangover $36 million $467 million 1197% My Big Fat Greek Wedding $6 million $369 million 6050% E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial $25 million $793 million 3072% 3 Idiots $7.81 million $75.6 million 867.80% Ready $8.92 million $40.14 million 350% Enthiran $35 million $77 million 120% El Mariachi $7,225 $2.04 million 28148%
Source: International movie database, wikepedia and hollywood box office 10 El Mariachi
Mexican-American action film released in 1992
written, produced, directed, edited and cinematography done by a 23 year old Robert Rodriguez
Spanish movie shot in the northern Mexican border town of Acuna across from Del Rio, Texas
Most of the actors in the movie were his friends and relations who worked for free except the heroine and the movie was shot only in 14 days.
Budget Box office Return on collection Investment $ 7,225 $ 2,040,920 28,148 % 11 Way forward
He wanted to sell the movie it in the local Mexican video market
Dropped a trailer at Hollywood talent agency, International Creative Management(ICM). Robert Newman, director of special projects at ICM, was impressed with his work.
Columbia Pictures under John Singleton have signed Rodriguez for worldwide distribution rights of El Mariachi
Also signed 2 films as sequels to El Mariachi later released as ‘Desperado’ in 1995 and ‘Once upon a Time in Mexico’ in 2003.
12 Robert Rodriguez journey to El Mariachi
In his early childhood, Robert Rodriguez developed a passion for movies watching them at San Antonio revival Olmos Theatre with his mother.
Not good at studies in school
From Ray Harryhausen books, found he needed at least a 16 mm camera to make movies
He started making Claymation movies and little action comedy movies starring his few or all of his 9 siblings.
scholarship to join the University of Texas at Austin but he didn’t get a seat in film department because of his low GPA
3 short movies “David and his Sisters”, Waterlogged” and “Austin Stories” won few awards including National Third Coast Film and Video Festival based in Austin
“Bedhead” made for $ 800 starring his siblings had won him several first places among the fourteen film festivals 13 Money and the script work of “El Mariachi”
Drug test on his body at the drugs testing organization, Pharmco Research Hospital Hotline
Done before for 4 times for financial reasons
A speed healing drug test - 1 week - cutting biopsy out of his back arms leaving scars on his body
antidepressant drug test for 9 days for $ 1000 and to Camcorder.
4th time, for finance of “El Mariachi”, for $ 3000, for a 1 month study also written the script of “El Mariachi”.
Red 11 and some humiliating scenes 14 Project Selection
S.NO Project management Film industry jargon phase
1 Project Selection Deciding on the movie 1 Defining project Development 2 Project planning Pre-Production 3 Project execution Production & Post- Production
4 Project delivery Marketing & Distribution 15 •This risk was not there with the El Marichi project because it Technical Risk was a very low budget movie without much use of technology. •Also the success of the project was much dependent on the script and direction than on technology. •Also the techonology revolutions are not so drastic in Hollywood industry so that it would change in days. •As the investment is very less, the exposure to financial risk was also very less. •As Robert has discussed about the project costs with his professors at film school in advance, the chances of running Finacial Risk out of budget was also very less •Also even if the movie doesn't come well, the local spanish video market normal rate of offering for an average movie was more or than equal to the budget of th El Mariachi movie. •Robert has chose the hometown of his friend Carlos, Acuna, the city which they were aware, removing the safety risk to Safety Risk themselves and actors •Although they have used equipment like guns, they have took permission from mayor and have used them under the surveliance of police. •As Robert was a independent film maker and 'El Mariachi' was his debut movie, he had no reputation to put at stake •As Robert had written script well in advance after estimating Quality Risk the assets he possess, the chances of low quality has faded •Also after borrowing camera, he had enough sample videos covering the footage of his wife running to ensure quality 16 Commercial factors
• Robert taught that he would need atleast two movies for practice before making a good movie. Hence he was not expecting much ROI on the investment. But he was sure of getting more than 100 Expected ROI % ROI in local spanish video market • The chances of expected ROI getting down was very less because an average movie in the local market can be easily bought at $ 10,000 which was higher than budget of movie • Robert has planned to complete the shooting in 14 days only. He would few days for post production and then wanted to sell video in spanish market. Payback • As Robert has already worked for shooting the behind scenes for a movie in Acuna, he was well period aware of the no of days for the period. • the settlement in the industry was one time immediately after the delivery and hence El Mariachi had very good pay back period. Potential • Robert was not all looking to attract a market share of audience for his movie rather he was looking for Market share practise with minimun ROI. Operational risks 17
• Although all the actors were acting for the first time, Robert didn't want to train them beacause he felt that the trained artists may sound artificial. • Also he made script in such a way that it would be very easy for the new comers to follow without Need of training. training • he didn't share the total script with the team, he only explained scene they are supposed to act at that moment. • Also as the shooting length was only 14 days,
• All the actors in the movie except the heroine have Change in accepted to act for free which shows their spirit to team size work in the team. and • Most of the actors were his friends or relations composition • so there are very little chances for change in size and competition Change in • 14 days of shooting was too less to have any such environment changes or service 18 AHP:
Skill Time to absence Total Profit Potential Recognitio Alternatives Improvemen Market of risk Score (0.3) n (0.2) t (0.25) (0.05) (0.2) ST(0.2) LT(0.1)
Very Very El Mariachi 0.445 Fair Very Good Good Fair Good Good
Very Very Short movie 0.305 Fair Poor Good Good Good Good
other than 0.205 Good Good Fair Poor Fair Good movie
Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent Weightage 0 0.1 0.3 0.6 1 19 Favorable factors
Reality factor
Capable enough
Flexibility
Ease of use for the stakeholders
Cost Factor 20 21
Robert Rodriguez: A Leader
He is a motivating and inspiring leader
He is a problem solver, He leads to overcome challenges
He behaves with authenticity, fairness, honesty and care and hence was trusted
He had close harmony with his every team member 22
Robert Rodriguez: Project Manager
Robert was ultimately accountable for the success of the project.
Robert Prepared project plan and budget for it.
He with the help of his friends’ effectively acquired the resource for project.
He also Manage the project quality, risks and issues 23 Scope Management
“Project scope management is primarily concerned with defining and controlling what is and is not included in the project.”
Concept Development a) Problem/need statement b) Information gathering c) Constraints d) Alternative analysis e) Project objectives
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Scope Statement
a) Establishing the project goal criteria.
b) Cost
c)Schedule
d)Performance
e)Deliverables
f)review and approval gates
25 Scope management: Work Break down structure
Technic Concepti Cast PRODU Post Releasi al Crew Shooti on and Auditio CTION Product ng the appoint ng Funding n ion Movie ment Music/ Directi Lyrics Location on Script Lead Research Film Distribu and Casts Lyrics for Process tion Dialogu sound sound ing e Extra track Set Release Budgeti Casts Buildin Editing ng and costum g Schedul Music Locatio Sound e ing scoring n Editing Ameniti Ones Marketi Cinemat Locatio ng ography Recordi n ng Filming Session Post completion Review 26 Project Team
Carloos Garlodo(Lead Actor)
Steve Mims ( Expert Advisor)
Peter Marqauardt ( Bad guy in Film)
Lina Santos( Lead Actress)
Juan Suarez ( Music composer) 27
Risk Management 28 Risk Identification
Execution risk: While writing the script, Robert has written dialogues for all the actors except the heroine role Reinol was studying in a school how the things he kept on paper would actually look ok the real screen e.g movie guns and real guns Peter physically looked apt for the role of bad guy but couldn’t speak Spanish
Financial risk Film ordering Buying a guitar case
29 Technical risk Appropriate lighting for 16 mm camera No idea about the working of 16 mm camera
Commercial risk In the Spanish video market, the action movies with some Mexican soap opera actress would be sold for good price wanted to attract the crowd’s attention
Contractual risk: The UPS truck brings the film late and wastes shooting time On the last but one day to surrender the camera, Robert had few scenes to shoot in the sunset but rain spoils
30 Risk Mitigation strategies
Accepting Risk
Minimize Risk Script for the heroine after seeing the actor and assessing her He shot all the scenes of Reinol in the beginning To eliminate the problems with real guns, editing in such a way that make gun look as semi-automatic. As Peter couldn’t speak Spanish, he always passed slips in some way like cutting way to girl, keeping behind the boozing glass or phone etc ordering the film in small amounts at regular intervals rather than going for a one time buy.
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small city Acuna, he used 250 watt photoflood lights which are regular size light bulbs that fit in regular lamp socket and can give light at 3200° Kelvin
For practice, he shot the footage of his wife running around his apartment with aiming a shotgun at him. Both fast motion and slow motion and rehearsed the cutting.
Decided to jam pack the movie with action and a lot of movement and camera angles to make it look as expensive as possible and then fetch a good price.
He under cranked the camera and shot at 8fps instead of 24fps so that more light would hit the film on the last but one day.
32 Movie Cost and Budget
Actors: All actors were friend of Robert and worked without any pay so it saved him a lot of money.
Property, Guns, Cars, motorcycles, guitars
Equipment, Stock, sound : he used Camera Arri 16S, which was very noisy, so He had to use it very efficiently.
He used Kodak 16mm film. He had only 400 ft magazine, so it had to cancel shooting some less important scenes.
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El Mariachi was shot in Acuna, Mexico. The film was designed to be filmed on locations they could get for free.
They had to shoot everything in 14 days, So He had done lots of pre-planning to shoot within time.
34 Budget Approach
Bottom up approach
Budget Contingencies - - Project scope may change - Cost estimation must anticipate interaction cost - Normal conditions are rarely encountered. - Murphy’s Law is present.
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Final Budget spending on El Mariachi
Stock 12 400 ft Rolls Kodak 7292(Indoor) $1,140.00 13 400 ft Roll Kodak 7248(outdoor) $1,170.00 1 100 ft Test Roll (B+W) $146.00 Subtotal $2356 Processing 25,400 Ft Roll,( 13 c per foot) $1,300.00 1 100 ft Test Roll $23.00 Subtotal $1323.00 Miscellaneous 36
Acting Fees $225.00
Used Guitar Case $16.00
3 Sheets Diffuser Gels $15.00
25 Squibs $50.00
Blanks(Machine Gun) $50.00 Knick Knacks, Lens Cleaner Kit , Extra blub, etc $122.00 4 rolls 35 mm Production Still film $18.00
10 Maxell 11 Audio Cassettes $23.00
6 197 Ampex 3/4" BLA 60's $103.00
Subtotal $622.00
Post Production Video Transfer with overall Color Correction( 28c/ft) $ 2.824.00
Grand Total $7,225.00 37 Project Scheduling: Gantt Chart 38 Project Closeout
Film-Mex video - owner Mr. Frank Cinelli for selling his movie but they have not shown enough interest in the movie. Mex-American distributor and met Mr. Javier who on seeing the trailer offered $ 25,000 for the movie. But Robert has not immediately given away the offer and decided to wait for better value
Went to other distributors like Million Dollar Video, Tel-Star and Cine-Mex but none of them has shown enough interest in buying.
Million Dollar Video, they tried to pretend very busy and making a huge favour to Robert by buying his movie at a very cheaper rate. 39
Dropped a trailer at International Creative Management (ICM) the biggest talent agencies in the world.
The agent of ICM, Robert Newman was very impressed watching the trailer and his short film ‘bedhead’.
Soon the other members at ICM watched the movie and Robert became a well-known person at ICM.
The video got shared to other very big studios in the market and word of mouth publicity has spread across the industry.
Finally Columbia pictures heard bout Robert and shown willingness to take ‘El Mariachi’ and sign 2 more pictures.
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Finishing the work:
Columbia picyures paid about $ 250,000
The movie had to be converted into 35mm before releasing. Hence Robert had to do post production work again to convert the entire movie from 16 mm to 35 mm.
Although the Columbia offered him different music during the 35 mm blow up, he declined the offer saying that he wanted the movie to remain as a $ 7,000 budget movie.
He worked almost 14 hrs a day on the post production work to completely convert the 'El Mariachi' movie from 16 mm format to an 35 mm format.
41 Handling over the product:
As a 35 mm movie, he handed over the product to Columbia pictures.
Successfully shown at Telluride and Toronto film festival and sun dancing film festival got the comment ‘not getting to see such movies in recent times’.
Other distributors have approached Robert offering more money than Columbia pictures he rejected the offers.
Finally on February 1, 1993 the movie got released in the international market.
He has received endless calls from new channels, critics and audience who liked the movie very much. 1.5 million dollars’ worth of videos have been sold in the market. 42
Harvesting the benefits:
He has become a very famous name in the Hollywood industry with a single movie.
He got offer for continuing to make the Mariachi series of trilogy which he utilised later to make “Desperado” and “once upon a time in Mexico”.
He made an obscure little movie called ‘Roadracers’ a cool funny film to learn the 35 mm movie making and handling the Hollywood crew. 13 days - 586 camera
Started 10 minute film making principles
'El Mariachi' has turned out to be more mythical than ever Robert has imagined it could achieve.
43 Trailer video of Elmariachi
Roll the mouse over video and click to play 44 Reference 45
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