Financiar un largometraje

A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation for Spanish vocational training (Formacion Profesional), module 0916 Gestion de proyectos de cine, video y multimedia of the Tecnico Superior en Produccion de Audiovisuales y Espectaculos (Real Decreto 1681/2011).

The learner is Nerea Basarrate, a newly qualified assistant to the executive producer of a small production company who builds and runs the financing plan and the cash of a fictional low-budget feature film: a 2 million euro budget, six layers of financing (own money, the State production aid, the tax incentive through investors, a minority coproducer, a presale and a product placement) and 270,000 euros uncovered, from January to December 2027.

Four situations set the film's course: January, and how the financing plan is built (by layers, each with the date on which it pays, against a monthly cash plan, not built on the State aid without checking when it is paid) and what is done with the rights (the television rights presold under a contract the bank accepts, not every right sold now to a platform); April, before the shoot, and how the cash of the shoot is covered (a bridge loan that discounts the aid resolution and the presale, with a weekly cash plan) and what is done with the product placement (a written contract with brands that fit the story); May, after the shoot, and how the gap of the post-production is covered (discounted with the bank, not an investor who recovers 150 per cent first) and how the overrun and the cost audit are handled (real invoices); and October, and how the windows are ordered and the receipts shared (a recoupment order in writing).

Two critical errors cap the round: holding back the crew's wages and inflating the certified cost. Some mistakes look fine on the day and come back later through the dates each layer pays. KPIs: financing covered on time, production and financial cost, own capital at risk and days of cash in the red. Lesson: a film is financed in layers, and each layer pays at a different moment. Spanish primary, English parity.

Fictional company, film, town and people; real curriculum and rules cited.

An introductory simulation that assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, designed for undergraduate courses. It also works in vocational and high-school programmes and in onboarding sessions.