Producing : Packaging a $30M NYC Romance Thriller — Budget Locked — 100% US Based — NY Credit Tips? by Rethabile Masia

At that budget level, I’d be careful about locking the budget before the financing structure and co-production partners are clearer. Have you already mapped which elements of the $20M–$50M spend could realistically qualify for incentives in each territory?

Hi Rethabile -- let's set some expectations on this, and you will not like some of the things I say. First, if you do not have a track record in motion pictures, no one from the USA will invest in your movie, UNLESS you have major A-list talent (then they'll take a look). Next, your budget is $20M - $50M - that's $30M gap range so right away the investors will know that you do not know what you're doing. Set a budget, and lead with that number (but first, you must have a shooting schedule because the budget is based on the shooting schedule). IMAX? Why are you bringing up IMAX? Shooting on IMAX only drives up your budget. And finally, looking at points 1 - 4 that you've listed: if you're asking for answers, information, or details, then this is a huge red flag that you are not prepared, you do not know what you're doing, and you don't have experience. So what do you do? Go research! Go learn! Get stronger! Go shoot something for very low budget to learn the ins and outs of production. Then you'll be in a stronger position. Break a leg!

Hi Lindbergh — appreciate the straight talk, needed to hear it.

You’re right — $30M locked gross, not $20M-$50M. That range was my internal sensitivity, dropping it. 35-day NYC schedule — Brooklyn bar, Times Square one-take, Pierre Gala, JFK — all NY.

Correction from me: 100% US based. I mentioned SA earlier only because I’m based in Pretoria (Masia Pictures), but AZURA shoots entirely NYC, no SA spend.

IMAX — good catch — not 65mm capture. Alexa 65 certified, IMAX deliverable 2.39:1 for trailer, not camera package. Noted.

Track record — hear you. Building via Masia Pictures, bar proof-of-concept shot, deck/bible/NY waterfall ready. Not chasing US equity cold — packaging cast-contingent + NY 30% credit ($18M QSE = $5.4M credit, net $24.6M) + presales.

My Qs were Lounge craft, not investor deck — but point taken — leading with schedule + locked top sheet from now on.

Thanks for the push — tightened package.

— Rethabile

Hi Zoltán — thanks for flagging, you’re right.

Quick correction from me: AZURA is 100% US based — Brooklyn, Times Square one-take, Pierre Gala, JFK. I mentioned SA in my original post only because I’m based in Pretoria (Masia Pictures), but that’s my background as writer-director, not the film’s location. No SA spend, no co-pro.

$30M is locked GROSS for packaging — the $20M-$50M was my internal sensitivity model, dropping it.

US-only mapping: $30M gross, 35-day NYC. ~$18M below-the-line NY QSE qualifies for NY State 30% credit = $5.4M gross / $4.86M monetized, net $24.6M. QSE is NY crew, NYC locations, stages, camera/lighting, NY post — all through NY vendors. ATL + contingency/insurance non-qualified.

Credit modeled as soft money, not baked into top sheet — kept clean for US equity.

I’ve attached my 1-page NY waterfall. Would value your take — what do you like to see locked first at this level before partners — top sheet or waterfall?

Thanks — Rethabile