On the other hand they inflate the cost, by “renting” equipment to themselves, so who the fuck knows what’s going on… I would be more concerned with the opportunity costs. Breaking even or even a reasonable profit is just not enought for those gluttonous monsters.
It makes some sense for them to rent the equipment to themselves because it effectively adds opportunity cost to the budget. That equipment can’t be used on another film, so it has an opportunity cost to the studio to be used in this one. Are the numbers reasonable though? Idk.
I heard one of many trick they do is creating the shell companies to produce a specific movie. Than that company pay for borrowing equipments, studios, licences etc from parent company… And than its bankruped beecouse the move “didn’t do that well”… All profits ate transfered upfront, while or costs are part of the bankruptcy process.
When a well starts approaching end of life, they transfer it to a shell company that only owns the well site and anything they can’t profit from / move elsewhere.
So when the well dies, they just leave and the shell company goes bankrupt, leaving the polluted well site behind and taxpayers to pick up the tab.
On the other hand they inflate the cost, by “renting” equipment to themselves, so who the fuck knows what’s going on… I would be more concerned with the opportunity costs. Breaking even or even a reasonable profit is just not enought for those gluttonous monsters.
It makes some sense for them to rent the equipment to themselves because it effectively adds opportunity cost to the budget. That equipment can’t be used on another film, so it has an opportunity cost to the studio to be used in this one. Are the numbers reasonable though? Idk.
As I understand it as a layman:
Famously, fucking The Empire Strikes Back didn’t make any money
IIRC, Alien didn’t officially make a profit until a couple of years ago.
Hollywood accounting is wild.
I heard one of many trick they do is creating the shell companies to produce a specific movie. Than that company pay for borrowing equipments, studios, licences etc from parent company… And than its bankruped beecouse the move “didn’t do that well”… All profits ate transfered upfront, while or costs are part of the bankruptcy process.
The oil industry does a similar thing.
When a well starts approaching end of life, they transfer it to a shell company that only owns the well site and anything they can’t profit from / move elsewhere.
So when the well dies, they just leave and the shell company goes bankrupt, leaving the polluted well site behind and taxpayers to pick up the tab.
System is working…