London Film School, offer full-time MA Degree courses in both Film Making and Screewriting.

Movie Magic is a highly regarded, industry-recognised software and is the most widely used program for US & UK features today. Users range from Producers and Production Managers to Directors and 1st ADs.

The Movie Magic Budgeting and Scheduling systems are extremely useful throughout the whole production process, and for a range of roles, from development to delivery. The software effectively and systematically stores production details and allows users to present a variety of assessments, forecasts and time-plans with ease. With Movie Magic, not only do projects suddenly become more understandable, but co-production opportunities become more approachable and international filming options more realistic.

The following 1-day workshops have been designed to benefit filmmakers working at varying production levels. Participants will be taken through the scheduling and budgeting processes in detail, with opportunities to introduce their own personal projects.

The courses are led by John Sargent and Penny Christopher, both highly experienced tutors and Production Practitioners whose company Sargent-Disc Ltd. is the European distributor of the Movie Magic software.

Course Levels

We now offer four intensive 1-day courses, as follows:

• MM Scheduling: Introductory 1-Day Course with Penny Christopher
• MM Budgeting: Introductory 1-Day Course with John Sargent
• MM Scheduling: Advanced 1-Day Course with Penny Christopher
• MM Budgeting: Advanced 1-Day Course with John Sargent

We offer the workshops at two levels; introductory and advanced:

• Introductory: Aimed at those who have little or no experience of Movie Magic. The participants on these workshops are not necessarily sure what they need to achieve with the software, rather they are looking for a beginners’ level course which will introduce Movie Magic from scratch.
• Advanced: Designed for those who have used Movie Magic before or who use it on a regular basis. The participants on these workshops know what they need to achieve with the software and now require further in-depth training. More an “advice surgery” than a course, the advanced level offers practical, targeted assistance to those with specific problem areas they need to tackle.

Please note that a good working knowledge of the production process and a solid film vocabulary are essential requirements for all courses, irrespective of level.

 

Equipment and Software

Wherever possible workshop attendees are strongly encouraged to bring their own laptops to the course. This has the advantage of leaving participants free to concentrate on the training itself, without the added pressure of needing to navigate an unfamiliar machine. A free trial version of Movie Magic is available from the Entertainment Partners website, allowing those without the software to download it temporarily for the purposes of the course. Click here for details.

For those without laptops, we have six Apple MacBooks which we are happy to make available on request. Each MacBook is installed with the latest versions of the MM Budgeting and Scheduling systems (i.e. MMB 7 and MMS 5). Please note that while both tutors teach from PC laptops, the software itself is multi-platform and the user interface on Macs and PCs is almost identical. This means that students learning on either platform will benefit equally from the courses.

 

Introductory Course Outlines

SCHEDULING:
Script breakdown
Scheduling requirements
Creating a new schedule
Element management
Calendar manager
Stripboards
Daybreaks & banners
Reports & Design

BUDGETING:
Template budgets
Cast & crew rates
Currency
Fringes
Groups
Globals & Formula Maker
Locations
Sets
4th Level
Contractuals
Subtotals & adjustments
Reports
Multi-national options
Budget Comparisons

 

About Sargent-Disc

Founded in 1986, Sargent-Disc is a family run business specialising in payroll, accounting and software services for the entertainment industries. Sargent-Disc is affiliated with Entertainment Partners in the US, Canada and Asia who together are the leading supplier of production payroll services in the world.

Sargent-Disc works with a wide variety of companies – from major Hollywood studios like Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox to listed companies such as Pinewood Studios, also guilds, industry bodies and training institutions to support the entertainment industry.

As an Entertainment Partners affiliate, Sargent-Disc distributes EP software such as Movie Magic Budgeting, Movie Magic Scheduling and EP Vista Accounting across Europe. www.sargent-disc.com.

 

Tutor Profiles

JOHN SARGENT: John's production industry career history spans over 40 years, starting out as a location accountant working up the ranks to Production Controller, working on titles such as THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1968), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1970), THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1983) and THE MISSION (1986). Read full profile here...

PENNY CHRISTOPHER: Penny started her production journey, ‘learning on-the job’ in various commercial and documentary companies in the early 1960’s where she moved into Television production working on THE SAINT and THE AVENGERS. Read full profile here...

 

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Times: 10am-5pm
Capacity: Max. 6 participants per course
Fee: £150 per 1-day course

How to apply

Please submit the following items, making clear in your application which course and level you are applying for (i.e. budgeting or scheduling, introductory or advanced):

• Application Form
  (click to download)
• CV
• Personal Statement (i.e. a few brief paragraphs outlining your experience with the Movie Magic software to date, also why you're applying for the course, what you hope to gain from it etc.)

Once your application has been approved we will provide you with instructions for booking your place(s) online.

Places are offer on a first come first served basis until the courses are full.

Email us:
Carolyn Atherton:
workshops@lfs.org.uk

Telephone us:
+44 (0)20 7836 9642