Film Accounting Glossary
Prints and advertising
What is prints and advertising?
Also called P&A, prints and ads, or release costs.
Prints and advertising (P&A) is the budget for releasing a picture rather than making it: media buys, creative and trailers, publicity, festival and premiere costs, and physical or digital delivery to exhibitors.
P&A is funded and accounted for separately from the negative cost and is recouped ahead of production cost in most distribution waterfalls. On a wide release, P&A can rival or exceed the cost of the picture.
Example
A wide release spends $45M on media, creative, trailers, publicity, and premieres against a $60M negative cost. P&A is funded separately and recouped ahead of production cost in most waterfalls, which is why it moves break-even so far.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
A separate release budget owned by the distributor, not the production's cost report.
Common mistake
Treating P&A as part of the production budget. It is funded and recouped separately, and on most waterfalls it comes back ahead of production cost.
Related questions
- What does P&A cover?
- The cost of releasing a picture: media buys, creative and trailers, publicity, festival and premiere costs, and delivery to exhibitors.
- Is P&A part of negative cost?
- No. Negative cost is what it took to make the picture. P&A is a distribution cost, funded separately and recouped ahead of production cost in most deals.