Development time estimates are too short because there's no penalty for management underestimation. If programmers were paid like the movie industry, estimation would be more reliable. Time and a half after 8 hours, or after 5 days. Pay for 4 hours if you're needed briefly during off hours. Double time on Sundays. It's not just telling people it's a "crunch".
Movie scheduling and estimation is organized enough that you can buy a completion bond. If the job isn't completed within an error margin over cost and schedule, the completion bond company pays. If there's a cost overrun, the completion bond company has the authority to send in their own people to monitor things and if necessary, to fire the director or anybody else, and take over the production.[1][2]
Completion bond companies do project cost and schedule estimation independently of the production. They have the data for this, because they have the full accounting data for hundreds or thousands of films. They watch project progress carefully. "Our monitoring process requires the production to email us daily shooting progress reports and a weekly cost report in order to properly evaluate the progress of the film. FFI also makes periodic visits to the shooting area."
This prevents directors and producers from low-balling their estimates. Underestimation leads to unemployment.
A completion bond typically costs about 4% of the film budget.
Movie scheduling and estimation is organized enough that you can buy a completion bond. If the job isn't completed within an error margin over cost and schedule, the completion bond company pays. If there's a cost overrun, the completion bond company has the authority to send in their own people to monitor things and if necessary, to fire the director or anybody else, and take over the production.[1][2]
Completion bond companies do project cost and schedule estimation independently of the production. They have the data for this, because they have the full accounting data for hundreds or thousands of films. They watch project progress carefully. "Our monitoring process requires the production to email us daily shooting progress reports and a weekly cost report in order to properly evaluate the progress of the film. FFI also makes periodic visits to the shooting area."
This prevents directors and producers from low-balling their estimates. Underestimation leads to unemployment.
A completion bond typically costs about 4% of the film budget.
[1] https://www.eqgroup.com/completion_bond/ [2] http://www.filmfinances.com/services/evaluation