Producing : Product placement by Brian McAndrew

Product placement is about the audience size which is often related to the pictures budget. Companies want to know that a large relevant audience will see the product. So they want to see the script to know who the audience is, how the product is used, and is there significant viewing. Product placement is usually easier for an episodic than a movie because of the repeated viewing. Product placement has never been about funding a film, and unless you have a large audience major companies are likely to ask you for money for displaying a product rather than pay you to place their product.

Well said, John. There are also a myriad of businesses out there that handle this exact thing.

Not so sure you make money out of product placement more than the company placing the product and the filmmaker get mutual benefit from the arrangement. There are companies specialising in product placement and they usually make their money by charging the product placer a fee for their services. The benefit to the filmmaker is usually getting something for free that for which they otherwise would have had to pay. I've used product placement at the Rob Knox Film Festival and would always consider it when producing a film.