With respect to financiers, generally there is both a component of a return (interest) plus continued carried interest in the film. The simplest model is that all proceeds from the film go to the investor until they have achieved a pre-negotiated return (it's not really interest as it is not guaranteed), at which point the investors would split continued profit 50/50 with the other participants (producers/talent).

With respect to sponsors, I can't speak directly to this, and believe that it is certainly different between studio movies and indie movies (as for studio it becomes more of an ad support for placement, with some cash kicked in issue). Based on what I see in films and have observed from some productions, it becomes goods or services for placement and acknowledgement. However, unless you have fixed arrangements in place, I wouldn't account for it in the business plan, other than an attempt to reduce budget through best efforts.

In some cases, a film might be so well aligned with a sponsor's image or marketing campaign that they might be willing to kick in cash, at which point they would probably be treated as a really friendly investor with easier terms (hopefully).

Hope that helps.

I have backed two movies and have yet to make a return on either. One investment wrapped prin. photog. back in '02. Unless you got a sure fire hit, with well known professionals, the chance of paying anyone out is slim.