Budget Like a Pro

Budgeting is a vital aspect of filmmaking that is sometimes overlooked in student filmmakers' education. It can be challenging to learn on your own, as it isn't always straightforward. Only niche courses in film school truly dive deep into the weeds– a dive necessary to create a well-done budget that can drive a film to success. As soon as there is a script you would like to produce, it is time to begin creating a budget. Below is a step-by-step guide to the many steps and decisions you must take to create your budget, specifically for low-budget independent productions whether for a feature, short film, documentary, or music video.

Budgeting Software

The industry standard software for feature films is Movie Magic Budgeting ($40 / month), a companion software to Final Draft and Movie Magic Scheduling. However, at a costly price of $279.88 yearly, that is simply out of budget for many filmmakers. The closest alternatives are Shot Logic, which is a one-time purchase of $149, and Fuzzlecheck, which is $60 for 6 months. Shot Logic and Fuzzlecheck work well for a variety of media including feature films, short films, music videos, and documentaries, while Movie Magic Budgeting is for feature-length films specifically. Deciding which software to use based on the medium of your project is crucial at the beginning of your budget creation. 

Budget Breakdown

You cannot start your budget before you have a finalized script and script breakdown. Using those documents, answer the following questions on a separate document to refer to when you begin your estimated budget. Yes, there are a lot of questions, but each one is as crucial as the next, and you’ll be thankful to your future self that you answered them at such an early stage. You can’t distribute your film after the many months or years you have worked on it if you have no finances left to afford film festivals or marketing.

• How many days of shooting? For a low-budget independent production, the rule of thumb is 3 - 5 pages per day.

• What crew positions do you need and how much will you be paying them? Crew can be paid at daily or weekly rates. 

• How many cast members? SAG-AFTRA or non-union? This affects their pay and contracts you may deal with. 

• Travel and transportation costs: Airfare, hotels, vans to transport cast/crew, production vans, and trucks for equipment, costume, props departments, etc.

• Catering/Food costs: How many people and days will you need to provide lunch (the hot meal is always called “lunch” even if you are eating at 10 pm) and craft services?

• Props/art/pictures vehicles: Are they needed and will they be purchased or rented?

• Equipment: Digital or film? Will you need a dolly, crane, or steadicam? What do grip and lighting need?

• Sound recording: Will there be a need for audio and video playback?

• Shooting Ratio: If shooting digitally calculate how much digital material you will be acquiring during the entire shooting period and purchase enough hard drives and back drives. If shooting on film, budget for stock purchase and processing, as well as film to digital transfer.

• Post-production: From color correcting sessions to audio editing and mixing, budget accordingly.

• Music: Will there be purchases to license music, hire a composer, or both?

• Distribution: Film festival application fees, posters, website creation, any other marketing materials?

• Miscellaneous: Take into account legal costs, office rental, office equipment, insurance, and accounting.

Take your best educated guess on these. This is the first round of your budget. Don’t let your lack of 100% certainty intimidate you. 

Geography of the Budget

The following is how the budget is typically organized. Different templates will have slightly different arrangements. Here is a link to a budget template that uses the following arrangement:

1. Top Sheet

   1. First section: Contact details, shooting format, numbers/types of locations, number of shooting days.

   2. Middle section: Subtotals of sections in the budget with line items for insurance fees, production fees, and any other contractual fees

   3. Bottom section: Comments/Assumptions (such as areas that have not been filled out because of TBD circumstances or the decision for a union or non-union crew)

2. Pre-production and Wrap Crew Labor costs

3. Production/Shooting Crew Labor costs

4. Pre-production costs, Location and Travel costs, and Props/Wardrobe/Hair/Makeup costs

5. Studio costs, Set Construction costs

6. Equipment costs, Media/Storage costs, Miscellaneous costs, Creative fee costs

7. Talent labor costs and Talent expenses

8. Post-Production costs

Here is an example of a short film with a budget that uses Movie Magic Budgeting and a slightly different arrangement. All software mentioned previously offer multiple templates. Select the one that suits your needs best. 

Creating the Estimated Budget

After you have answered all the questions necessary to create the budget breakdown it is time to start filling out the estimated budget. Always start with your most realistic but idealistic budget. Answer the previous questions to the best of your ability and take into account if you know you already have access to some items for certain such as a free location or free camera rental. However, don’t factor in possible donations or favors in the first pass and only take promises from those you trust. It can be a slippery slope. 

Go line by line through the budget and begin to guess to the best of your abilities. Maintain a thorough running list of any line items that you need to research further. Particularly if this is your first time creating a budget, there will be many line items you will need to research further. That is completely fine and to be expected. The more you go through this process the easier it gets.

After researching and location scouting, you may find multiple options for locations or equipment rental houses that could serve you well. For example, if one rental house provides you with a quote of $3500 for a camera rental and another provides you with a quote of $2000, budget for $3500 so that you know you will have enough to rent from either place. If later on you need to tighten the budget, you can change to the more affordable rental house.

Cash-Flow Schedule

Don’t be too afraid now that we’ve elevated our finance terms. Now that you have your estimated budget, congrats! It’s time to create a cash-flow schedule. This schedule states when you will need certain amounts of money for the specific costs during the preparation, production, and post-production stages of your project. For example, in pre-production, you’ll need money for writer’s fees, casting costs, etc.; in production, you’ll need money for catering,  locations, etc.; and in post-production, you’ll need money for coloring, composing, etc. 

Once your shoot dates are locked in, create a schedule for how much money needs to be available each week to cover costs during production. Finally, during post-production, you'll adjust your cash flow according to the current stage of your production.

Final Estimated Budget

You’ve finalized your financing, yay! Now it is time to modify your estimated budget to meet the total funds you have available. You’re locking down the budget and creating the Final Estimated Budget. This is where the fun begins as well as the terror. You are now locked into this budget and you must make your project happen at this budget level (no more, no less). 

On the same finalized estimated budget, as pre-production and production take off you will maintain a “working” budget. This is the column next to the estimated column and reflects changes made as you finalize locations and equipment lists. Slowly, as you make purchases, the “actual” column will begin to be filled out. However, some software may not offer a template with a working budget column. It is recommended to copy your Estimated Budget and rename it Working Budget. It’s crucial to constantly be inputting new and accurate numbers into your working budget as purchase by purchase is made. Very soon, you will begin to see what individual items and budget sections are over or under. Costs easily shift around as locations may be forced to change, which in turn affects what equipment (such as lighting) must be purchased/rented. Stay up to date and know what you’re dealing with. 

Padding and Contingency

Lastly, you will never know exactly how much you’ll spend until your film is completely over. Accidents happen and mistakes are made. It is crucial to have a contingency that is around 10% of the entire budget in case the project goes over budget. This is a line item on the top sheet. Padding is for specific areas or line items that are likely to go under budget, and you can draw from them if other areas need additional costs. 

Budgeting is an essential part of filmmaking that is frequently overlooked by new filmmakers and film academic curricula. Specifically for smaller crews and low-budget productions, for you to create your project, you must understand the basics of budgeting, even if it is not what you would like to do for your career. At a student level, projects don’t have a production manager who takes care of this budget. Instead, often it’s the director who’s also the writer, and the producer, and the van driver. Learning how to budget properly will enable you to create a successful film no matter the budget. These numbers turn into powerful stories. Go forth and create!

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