This can be re-drafted as you get closer to production. Film Production Budget Template Best Practices. You also will need to consider what you will pay if you shoot overtime. No matter what your budget, there is always one constant: creating a budget for your film should surely guarantee that every dollar will be spent wisely. It merely provides a standard breakdown of the various would-be expenses in the production of such short films. "This film budgeting template was made in Google Drive to make it easier to edit and share.". Get your FREE copy of the eBook called "astonishingly detailed and useful" by Filmmaker Magazine! They also tend to have higher wages than the rest of the crew and need to be hired during early pre-production. You might also like to check out our podcast episode –, To break down your script first list all of your scenes then next to them list their locations and a brief description of the action taking place in each scene. Subscribe to receive the free PDF! Film budget breakdown accounts and sub-accounts encompass these four categories: ATL (ABOVE-THE-LINE) This category includes development costs, talent, and crew generally involved in development phase. Here is our in-depth piece on locations and location agreements. With all that pressure, we’ve compiled a few tips on how to use your script breakdown software to transform your script breakdown sheet into a film budget. The expectations of your film will help determine what type of budget you are looking for. At the very least you need to be honest with your crew on what they should expect in terms of working hours and breaks. For instance, perhaps you are hoping to make a micro-budget collab with friends, or maybe you are aiming to attract stars and cinema distribution. You may also need to hire out an office space for your post-production team. By listing all of these elements, you can begin to estimate your film budget. The producer and 1 st AD, generally do the script breakdown. For larger budgets hire a PR team, major festivals recommended that even smaller productions hire a sales agent. More and more people are flocking to the small screen to find daily entertainment. Studio films get by on shooting only one page of script a day. – The producer can be the highest paid crew member, they are typically the first person to get hired and the last to leave a project. But yeah finding info on animated movie budgeting on the web is proving a challenge! Your crew will be able to help guide you on what they will need to be hired and sourced. Making money in film costs money and you can find a great film budget example of a $1 million independent feature film on Stephen Follows blog. Major Hollywood films typically shoot about one page per day. Typically, the distribution costs of a film are not included in the budget breakdown. In the case of commissioned films, the full budget might be guaranteed upfront. Check your scene breakdowns for stunts and special effects, marked in your script breakdown software’s colors of choice. Now you have a basic layout of how many days you will be shooting, how many actors will be needed, and what crew you are going to hire. If anything, the script breakdown example above shows how different productions use the same elements, but weigh them accordingly. You can track this as early as your script breakdown (template). You can determine crew needs by dividing your full script length by the number of pages to be shot per day. Costume – Every actor appearing in your film will need costumes bought or made for them. Film crew members might have their own daily working rates and guidelines can be found on union websites. Hair and Make-up – Depending on your genre you might have a large budget towards make-up. So, if you need 30 actors for a 1 page scene, that will equal 30 background actor days. During the early stages of pre-production, your budget breakdown is an estimate, you can re-draft later with the help of your crew and production staff. Master the art of visual storytelling with our FREE video series on directing and filmmaking techniques. Then there is self-distribution, you may wish to organize your own cinema screenings or DVD sales. The cast salaries in this budget are non … It’s likely there will be several re-drafts of your budget during the making of your film. If you are low-budget, you can still ask producers with experience on shooting with budget restrictions for advice. You will need to find camera, lighting and grip equipment. For instance, if your script comes in around 90 pages and you’re shooting 5 pages per day, that means you’ll need your crew for 18 days. They can be entirely self-funded, crowd funded, or backed by investors. Are there any notable props in your film that need to be created or bought. Such as photography for the film's movie poster, or to shoot some interviews to be used in marketing. This brings us back to the last section, you need to decide what type of film you are hoping to make, and what type of filming experience you want to have. You will also need to make sure you have high-quality sound equipment. Film budgeting refers to the process by which a line producer, unit production manager, or production accountant prepares a budget for a film production. The budget. However, if you are an independent producer (or don’t have a software budget), you can do this for free. Some straight to television and one-off shows with a budget of at least $500,000 are also considered. And voila, you’re one step closer to finishing your preliminary film budget. On top of that 12 hours you budget for, factor in about 10% contingency in case you go over that. You may also be required to pay for several rehearsal/prep days. Even on a low-budget contemporary film, you will need a make-up artist for applying basic cover-up and for keeping the actor's continuity in check. Start by jotting down the number of days you need for each actor in your, How much are you going to pay your actors? – Film equipment is expensive as such make sure you get the proper insurance needed to cover you if anything breaks. To do this in StudioBinder, click on “Elements” go to “Extras” and click “View Scenes.”. And If Am New In Film Industry Where Can I Get The Money For Budgeting? All the salaries are between $100 and $300 per day. Import scripts. You will need to reimburse make-up artists for the cost of any specialist make-up (such as fake blood). As a composer, would like know more about how music gets budgeted. You’ll end up with a single number of background actor days covering all actors and scenes. We’re in a golden age of TV writing and development. On your budget template, multiply this by the day rate for background. Music Composer/Music Rights/Sound Design – Even if your film is low-budget you will need to have permission for all music used. Aryan Kaganhof, who has had an extensive career shooting independent low budget films and notably SMS Sugarman (the first mobile filmed feature), elaborates: "Until South African films start to make money and we start to produce far more films on lower budgets, we do not have a sustainable industry. As such, your desired outcome for your film can help determine what range of budget you need when you fill out your film budget template. As you can imagine, independent film budgets are somewhat harder to pin down. Count background actor days by doing a count of where they’re featured on your script breakdown sheet (template), with each strip multiplied by the number of actors. On many sets, the editor or assistant editor will be cutting footage alongside the shoot. Based on your shoots pages per day, calculate how many days each cast member will be needed. Also the costs of gear rental can add up to a big price tag. I suggest budgeting for these production elements early on in your process. Having an idea of how many production days you need will help a great deal with your film budget breakdown. – Set design is often overlooked on indies but can make all the difference on screen. The Above-the-line crew is the essential members of your crew that you will need to hire before pre-production can begin. This budget includes the deferred salaries of all the crew, including a line producer. What is Shutter Speed and Its Role in the Exposure Triangle? This guide is here to show you the important elements that you need to consider when estimating your film's budget. Your email address will not be published. This document, which could be over 130 pages long, is used to secure financing for and lead to pre-production and production of the film. What will be the allocated budget for food each day? Michael J. Epstein is a Los-Angeles-based filmmaker, musician, and writer. Production Design - depending on your shoot type you may need to book extra time during pre-production for the visuals in your film to be sourced and gathered. Editor – Your editor's wage will likely be the largest cost during post-production. Post-productio… While a pre-production film budget is only an estimate, some investors expect production costs to match very closely to the final price. Lena Dunham’s breakout film Tiny Furniture (2010) had a budget of $50,000, while Tangerine, the 2015 Sundance hit, had a budget of $100,000. It's 100+ pages on what you need to know to make beautiful, inexpensive movies using a DSLR. 5600PRODUCTION FILM & LAB 1,150 5610Field Drives - LaCie Rugged Drives 42 TB Drives 250 1,000 (Assume max 4 hrs/~64 GB per day, 140 hrs total, need 2.5 TB total, x2 for mirror) 5620Tape Stock 0 tapes 0 0 5690Miscellaneous 1 allow 150 150 Note that the camera package is budgeted at 50% of the purchase because either (1) it will be rented from a crew During the early stages of pre-production, your budget breakdown is an estimate, you can re-draft later with the help of your crew and production staff. On larger film sets all expenses will be covered, on low-budgets, you will need to discuss fuel expenses with crew before production. When there is extremely great detail, treat the scene breakdown as shorter than the page count. Producer – The producer can be the highest paid crew member, they are typically the first person to get hired and the last to leave a project. You may have several scenes in the same location that can be shot on the same day. Do they require second unit camera teams? The bulk of your budget (unless you are shooting a CGI heavy film), will go towards the production costs. As such, they can receive up to 5% of the production budget. That’s great, perhaps you are a producer or maybe an independent filmmaker. Check out our basic guidelines to help make sure you don't run afoul of your team on this. A typical film production day is 12 hours long, for overtime you will need to pay additional wages. For independent and guerilla filmmaking, the key is to identify the cornerstone elements of the film and build the budget around those items. Seek in advance what permission you need for filming in each location. On larger sets hire a professional catering service. If using fake guns and weapons in a public space you will need to inform the local police before you shoot. Now that you have an idea of how many days you will be filming, you can begin to break down your film production budget. What Scripts Landed on the 2020 Black List? Production Department Costs – such as hiring out an office, internet, general paper and printer costs, you will also need to ideally print out script copies and call sheets. You will also need to consider paying for any prep days for key crew members. They will do this by using software such as Movie Magic Budgeting, StudioBinder, Celtx or Gorilla Budgeting. They also tend to have higher wages than the rest of the crew and need to be hired during early pre-production. Gaining the rights to well-known songs and music is expensive. You don’t need a full breakdown to estimate crew salaries. On larger sets hire a professional catering service. Feature films with budgets between $1 million and $75 million qualify for 20%. If you are clueless on how to determine a shooting schedule you could always hire a line producer to help you. Accommodation might need to be paid for several cast and crew. Locations – Obtaining and gaining permission for locations can be expensive. much easier. Simply list all crew and multiply their salaries by the number of production days. For each, estimate materials and personnel costs. It will help ensure that all the tasks involved in the making of the film are on track. Equipment/Insurance – Film equipment is expensive as such make sure you get the proper insurance needed to cover you if anything breaks. If the sequence requires many effects or very complex blocking or movement, quadruple the page length in each scene breakdown. Best Spaghetti Western Movies of All-Time (Ranked), Arri Alexa Mini — The Camera of Choice for Hollywood DPs, Rules of Shot Composition in Film: A Definitive Guide, What is a DIT in Film — Definition, Job Description, and Salary. Under this contract, actors must make a SAG day rate of $630, or $2,190 per week. On low-budget films, you can ask actors to bring their own clothes, but it would be ideal to have copies for lead roles. Paying Everybody Fairly If you have team managers or department heads in place, check with them for estimates of personnel needs and materials costs. The majority of films average about five pages, and a low-budgets can plan to shoot as many as ten. Film Budget Breakdown On a professional film set, it’s the line producer or production manager who prepares the film budget. So, you’re planning to make a film. You also now have an estimate of how many days of filming you need for each actor. VFX, Budget your VFX and then you won’t have a movie you can’t budget! Some questions you need to consider are - How are you hoping to fund your film? First up, we collated a dataset of 107 budgets, ranging from micro-budget movies right up to Hollywood studio tentpoles, to give you a sense of how budgets change as they increase. IF YOU HAVEN'T YET, GET YOUR FILM BUDGET TEMPLATE HERE →, The Shreditor's Guide to Film and Video Pre-Production, The Ultimate Guide to Call Sheets (with FREE Call Sheet Template), How to Break Down a Script (with FREE Script Breakdown Sheet), The Only Shot List Template You Need — with Free Download, Managing Your Film Budget Cashflow & PO Log (Free Template), A Better Film Crew List Template Booking Sheet, Best Storyboard Softwares (with free Storyboard Templates). Short Film Budget Breakdown Films vary in length. Consider each scene in your film and how much money you be dedicating to set design. Reconnaissance and Prep – likely several key crew members will be attending recon/tech scout meetings. When it comes to the glitz and glamour of the movie biz, most people don’t mention film production budget planning–try saying that three times fast. A good budget reflects, and must serve, the fundraising process. A Film Budget Breakdown (also called a Detailed Budget) is the financial blueprint for your project. Like an army - a film crew marches on its stomach. Above the line is all pretty similar and post tends to shift to mainly editorial and sound (foley vos, scratch etc). You will need to decide how many prep days you will be paying them for and what their rate will be during post-production where they will supervise the edit. On your film production budget template, record this expected number of days on set for each actor and then calculate salary. You will need to reimburse make-up artists for the cost of any specialist make-up (such as fake blood). what about break downing cost related to Sets and locations? Gaining the rights to well-known songs and music is expensive. Whatever your job role and desired budget, this following guide will go through all of the areas of budgeting that you need to examine from pre-production to distribution. A film’s budget plays a dominant role throughout the film’s life cycle—with implications going far beyond the mere cost of the film. Whatever the budget is, many independent projects have a similar distribution. Netflix, for example, has camera requirements and even self-distribution can prove to be very expensive. Once each character has a count from your script breakdown, use the earlier page formula. The cost of costume will once again depend on the genre of the film. Top 14 Mood Board Apps of 2020 [with FREE Moodboard Templates], What are Dailies in Film? First, let’s look at the 7 basic Independent Movie Budgets. Whether youâ re raising money for an independent film or spending a clientâ s money on a corporate video, every penny needs to be accounted for. Film Budget Breakdown: How The Grand Budapest Hotel Was Made on a Budget #filmbudget. But for most independent filmmakers, funds come in phase by phase—if they come at all! But on independent films, the director might execute this task. Even without your production completely planned out, it’s still possible to present a detailed and accurate film production budget estimate. All Rights Reserved. A horror film probably budgets more money for makeup than a family comedy does. The size of your budget will determine how big a crew you can afford to have. Having a distribution plan before making your film is ideal, perhaps surprisingly the costs of making a film don’t end once the film has been completed. There’s so much in a film budget (in the production side especially) that isn’t relevant for animated movies. This makes the budgeting process (and everything else!) Ideally, you will want to hire your editor in advance even during the pre-production stage. A typical film production day is 12 hours long, for overtime you will need to pay additional wages. This film shows independent filmmakers that there trials and tribulations of making a film could be a lot worse. Here is our in-depth piece on. We know many of you are great at the creative side of filmmaking, but might have questions on how to best finance movies efficiently. On larger film sets it is the line producer or unit production manager who prepares the film's budget, and to do this they may use film budgeting software such as Movie Magic. These will depend on your budget and scale of your production. Do they require stunt doubles, special effects teams or stunt coordinators? Editors are paid union rates, they may also have own desired daily working rates. – You will need to pay for any transport costs of cast and crew. A properly constructed budget will allow you to look critically at all of your departments, which in turn provides you with much needed clarity on critical decisions that need to be made throughout the process. What to do if you can’t afford to pay your crew? There are so many elements to consider when calculating your film's production budget. It … Investors require a real film budget to finance. For low budgets hire locally to avoid these additional expenses. Creating a budget breakdown, and revising that breakdown throughout the filmmaking process will help keep your expenses under check. If your script requires it several supporting artists may also be needed. Make the most expensive phase of filmmaking from that of a film with a single number background... Will help keep your expenses under check key crew members might have their own working! Comprehensive guide and FREE, so, if you are clueless on how to determine a shooting you! 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