What are the phases of my budget?

Film budgeting usually occurs in two different phases. The preliminary film budget is
created to raise financing and it isn’t generally detailed or extended. It often only provides the
top sheet (TS) which totals the accounts and contains potential costs.

The second film budget occurs once financing is secured. The costs are finalized and as a
result is much more complex. The numbers are realistic because they can now be based on
actual quotes and hires.

Film budget breakdowns

No two film budgets are alike, although film budgets do share these four categories:

A) ATL (ABOVE-THE-LINE)
B) PRODUCTION BUDGET (BELOW-THE-LINE)
C) POST-PRODUCTION (BELOW-THE-LINE)
D) OTHER

A budget is typically divided into four sections: above the line (This category includes
development costs, talent, and crew generally involved in development phase. Writers,
producers, the director and talent are included in this category), below the line (direct
production costs), post-production (editing, visual effects, etc.), and other (insurance,
completion bond, etc.) The budget excludes film promotion and marketing, which is the
responsibility of the film distributor. Film financing can be acquired from a private investor,
sponsor, product placement, film studio, entertainment company, and/or out-of-pocket funds.
1. Break down your script into pages per day

The first step of formulating a film production budget is deciding how many pages you plan
to shoot for each scheduled production day. Remember we did this when we lined the script
into eighths and then used our parameter factors to come up with a schedule.

While there’s no set number of pages to shoot per day, it typically breaks down to this:

 Major Hollywood films typically shoot about one page per day.
 Well-funded indie films often shoot about four to five pages per day.
 Low and micro-budget films may shoot eight or more pages per day.

As you start the process of film budgeting, determine how many pages you'll shoot per day...

2. Prioritize difficult scenes

Dialogue is typically easy to shoot. Effects-heavy sequences are not. This was considered
when we scheduled using our parameter factors.

For each difficult sequence, examine page length. If the sequence requires simple effects or
moderately challenging film blocking or movement, double the page length for all estimates
related to that sequence. (This happens for the budgeting process but not the script
breakdown page.

If the sequence requires many effects or very complex blocking or movement, quadruple (4x)
the page length in each scene breakdown.

PRO TIP

Complex sequences are often written in different ways. One writer may simply say,
“Frederick transforms into a wolf,” while another may describe each stage of that
transformation in great detail for pages. Adjust your estimate accordingly. When there is little
detail, treat the sequence as longer than the page count. When there is extremely great detail,
treat the scene breakdown as shorter than the page count. A script breakdown sheet doesn't
always account for this.

3. Budget actors

Every film needs a leading woman (and occasionally a man). Cast Members are one of the
first elements you categorize on your script breakdown template.

Once you’ve broken down your script, look at each cast member's featured scenes, and
bundle them together.

Once each character has a count from your script breakdown, use the earlier page formula.

1. Based on your shooting pages per day, calculate how many days each cast member
will be needed.
 2. Because actors won’t likely work full days in front of the camera for every day they
work, multiply this number by a correction factor of 1.5 or even 2.
3. On your film production budget template, record this expected number of days on set
for each actor and then calculate salary.

In this film budgeting template, there's a dedicated sheet for above-the-line talent

EXAMPLE:

If actor “X” is being paid $1000/day, has a total of 12 script pages on your script breakdown,
and your shoot is planned for 4 pages per day, the line item for this actor would be: 12 pages /
4 pages per day = 3 days * $1000/day * 2x correction factor = $6000.

And eish, you’re one step closer to finishing your preliminary film budget.

4. How to film budget for your extras

Count background actor days by doing a count of where they’re featured on your script
breakdown sheet (template), with each scene multiplied by the number of actors.

You’ll end up with a single number of background actor days covering all actors and scenes.
On your budget template, multiply this by the day rate for background.

So, if you need 30 actors for a 1 page scene, that will equal 30 background actor days.
Pro tip: Always budget for worst case scenarios

Optimism is great, but you must prepare for anything and everything that can go wrong.
Actors get sick, crew get hurt, locations fall through, weather doesn't cooperate, things get
broken, damaged and lost. If you haven't properly accounted for these mishaps, you can
jeopardize the project. If you have a plan B and C, you won’t need it. And if you don’t, you
will.

4. Factor in your prep days

Prep days are the days outside of shooting when your crew is working in order to be ready to
shoot. We’ve marked this on our production budget template.

For example, members of camera & G/E need at least 1 day before shooting to prep.
Production design, production unit, AD department and others need more time to prep as
determined by the specific project.

5. Calculate your kit fees

Some positions and departments will bring owned gear with them to work and charge the
production a kit fee for the use of their personal gear. Kit fees can be calculated by the day or
week. Costs vary depending on the gear and project.

Examples of positions that may require a kit fee: production manager, makeup artist,
wardrobe and 1st AC.

6. Allowance for OT

Overtime (OT) hours are billed at double time after 12 hours and when not budgeted can
cause big overages.

Overtime hours on a job are usually cheaper than adding another shoot day and that’s why we
usually push through to get it done.

Always include an allowance for OT in your budget even if you think you won’t need it. You
can always find a solid place to re-allocate it, if unused.

7. Budget your pick-up days

Pick-up days occur after the scheduled shoot days in order to shoot something that was
missed during principal photography. The longer shoots have more pick-up days budgeted.
For example, a short-form project will benefit from even 1 pick-up day with a skeleton crew.

Whereas, a feature film shooting 30-45 days usually has at least 3 pick-ups days budgeted.

8. Have a contingency plan

The contingency amount represents the financial padding set specifically aside to handle
unknown issues.
A 10% contingency is a solid amount for any project, especially if you have padded other
categories and accounted for loss and damage (L&D) in a few departments.

Assign the contingency amount first, before working out the budget. That way you’re
covered!

9. Budget loss and damage

In the world of film budgets, Loss and damage (L&D) covers equipment that is lost, stolen or
damaged.

It’s best to use the deductible ( amount from your production insurance policy in the budget

You will need to pay the deductible if an expensive piece of equipment is involved.
Remember multiple ‘fails’ across categories or vendors can happen on a single job, so be
prepared.

10. Include production insurance

Production insurance covers the production in case of loss and damage. It’s required to secure
permits, locations and rent gear.

And with a workers comp policy attached, the crew is also covered in the case of any injuries.

You need an insurance policy to do most jobs, because you can’t get a permit without it.

in the budget.

It’s more than likely that your keys will spend more, and crew will work more than budgeted.
These small savings add up and help ensure everyone is paid on time.

11. When to use film budget software

While a film production budget template can help organize your pre-production, sometimes
you need film budget software. Some common reasons are:

 You’re on a union project and need to handle fringes, caps, and penalties.
 You need to generate budgets.
 You need to group your accounts.
 You’re dealing with multiple currencies.
 You’re calculating percentage-based fees.

There are many film budget softwares available, Movie Magic Budgeting is the standard for
film and TV.

If you unsure what to use, find out what your team or peers are using.
12. Account for reality

As thorough as your film budget breakdown is, you can’t account for reality. Having an
active film budget spreadsheet keeps your costs as accurate as possible.