There are many activities and expenses associated with developing a film. Knowing how much a new film will cost, ensuring you have the funds to complete the film, pay the actors and actresses, pay for sets, filming equipment, editing, and much more is a huge challenge. That’s one of the reasons many film developers start with a film budget template to help them capture all of the costs. Using a film budget template saves time and follows a standard format investors are familiar with.
There is also a requirement to track expenses during shooting, editing, and production activities to understand how well your budget is standing up. Are their new, previously unidentified expenses? Are expenses on target, or do you need to go back to investors for additional funds?
What Is a Film Budget?
Film budgets transition through several iterations. The first is often referred to as the preliminary budget. It is a broad budget used for meeting with investors and securing financing for the film.
Preliminary budgets include estimates of the cost for categories such as directors, producers, writers, and actors/actresses. Producer fees and rights fees to the film may be included. Preproduction filming costs include equipment, crew, permits, vehicles, and location fees. Post-production expenses must be included covering adding visual effects, editing, and post-production activities. A broad category must also be included for unknown factors which creep into every project.
After financing has been arranged, a second film budget is developed and goes into much more detail. Pricing details for cast members, suppliers, film crews, set construction, and set up are developed in much more detail based on quotes from these folks. This is considered a much firmer budget that can be tracked.
Every industry creates detailed budgets and then compares the actual expenses with the budget. This helps the finance and accounting teams know if they are going to overshoot the budget. Decisions must consider
- adding funds to the budget,
- reducing expenses
- seeking additional funding from investors.
Budgets also help to determine the amount of insurance coverage needed to insure the project against various risks.
Short Film Budget Breakdown
Films vary in length. This specific template is for those extremely short films. It merely provides a standard breakdown of the various would-be expenses in the production of such short films. This serves as a basis on which future actual expenses may be based.
Excel is a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are electronic accounting documents in which figures may be input in the forms of rows and columns. These figures may further be manipulated to generate desired end results. This template allows film produces to manipulate data using the Excel spreadsheet.
Film Budget Template for Excel
Once the data concerning the various planned expenditures have been input into a system, they have to be manipulated. The film budget calculator allows this manipulation to be carried out conveniently. It does so by deriving rough estimates of the entire process on the basis of the input data.
Film Budget Calculator
Even though films vary greatly in their genres and themes, they share some common characteristics in their costs of production. The film budget sample displays a list of these common expenses that are likely to be incurred by the ordinary filmmakers. It provides filmmakers a rough picture of what they are to anticipate.
Film Budget Sample
Documentaries are ordinarily longer, more complicated, detailed, and time-consuming to make. They, therefore, attract certain unique expenses that are not incurred by ordinary filmmakers. The documentary film budget template captures and provides rough estimates of these unique expenses.
Just like documentaries, feature films are also longer, time-consuming to make, and complicated. They, however, carry fewer details compared to documentaries because they narrow down to one specific topic. The sample feature film production budget template provides the list of the standard expenses likely to be incurred in the production of such films. It also provides rough estimates of each expense and the possible total costs.
Documentary Film Budget Template
Movie Magic Screenwriter greatly expedites the process of making films. It is basically a word processing program that allows filmmakers to format screenplays, novels, and teleplays. It also comes along with a budget template that gives its users rough estimates of the total costs of their production.
Movie Magic Film Budget Template
PDF, short for Portable Document Format, provides clear displays of information on a permanent basis. The low budget film budget template for PDF allows users or filmmakers to convert their estimates and end results into the PDF format easily. This allows the information to be read with ease later and on a permanent basis.
Low Budget Film Budget Template for PDF
Not all films are produced within the major film studio systems. Indeed, much more are produced outside such structures (independent films) owing to the increased awareness of the film production techniques. This sample independent film budget template provides freelance and amateur filmmakers with a rough breakdown of the expenses they are likely to incur.
Sample Independent Film Budget Template
Film producers are generally sent invoices by the various persons and organizations that were actively involved in the production process. Estimates, on the other hand, are rough approximations of the expenses that are likely to be incurred by film producers. The invoice and estimate template provide basic patterns against which these expenses may be recorded further.
Invoice and Estimate Template
A top sheet is a summary of the ‘above the line’ film production costs. These are the costs of the script to writer, directors, and stars. These costs constitute by far the highest percentage of the total film production costs. The film budget top sheet template provides filmmakers with a breakdown and rough estimates of these costs.
Film Budget Top Sheet Template
What is a Film Budget Template?
Film budget templates are useful tools to help organize and focus your project from a budget perspective. All of the typical information that goes into a budget for a film is included; however, every project has special requirements. These items can be added to the template to reflect the special attributes of your film project.
Many film budget templates are developed using a spreadsheet. Utilizing spreadsheets makes it quite easy to add major categories, budget for specific items, and summarize the total cost of your film.
If your film project has several phases or perhaps will be shot in different locations or even countries, consider duplicating the film budget template for each location. Things like travel costs, hotel rooms, and meals will be different in each location as well as the filming crew needed. If you use several templates, they can be added to derive a complete budget for your project.
A well-thought-out film budget will lend credibility to your proposal to investors who may be willing to fund your project.
Essential Elements of a Film Budget Template
There are a tremendous number of details and activities associated with shooting a film; even short films have extensive costs and challenges that must be captured in a budget and later tracked against the budget. We have listed some of the essential elements found in most film productions; however, each film is different. Please adjust accordingly.
- Film project details
- Pre-production
- Shooting crew
- Materials and miscellaneous expenses
- Location expenses
- Wardrobe
- Puppets/animals
- Specialty makeup
- Robotics
- Studio rental
- Set construction – labor and material
- Equipment rental
- Video storage
- Miscellaneous
- Director fees
- Talent fees
- Editorial
- Finishing
- Film project details – include all of the administrative details in this section. Items that can be included in this section are production company details, director, executive director, client details and contact information, location sites, number of days for shoots, sound, rehearsal, etc.
- Pre-production – activities including rehearsals, prep, number of days for shooting based on pages of script, and special conditions that may exist for each project. Consider all of the activities and resources needed to get your film ready for actual shooting.
- Shooting crew – and expenses associated with every day of filming. You may need police services to direct traffic and all craft services that provide cast and crew. Don’t forget the amenities you will need to keep them happy and working. Everything from snacks, food, and lots of coffee. While no one wants to spend a lot on overtime, sometimes overtime is cheaper than delaying or extending the schedule when you consider equipment rentals, property rentals, and talent extensions.
- Materials and miscellaneous expenses – factor in any materials that will be needed for your film, per diems. The film budget template can usually add lines for items that are specific to your project.
- Location expenses – include the cost of permits, shuttles for the crew, trailers for crew and talent, and limos for talent. Transportation between locations or from base camp should be included.
- Wardrobe – includes wardrobe rentals, makeup kits, makeup artists, and the number of people that have to dress the part, including extras.
- Puppets/animals – include rentals for animatronics, support for animals and their handlers, as well as fees for their participation.
- Specialty makeup – the makeup for each film depends on the film’s requirements and the plot line. If your talent must spend hours in makeup preparing for their shoot, budget time for the makeup artist, the talent, and trailers to house them.
- Robotics – are being included in many movies to provide a futuristic feel to the film. Robotics are not inexpensive.
- Studio rental – rent of studios, dressing rooms, production offices, photo shoots, and space for the cast to relax while they wait for their time in front of the camera.
- Set construction – labor and material for the construction of sets, props, and other items that are needed must be included. Construction crews, support during filming, and tear down after the shoot is concluded.
- Equipment rental – lighting, kit fees, and any other equipment needed on set should be included in this section.
- Video storage – high-quality filming in digital formats requires large digital storage capabilities. Account for backup storage on and off-site to avoid any catastrophic losses of film data.
- Miscellaneous – is a catch-all for anything you have not thought of. Legal fees, background checks on talent, delays due to sickness, payments for the deductible associated with insurance claims. Ten percent is usually considered a reasonable number to include for miscellaneous expenses.
- Director fees – time for rehearsals, shooting, and post-production editing costs.
- Talent fees – at union rates and any associated fees that are typically included whenever union talent is hired. Don’t forget transportation for the talent, including hotels, per diems, and other associated charges.
- Editorial – cost to add music, narration, sound mixing, and other incidentals
- Finishing – post-editing, supervision, adding closed captioning, dubbing, and final editing of the film. Include anything that is needed to get your film ready for distribution.
When to Use a Budgeting Software Instead of a Template
Examples of when to use budgeting software include:
- Large production films,
- Working in multiple countries with multiple currencies,
- Fees based on percentages,
- Unionize projects that include fringe costs, penalties and
- Other union requirements.
FAQs
The following are several frequently asked questions many readers have about film budget templates.
Various people working on a film may prepare a film budget or have input into the preparation of the budget. These include a line producer, production accountant, or unit production manager. Budgets are reviewed and modified, going through many iterations as costs are examined, whittled down, and fine-tuned. Once the budget is finalized, it is used to secure financing and to compare actual expenses to ensure the project remains on track from a financial perspective.
Above-the-line budget items capture the costs associated with creative talent. They include screenwriters, talent, directors, and producers. Above-the-line or ATL expenses average around 70% of the total cost of the film.
Film production budgets are placed in different tiers. A Tier 1 film budget should be at or below $7.5 million in total, while Tier 2 budget films are categorized between $7 and $11 million. Tier 0 film budgets come in at $2.75 million or less.
Low-budget films are considered Tier 0 films, and budgets must be under $2.75 million. The amounts must include all production costs, both ATL(Above the Line) and BTL(Below the Line) costs.
Key points
Film projects are very complex, involving many people, materials, and equipment. Preparing a film budget helps producers identify all of the costs and package the costs as Above the Line and Below the Line. Film budgets go through many iterations until they are finalized in preparation for review by financiers.
Film expenses are compared to film budgets and tracked to ensure that the projects remain on track financially. Tracking helps identify if new financing needs to be arranged or if project cuts must be applied to keep the project on track.
Film budget templates help producers and project managers develop detailed budgets and focus on details that need to be identified and included in the budget. Templates can be used for both small and large-budget films; however, some complex projects may be better suited to film-budget software programs. Templates can assist the first pass-through in creating a large film budget.
