What goes into a film budget
Whatever the length of the film, the costs fall into the same groups. A complete film production budget template covers:
- Prep and shoot crew. Producer, director of photography, camera, grip and electric, art, hair and make-up, wardrobe, sound, production assistants. Days, rate, overtime and fringes for each.
- Production and location expenses. Location fees, permits, parking, catering, craft service, vehicles, fuel, police and fire.
- Studio and set. Stage rental, build and strike days, power, set dressing and props.
- Equipment. Camera package, lenses, grip and lighting, sound, generators, special equipment.
- Media and miscellaneous. Drives, data management, insurance certificates, shipping.
- Director and talent. Creative fees, cast, extras, rehearsal and fitting days, agency fees and payroll handling.
- Travel. Flights, hotels, per diems, ground transport.
- Post-production. Editorial, color, sound design and mix, music, visual effects, finishing and deliverables.
- Markups. Production fee, insurance and contingency: the lines that turn a cost report into a bid.
Above the line and below the line
Feature budgets split costs into above the line (rights, writer, producers, director, principal cast) and below the line (everyone and everything else that makes the film). Commercial and short-form budgets usually do not draw the line, but the idea still helps: protect the creative fees, then build the crew and equipment the script actually needs. See the production budget glossary for the terms.
How to use this template
- Break the script down into shoot days, locations, cast and special requirements.
- Work through each section and keep only the lines you need. Hide the rest rather than deleting them, so the line numbers stay standard.
- Enter days and rates for crew; quantity, days and rate for everything else.
- Set fringes for payroll, then the production fee, insurance and contingency.
- Review the top sheet: does each section total make sense for the size of the job?
- Lock the bid when it is approved and track actuals against it as you shoot.
Step by step, with examples: how to make a film budget.
Spreadsheet template or online budget?
A spreadsheet film budget template is a fine place to start, and you can download our line list as one. The trouble starts on the second version: someone edits an old copy, a formula breaks, and the actuals live in a different file. Starting from the template in ACTUALS keeps one live copy that everyone works in, with totals, fringes and markups worked out for you.