1. Break down the script
Go through the script scene by scene and list what each one needs: cast, extras, locations, sets, props, wardrobe, vehicles, stunts, special effects and anything unusual. The breakdown is the raw material for both the schedule and the budget.
2. Schedule it
Group scenes by location and cast into shoot days. The schedule tells you how many prep, shoot and wrap days each department needs, how many days each actor works and how many company moves you make. Most of the budget multiplies by these numbers.
3. Lock the creative costs first
Rights, writer, director, producers and principal cast (the above-the-line costs) are usually negotiated rather than calculated. Put them in first so you know what is left for everything else.
4. Build the crew
For each position, enter the days, the day rate and the base hours. Add overtime where the schedule makes it likely. Union crews have minimums and fringes set by their agreements; non-union crews are usually a flat day rate plus payroll taxes.
5. Add equipment, locations and expenses
Camera, grip and electric packages, location fees and permits, catering, vehicles, travel and accommodation. For each, quantity, days and rate.
6. Budget post-production
Editorial, color, sound design and mix, music licensing, visual effects and deliverables. Post is where under-budgeted films run out of money; give it its own careful pass.
7. Add fringes, fees, insurance and contingency
Fringes cover payroll taxes and benefits on labor. See production budget fringes. Then production insurance, any production fee, and a contingency (often around 10% on an independent film) for what you cannot foresee.
8. Read the top sheet
The top sheet totals each section. Compare it with films of a similar size: is any section out of proportion? This is where you make the trade-offs: fewer days, a smaller crew, a different location.
9. Lock it, then track actuals
Once the budget is approved, freeze it as the baseline and track every cost against it. Comparing budget vs actuals every week, rather than at wrap, is what keeps a film on budget.
Ready to start? Open the film budget template and work through it section by section.