Film Budget
A film making is a very complex and layered process where several things are involved. From the film planning to the production, it needs thorough and deliberate decision makings. This is also the reason why a team of experts must be involved. One of the crucial parts of the film making process is designing the film budget. It must be designed very carefully after considering all the financial resources and comprising expenses according to the availability of the materials. If you have responsibilities to create a film budget for any upcoming multimedia project proposal, then in your already hectic schedule, it will be challenging for you to manage this work also. That’s why to reduce your workload, you can use the following film budget examples & templates to create one effective budget.
8+ Film Budget Examples
1. Film Budget Template
2. Free Film Budget Template
3. Film Budget Summary Sample
4. Film Budget Fund Application
5. Low Budget Film Contracts
6. Budget Sheets for Film Production
7. Filming in Zero Budget
8. Film Budget in DOC
9. Film Proposed Budget Template
What Is a Film Budget?
A film budget is an essential material that contains the film budget breakdown. It is a budget plan that includes the list of line items involved in the film making process with its corresponding cost.
Documentary Film: Is Your Budget Enough
So long since your first documentary film was released. Now, you want to make another one, but who will produce it? Documentary film making, just like the narrative, can be costly. According to a report published by POV, feature-length documentary film production costs $300,000. Indeed, it is worth more than what you think. Because of this, a production plan budget must allocate resources and labor. It needs revisions, thorough research, and practical decisions thrice to confirm that production will push through. So, should you take risks?
How To Make a Film Budget
Professional film budgeting is always a problem when it comes to pre-production. Because you want to make sure that your project plans will be successful, you need the breakdown of the cost as soon as possible. Now, let’s get to the actual process of making an average film budget with the tips below.
1. Know the Phases of the Production
Film budgeting is dependent on the types of genre of film you are making. When making an expense budget, you have to understand that the phases affect the costs. Because of this, you have to establish a pre-production workflow. How can you do this? You can start with a timeline that contains all the line items where you would allocate your budget. This commonly includes the schedule, crew, location, props, permits, and allowances. With this, you can prepare the actual quotation later on.
2. Set the Kit and Crew Labor Fees
Next, whether you will be making a short and independent film, it always involves crew and equipment. So, start the breakdown by categorizing them. For low-budget films, one camera and proper a equipment are enough. Equipment rates are sometimes calculated hourly or weekly. You can hire three to four people which is dependent on how big the project is. You can organize these items into your video production budget.
3. Add the Loss and Damages
In film production, no one wants any liabilities as this can be another round of cost. But it is always best to prepare for the worst. With this, make a policy or agreement where damage and loses to equipment and crew injuries will be insured.
4. Include the Extended Days
Extensions for re-shoots and retakes due to bad weather condition or internal problems are inevitable, and you have to prepare for that. So, in your budget planner, make sure to allot money or fund for the scheduled shoots after the production. It could be three days at most, or more if necessary.
5. Review Your Work
Lastly, always take the time to review your document. You can ask the heads of the production for a meeting and discuss a variety of aspects, such as scheduling and resources. Doing this will help you finalize your budget plan.
FAQs
Why is the film budget increasing?
In the film industry, there are a lot of aspects that affect the process of budgeting. Other than, it could be due to the rising demand for equipment and labor works.
What is the average film budget?
Some films cost lower than $150 million. Some feature-length movie would only cost $90 million.
Does the film budget already include the salaries of prominent actors?
Yes, it already includes the salaries of crews, including the actors. But the gross and profit of the film will be added later on.
Being in the film industry is not easy. You need the right budget to compete. This is also among the many reasons why you should take budgeting seriously. With that, plan out with your team and discuss the budget plan. You can prepare that by following the steps above. Don’ take this business plan for granted. Make sure you have the budget for the project to move forward.
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