Should you need to explore more choices, check out our post on business budget templates. Armed with a masters degree and several experiences assisting producers in the past, i assumed i knew everything i needed to in order to create an accurate budget. There are simple and detailed you can create or download. As with all firsts, this was an incredible learning experience that highlighted.
The sample budget shows that the project will be shot on hd using sonys ex3. If yes then you absolutely must realize, upon preparing a budget, what is a realistic and what is an unrealistic for independents. I am still very new to filming, and i am always learning. Earlier this year i produced a very low budget short film, affections, directed by bridey elliott and premiering at the 2016 sundance film festival. You can use the template to fit your needs in a perfect way. An introduction to documentary budgeting revised 10152010. Film budgeteers july, 2015 film budgeting tips 2 comments. Production budget template for a documentary special, 201819. Your film budget template will vastly look different for each.
Sample documentary film budget template pdf besttemplatess123. The template includes a percent cost by category, which provides an overview of how the money is being spent. Making a documentary, short film or feature film budget. Your film needs a solid budget, and you can create just that with the help of a template. Free film templates budget, business plan, cash flow, contracts. Formats documentary film budget template excel word pdf doc xls blank tips. And a good budget reveals a lot about how a film is going to be made, what kind of story youll be telling, what kind.
In part two of our four part series on how to make a documentary, we look at funding, financing and budgeting. For example, you are renting one single item lets say a prop gun description, for 6. Here are a few steps you can take when filming your next documentary. You can customize the template to make it work out for you and the film that you are creating. An introduction to documentary budgeting revised 10152010 by robert bahar this article was originally published as dont fudge on your budget.
Works perfectly for budgeting out short films, features, commercials, music video, and more. You can make a short film budget template or a template for a longer film. Take 5 minutes and give us a few of your films details and our film budgeting engine will create a fully professional, extremely detailed, custom 18page lineitem film budget for your film or series. Sample independent documentary film budget keywords. Free film templates budget, business plan, cash flow.
Free film budget template studiobinder download free film investors checklist sign up for the newsletter and get free copy of the investor checklist, how to raise money for movies. Its the culmination of all the script and scheduling work youve done this far. The movie sample budget template can be extremely helpful in determining how and where you can manipulate costs to meet a fixed film production budget. Budgets are organized in a spreadsheet in excel or using other software, such as movie magic budgeting. This is a fully revised look at documentary budgeting, and updates the 2006 documentary article dont fudge on your budget. Film budget template sample movie production budgeting. Making that video and actually having it aired, anywhere, is a much bigger challenge. However, this is the best documentary budget sample sheet ive found online. Many people like to go to the cinema to spend their free time. Budget available upon request since the rise of the tropicalia movement was a welldocumented event, this film will utilize the wealth of newsreel material, concert videos, personal indepth interviews, and neverbeforeseen footage as well as a body of music that spans over 50 years to bring the world of tropicalia to its audience.
Crowdfunding field guide from indiegogo the original guide to successful crowdfunding. Want to produce or direct even write or act in a feature film. The preparation of budget for a movie starts when the screenwriter. Your first reaction to the word budget is probably a bad one. The budget will should dictate how you proceed with most every decision while making the project. The important thing is that the template should keep you organized and productive. There is no set amount for a documentary budget forms due to the resources being different. Its easy to say i am going to make a documentary on antarctica and its going to air on the travel channel. This budget includes the deferred salaries of all the crew, including a line producer. At the center of the documentary business is the budget, which offers a map of the filmmaking process, expressing both the film youre planning to make and how you plan to make it. The budget is to offer a suggestion about the types of items to consider. Consult an entertainment attorney for advice on any specific situation. A customizable budget template with a sample 1hour documentary on excel provides you with a rare glimpse at a real documentary budget.
Mastering media distribution media dvd blu ray copies packaging. We had no money and no significant investors, despite garnering interest and even a few letters of intent from a handful of name actors. Create a film budget for your film or series in just 5 minutes lineitem, fully detailed, and fully customized. Many free film tools and samples exist across the internet and here is a great starter list of free budgets, guides, books and more for the independent filmmaker. One of those is film, which is only sensible given that a films budget can reach fairly high numbers.
For example, if you want your film to be like a tv episode of australian story, you will want your film shot by a professional camera operator with professional equipment, including good lighting and sound. Now we have forgotten the ungainly fat and we are glad of our weight. This printfriendly film budget template provides all the robustness youre looking for in a budgeting template. Further research is recommended of documentary actual needs and costs.
The preparation of budget for a movie starts when the screenwriter creates an idea. It should give you a good overview until we make that next video. Other costs that are usually low or exempt are art department, wardrobe, locations and more. Filmmaking contracts should always be customised to suit each production and the legislation of your country area. These film budget templates will streamline your film, save you time and keep it on track. A customizable budget template for a sample 1hour documentary on excel. A well thoughtout budget is a clear plan for making a film. Entertainment is good for the mind and for socialization. Pleas e look at our sample budget for an i dea of the averag e cost of the. First, what i discovered is that there are lessons you can take from silicon valley and apply directly to film pitching marketing distribution. It should help you throughout the filmmaking process. Sample budget documentary free download formsbirds. This is for a national highdefinition program with a heavy travel component.
The project type and genre play a big role in the structure of your accounts and subaccounts on your film budget breakdown. Jul, 2015 feel free to take a look at where we put our money, at least on paper, to give you an idea of where you should allocate funds in your own films budget. In addition, the budget serves as a guide that the pieces of the film are proportionate to one another. The sample documentary budget provides you with a rare glimpse at a real documentary budget. Toeing the line items in the february 2006 issue of the international documentary associations documentary magazine. A film production budget identifies the costs for each phase of making the film, from development, preproduction, production, postproduction through to marketing and distribution. This document, which could be over 4 pages long, is used to secure financing for and lead to preproduction and production of the film. Our film budget template is provided as a guide to help indie producers estimate their movie production costs.
Ben long and sonja schenk at have put together 3 sample film budgets pdfs and break each one down in these informative articles. Pleas e look at our sample budget for an i dea of the averag e cost of. Best sample documentary film budget template excel word pdf doc xls blank tips. This template is available for free to individual documentary filmmakers to use as an aid in budgeting their projects. Film budgeting refers to the process by which a line producer, unit production manager, or production accountant prepares a budget for a film production. People attending an audition fill out the casting sheet. Film sourcing production documents and templates are not intended to be legal advice and are for educational purposes only. Grab your film making action guide, production directory, film festival report, film business plan checklist, cash flow report, movie budgets, film investment memorandum and more today. Jun 16, 2016 your first reaction to the word budget is probably a bad one.
Free sample movie budgets great page of sample budgets and production forms. Jonas and i plan to do a video for that in future episodes. The sample feature film production budget template provides the list of the standard expenses likely to be incurred in the production of such films. Film budgeteers create a film budget for your film or. Development proposals must be far enough along in their research to include. I and my friends twyla and cinditruman used the best product to lose weight and to be fit in summer. The average film budget could come across to at least 1 million usd to around 2030 million usd. A 2hour consultation with line producer elizabeth ventura a rare opportunity to discuss your unique production needs, ask questions and get valuable advice. Sundance institute documentary fund sundance institute documentary film program spring 2012 budget assumptions shooting formats. Every aspect of the budget template can be customized for your own needs. Total budget in us dollars if you are applying for development funding you must include the best guestimate for all.
The term film budgeting is actually a process of estimation and allocation of expenses to produce a film or shoot a movie. It also provides rough estimates of each expense and the possible total costs. Look for other templates and samples in templates category. An aspiring film maker might wonder what finances to have for a documentary to come to life, and the budget which depends on a lot of factors. Weekly lessons from a fulltime filmmaker so you can earn a living making films by getting funding, distribution, and learning to pitch effectively.
It is based on a series of workshops presented by the author at. As you can imagine, independent film budgets are somewhat harder to pin down. Learn how to budget your film, and get funding in under 3. They can be entirely selffunded, crowd funded, or backed by investors.
But a budget is actually a creative and organizational tool to help you figure out how to make your project happen. Any other use, including, but not limited to, adaptation for classes, distribution on websites, commercial distribution, etc. Creating a documentary requires a lot of effort and planning in order to get the most out of it. My names curt jaimungal and i know what its like to struggle as an artist. A few years ago, my company and i produced two feature films, from script to screen. Film shoots may be a challenging activity in itself, but it. The detail area of a budget has multiple columns to help you segment and digest costs, while still giving you an accurate total. You can take a film budget template and you can make it your own.