ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

7 years, 9 months ago - Marlom Tander

This is what spreadsheets are for.

I've done line by line budget analysis for feature films

IMO anyone who can plan the shooting of a film can plan a rough ballpark budget. You just have to think about everything you need, how long you need it for, and what it might cost.

Remember to include beds and board and maybe transport for all cast and crew. (You won't get much change out of £100 per person per day, and that's assuming cheapish rooms, and a food / drink deal with a local pub/restaurant rather than on site catering). And pay is on top.

It won't be accurate, but it should at least tell you if you are in 10K, 50K, 100K, 500K etc territory. If you are a writer it might help you see how to write a lower cost movie, e.g. someone says "love you work, can risk 20K,". You'll also see why everyone keeps asking for "a modern dress two hander that all takes place in one room" :-)

TBH if you want someone to do this for you (and for the results to be useful) they need a LOT of information to work with to be any more accurate than you doing the above exercise.

7 years, 9 months ago - Jordan Bunton-Williams

Thanks man. :)

7 years, 9 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Marlom is ahead of me again! His advice is more immediately useful than what mine will likely be!

The job of producing a budget is what a producer does, or outsources to a line producer/production manager. To get an accurate budget, they will have a long discussion with you, and spend a couple of weeks pulling the script to bits and looking at schedules, suitable locations, etc., and will then give you a budget that they believe will meet your requirement. You'll say "Oh I wanted it to be less than that", and you'll go through a series of to's and fro's working out what you will change or cut to get to a point you like. The budget will come with a certain confidence level - if you say "cut 20% off this figure" then the budget will be cut but the confidence level will drop and you're open to a higher risk of overspend. You could go for something quick and dirty but it'll carry risk.

Any budget you get is from someone saying "I think I can make the film according to what I understand as your standards for x quid". A different producer might have different opinions on costs, budget aggregations, they may have better or worse deals, or more or less experience expecting more or fewer problems. That means you'll want the budget to be done by the LP you are hoping to use. As it's a lump of real work, you'd expect to pay a fee to get the budget.

Equity Minimum is a moving value - it depends on the overall value and includes components for holiday, back-end, pension contributions, with usage restrictions which must be "bought out". You'll also need to pay a PACT registration fee to access their escrow service and to have Equity contracts released to you for use, it'll vary with the budget, and you'll need a Producers Guild accountant to sign that off that it's a true reflection of the cost of production.

7 years, 9 months ago - Jordan Bunton-Williams

This information has been so helpful. Thank you so much for this. It seems as if my only option for now is to guestimate and draw up a rough budget of how much I think it will cost to get a near-ish estimation.

Thanks again.

7 years, 9 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

The answer is likely "more than you first think" ;-$

Big thing to remember is that CASHFLOW is a biggie - all the costs you'll be quoted will exclude VAT, which you'll have to pay at the time of taking the product or service and may reclaim if you're VAT registered - but that affects cashflow hugely. I know this all sounds a bit like business - but showbusiness really is 1/3 "show" and 2/3 "business", so it needs to be considered :)

7 years, 9 months ago - Glyn Carter

Then there is the other approach: as opposed to "what do you want and how much will it cost?", there's "how much do you have?" (or "how much do you think you can raise?"), and what can you get with it?

Then the budgeting task is to see how that global budget could divide up between cast, crew, kit, board and lodgings, post-prod etc etc, and not forgetting marketing. Then you have an idea how much you have to offer people.

Marlom says you can do this yourself, at least to get ballpark figures. And you can, if you have experience and contacts. For example what's the going rate for camera, lights and grip? What sort of discount can you negotiate? Have you thought of things easily missed, like a safety and risk assessment, location fee, audition venue, DCP package, stills photographer...

If you have enough to pay Equity/PACT rates, you should make sure you have enough to pay for a line producer (and bookkeeper and accountant). If not, welcome to the world of diy microbudget startup film-making!

7 years, 9 months ago - Jordan Bunton-Williams

Hi Paddy,

You’re absolutely right. The quote I got for a 15 page script was £9000. I’ve just decided to draw something up myself. :)

7 years, 9 months ago - Jordan Bunton-Williams

Hi Glyn,

Thank you for your help. I think I’m going to have to take the route of “diy microbudget start up film-making.”

Thanks again.

7 years, 9 months ago - Jordan Bunton-Williams

Apologies, the quote I got was £810 not £9,000. Lol

7 years, 9 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Wow that's quite a difference! ;-)