Film Accounting Glossary
Below-the-line
What is below-the-line?
Also called BTL.
Below-the-line (BTL) is the section of the budget covering the technical and logistical cost of actually making the picture: crew, equipment, locations, transportation and picture cars, construction, post-production, and insurance.
Unlike above-the-line, most BTL cost is variable and schedule-driven, so it is where a production realistically finds savings. The line in the phrase is the actual line drawn across the budget top sheet separating the two.
Example
On that same $6M film, the $3.7M below-the-line and post covers a 90-person crew, camera and grip packages, locations, picture cars and transportation, construction, and post. It is the section where cutting two shoot days actually saves money.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
The bulk of the budget top sheet, and the part department heads review line by line in the weekly cost report meeting.
Common mistake
Cutting below-the-line without changing the schedule. Most of it is driven by shooting days, locations, and hours, so a cut that leaves the schedule intact rarely holds.
Related questions
- What is included below the line?
- Crew, camera and grip, locations, transportation and picture cars, construction and set dressing, post-production, insurance, and all the fringes attached to that labor.
- Why do budget cuts usually target below-the-line?
- Because it is variable and schedule-driven, while above-the-line is already committed by contract. Removing two shoot days moves real money below the line.