Film Accounting Glossary
Budget
What is a budget?
A production budget is the detailed, account-by-account estimate of what a picture will cost, organized above-the-line, below-the-line, and post, and summarized on a top sheet.
It is built from the script breakdown and the schedule, so a budget is only as good as the shooting schedule underneath it. Every other document in film accounting, the cost report, the cash flow, the incentive claim, is measured against it.
Example
A 24-day schedule with two company moves and four night exteriors produces a very different budget from 24 days on one stage, working from the identical script. Change the schedule and the budget changes with it, which is why the two are built together.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Built from the script breakdown in prep, locked at approval, then used as the baseline column of every cost report thereafter.
Common mistake
Budgeting before the schedule is real. A budget built on an optimistic schedule is not a cheaper picture, it is the same picture with the overage already baked in.
Related questions
- What are the main sections of a film budget?
- Above-the-line, below-the-line production, post-production, and other charges such as insurance and financing, summarized on a top sheet with fringes and contingency.
- Why does the shooting schedule change the budget?
- Because most below-the-line cost is time-driven. Company moves, night work, and day count change crew hours, rental durations, and travel, all of which the budget prices.