The Importance of a Budget

I think that one of the biggest questions that is often raised is “how to fund my film?” I see countless crowd-sourcing campaigns (A subject that I will tackle in detail in a future post) that really don't understand how to fund an indie film. Filmmakers often expect a lot from these campaigns. In some cases, like a sci-fi film, it is totally justified. They can be expensive and successful sci-fi films often require a ton of set design and art direction. Others have budgets that are way too high.

The thing I will push in this post most is the need to have a balanced budget. You need to have something that will allow you to achieve your artistic vision while still being able to fund the film.
In order to successfully fund your film, you need to know how to properly write your budget. A well laid out budget can help immensely in funding. Any crowd-sourcing campaign should properly lay out how you are planning on spending the money in detail. Grants (another subject that I will be covering soon) also often require a highly detailed budget.

Having a good budget can also help production go a bit smoother. Actually laying out a budget can help you see exactly what expenses are unnecessary. The first thing to cut out of a budget should be extra rental costs. This can be eliminated by scheduling better. The less shooting dates, the less money you'll need. The less money you'll need, the easier it will be to fund your film. Budgeting properly can also help you be prepared for shooting. You'll know exactly what is being done and for what cost. That knowledge is power and can only help you.

Being ill-prepared can endanger a production. For example, I got the opportunity to do a short documentary on a pro-gaming tournament that was put on by IGN Entertainment. I quickly crewed up and got equipment from my university. IGN offered to cover the cost of the press-passes for the event and let us know that we only had to pay for the hotel.

I thought “Easy enough.” I was really excited to get to cover a subject like this on such a great scale for my first real documentary film. Pre-production was rushed and I had to come up with a plan quick. I had just received my refund from my private bank loan that was used to cover tuition. It was around 600 bucks and I thought that it would be more than enough to get the production finished.
The event was taking place in Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City and would be running extremely late. I figured that it would be best to get a hotel room in Caesar's Palace so that we could be right in the center of everything. We could go to bed late and get up early without having to worry about transportation. So I booked a room. 1 night at Caesar's palace for a room with 2 beds was nearly $400. I figured that a crew of 5 would be able to fit into the room and I booked it.

I immediately had to spend $30 on HDV tapes for the shoot. As for transportation to the event, I managed to convince my girlfriend (who was also working as my P.A) to drive us. We all were coming from Philly so it wasn't that bad. I gave her around 40 for gas and we embarked to Atlantic City. (Prior to this, I had spent around 20 on snacks and water for the road) Little did we realize the cost of tolls along the road going from Philly to Atlantic city. I can't remember the exact prices, but it had to be around 10 bucks to get there. None of us really carried cash so we had to scramble to find money for the various tolls.

When we got there, we shot for a 12 hour period. Our snacks were quickly eaten and we eventually had to get a meal. In Atlantic city, everything around Caesar's Palace is expensive. Even the small pizza places around the boardwalk weren't cheap. (If I had planned better, I would have realized that a McDonald's was right around the corner.) So the remaining $100 went to feeding the crew. We were barley able to scrape together the cash for the tolls to come back to Philly.

The stress of money put a lot of pressure on me. I went in blind, expecting everything to be relatively cheap and for 180 to be a fair amount to get the production done. I figured that since I was so good about getting the crew and equipment together for free, that I wouldn't have to worry much about food and all of the other minor costs. The stress detracted from the film and it showed. I was an inexperienced filmmaker who didn't plan very much.

If I had taken the time to sit down and write out a good budget, then I would have been better prepared for not just the expenses, but also the event itself. Production is about being prepared.
So how do you write a good budget? For reference, here is a budget for a short documentary I am producing. A day's worth of production is usually 12 hours.

First, find out what your production schedule is. For narrative, you can usually shoot around 5-10 scenes a day. For documentary, it usually is reliant on how much coverage you want and also the schedule of your subjects. Next, take some time and jot down every expense you can think of. Come up with the big ones first, and move on to some of the more unexpected costs. Don't worry about the numbers yet. Simply write down everything you may need. Even if you already have the specific equipment, write these things down. Anything you may need for production should be listed. Here are my usual things: Crew and cast payment, equipment and props, food, transportation, lodging.
I then go through and find the prices for everything I listed. Crew is usually a bit difficult, as many indie films will be made up of volunteers. However, it is good to know exactly how much time people are putting into a project. Numbers can be hard to define. My rate as a producer is usually 20/hour. Directors are usually similar and crew can be anywhere from 15-18. These are really rough estimates that help me know exactly what people are doing.

Equipment is easier to find numbers for, as you simply look up what it costs to rent. Food, transportation and lodging is dependent on location. I usually research the locations and the transportation through sites like gasbuddy.com and see exactly how much travel will cost. The lodging can be as simple as calling up the location and getting in touch with the owners.

Now that you have all of these numbers, it is time to add them up for one day of shooting. That number you can multiply by your shooting dates. You should be able to have a good estimate on what your film would cost.

It's most likely a pretty high number. For example, my latest documentary is listed as 6 shooting days for a total cost of $13,481. When you get to a number like this, it's pretty staggering. However, you have a good estimate of the cost.

Now, I go through and I mark everything I can get for free. You should be working to get anything you can for free. Actors, crew, equipment, props, locations, etc. Anything you can. Work really hard at this. The reason for marking everything is simple. It looks really good to say that I managed to get 10k worth of this stuff for free. Grants typically want you to have around 70% of your budget to be from in-kind donations. This shows that you have taken the effort to get as much as you can. It shows effort and passion.

This also has a pretty strong psychological effect. You see how hard you've already worked. It's empowering to see the effort put in to your film.

As for tools, I usually just use Excel. There is software out there. It costs a good amount. I am prepping to get some software so I can be a bit more organized.

But after all this work, you'll have a nice number. You'll know approximately how much you'll need and exactly what you need it for. When you go into the funding phase of your project, having an organized budget will do wonders for you. People respond to professionalism. Being organized gives the air of organization.

Now, in my next posts (coming out in the next few weeks) I will tackle the subject of funding. This is where the budget will become pivotal. I'll cover funding in two specific outlets: Grants and Kickstarter. I have successfully achieved both.