A film budget is a list of everything the production will pay for, organized the way financiers and line producers expect. This is a blank film budget template as an Excel file, with a filled-in example from a sample indie feature, Nightfall, showing real line items, units, and a contingency.
What's in the template
- Budget — one row per line item: category, account number, description, quantity × unit × rate, estimated, actual, and notes. Categories follow the standard structure: Above the Line, Production, Post-Production, Other.
- Summary — estimated vs actual by category, with a variance column, for the one-page version you send to investors.
The budget
Every line is quantity × rate × unit — 18 days × $650/day for the gaffer, not a typed-in “$11,700”. That's what makes the budget defensible when someone asks where a number came from. The example uses realistic indie rates; yours will differ by city, which is exactly why the rate column matters.
| Category | Account | Description | Qty | Unit | Rate | Estimated | Actual | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above the Line | 1100 | Screenplay | 1 | Flat | 15,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | Option + purchase |
| Above the Line | 1200 | Director | 1 | Flat | 25,000 | 25,000 | ||
| Above the Line | 1300 | Producer | 6 | Week | 3,000 | 18,000 | ||
| Above the Line | 1400 | Principal Cast (5) | 18 | Day | 1,800 | 32,400 | SAG Modified Low Budget | |
| Production | 2100 | Camera Package | 3 | Week | 4,200 | 12,600 | Alexa Mini kit + lenses | |
| Production | 2200 | Gaffer | 18 | Day | 650 | 11,700 | Above local avg — 2 quotes | |
| Production | 2300 | Location Fees | 18 | Day | 1,500 | 27,000 | Diner is 8 of 18 days | |
| Production | 2400 | Sound Package + Mixer | 18 | Day | 550 | 9,900 | ||
| Post-Production | 3100 | Editor | 8 | Week | 2,500 | 20,000 | ||
| Post-Production | 3200 | Color & Sound Mix | 1 | Flat | 18,000 | 18,000 | ||
| Other | 4100 | Insurance | 1 | Flat | 6,500 | 6,500 | Production package | |
| Other | 4200 | Contingency (10%) | 1 | Flat | 19,610 | 19,610 | 10% of subtotal |
- Account:
- A numbering scheme (1000s ATL, 2000s Production, 3000s Post, 4000s Other) keeps the sheet sortable and matches how financiers read budgets.
- Estimated:
- Qty × Rate. Make it a formula, not a typed number.
- Actual:
- Fill in as invoices land. The gap between these two columns is the whole job.
Summary
The category totals, with a variance column that turns red in your head long before it does on the sheet.
| Category | Estimated | Actual | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Above the Line | 90,400 | 15,000 | |
| Production | 61,200 | 0 | |
| Post-Production | 38,000 | 0 | |
| Other (incl. contingency) | 26,110 | 0 | |
| Total | 215,710 | 15,000 |
How to use it
- Work top-down: Above the Line (story, director, producer, principal cast), then Production, Post, and Other.
- Price every line as quantity × rate × unit (flat, day, week). Never type a lump sum you can’t justify later.
- Use real local rates for crew and locations — ask three vendors, don’t guess. This is where most indie budgets break.
- Add a contingency line of at least 10% of the subtotal (15% for documentaries). It is not optional.
- Track Actual next to Estimated from day one, so you see the overage when it is $400, not $40,000.
Common mistakes
- Guessing rates. Crew and location rates vary enormously by city. Three real quotes beat any template number — including ours.
- Skipping contingency. 10% is the floor. It is not “money left over”; it is the money the shoot will need.
- No account numbers. Without them the sheet can't be sorted, summed by category, or compared to the next project.
- Tracking actuals at the end. Fill in the Actual column as invoices arrive, so the overage shows up at $400, not $40,000.
For how budgets are structured and what each category should hold, read How to Budget a Film: A Complete Guide.