Free Script Breakdown Sheet Template

A script breakdown is the first real step of pre-production: going through the locked screenplay scene by scene and listing everything each scene needs — cast, extras, props, wardrobe, vehicles, effects. Every other document (schedule, budget, call sheets) is built from it. This is a blank breakdown sheet as an Excel file, with five scenes from a sample production, Nightfall, fully broken down.

What's in the template

Breakdown — one row per scene: scene #, INT/EXT, set, day/night, pages in eighths, description, then one column per element category (cast, extras, props, wardrobe, vehicles, SFX/VFX, sound) and notes.
Cast List — the numbered cast with their actor and the scenes they appear in. The cast numbers are reused on every later document.

The breakdown sheet

The rule is simple: if it has to be sourced, booked, built, or bought, it gets tagged. Note the example counts extras (“40 market crowd”, not “a crowd”), flags hero props that need duplicates, and puts the safety items — stunt coordinator, armorer, safety rail — in the notes where the AD will see them.

Breakdown · example from “Nightfall”

14 columns

Scene #	INT/EXT	Set	Day/Night	Pages	Description	Cast #	Extras	Props	Wardrobe	Vehicles	SFX / VFX	Sound	Notes
5	INT	Diner — Booth 4	DAY	2	Reyes and Okafor compare case notes over cold coffee.	2, 3, 1	6 diners, 1 waitress	Case file, two coffee cups, photo of the Suspect	Reyes: rumpled suit			Diner ambience	Maya in BG serving
12	INT	Diner — Kitchen	DAY	1.25	Maya confronts the line cook about the missing order.	1, 4	2 kitchen staff	Order tickets, pass bell	Maya: apron		Steam from the line	Kitchen clatter
12A	INT	Diner — Kitchen	NIGHT	0.75	Closing up alone, Maya finds the note taped under the pass.	1		Handwritten note (hero prop)	Maya: apron off, coat			Silence; fridge hum	Hero prop — 3 copies
27	EXT	Main Street Market	DAY	1.5	Foot chase through the crowded stalls.	2, 5	40 market crowd	Fruit crates (breakaway)	Suspect: grey hoodie	Delivery van (picture)		Crowd walla	Stunt coordinator; permit
31	EXT	Rooftop	NIGHT	1	The standoff at the ledge. Rain.	2, 5, 3		Reyes’s pistol (rubber + hero)	Wet-down doubles for all		Rain bars	Rain; distant sirens	Safety rail; armorer

Cast #:: Lead with the scene’s main character. The numbers come from your cast list and never change.
Extras:: Count them. "Some diners" is not a number the AD can book.
Props:: Mark hero props (seen in close-up) — they need duplicates.

Cast list

Number the cast once, by size of role, and never renumber. From here on, “1” means Maya on the schedule, the call sheet, and the day-out-of-days.

Cast List · example from “Nightfall”

5 columns

#	Character	Actor	Scenes	Total Scenes
1	Maya	Dana Whitfield	5, 12, 12A, 14	4
2	Reyes	Marcus Oyelaran	5, 14, 27, 31, 33	5
3	Okafor	Priya Nair	5, 8, 31, 33	4
4	Cook	Tom Barrow	12	1
5	Suspect	Luka Petrov	27, 31	2

How to use it

Go scene by scene through the locked script. One row per scene, in script order.
Tag every element the scene needs — cast, extras, props, wardrobe, vehicles, effects — in its own column. If it has to be sourced, it gets tagged.
Number the cast once (1 = Maya, 2 = Reyes…) and use those numbers everywhere: schedule, call sheet, DOOD.
Count pages in eighths. It feels fussy; it’s how every department estimates time.
The breakdown feeds everything downstream. When the script changes, change the breakdown first, then the schedule.

Common mistakes

Breaking down an unlocked script. Every rewrite means redoing rows. Lock first, or at least freeze scene numbers.
Vague counts. “Some diners” can't be cast or budgeted. Write the number.
Missing the invisible elements. Rain, steam, a working fridge, a picture vehicle — anything the scene implies still has to be provided.
Skipping page counts. Eighths feel fussy, but every department estimates time from them.

Once the breakdown is done, the next step is the schedule: see the shooting schedule template and how to build one.