Free Film Budget Template (Google Sheets, Excel and PDF)
A film budget tells you what your movie will cost before you spend a dollar. It’s also the document investors, grant panels and crowdfunding backers ask to see first. This free film budget template gives you a Google Sheet that does the math for you, the same file for Excel, and a fillable PDF in US Letter and A4. There’s also a filled-in budget for a short film, so you can see real numbers in every line.
TL;DR: Build It Line by Line, Then Add 10%
List every cost as a line item with a quantity and a rate. Group the lines into above the line, production, post and other costs. The top sheet adds them up. Then add a contingency of 5 to 10% for the things that go wrong. Copy the Google Sheet and fill in the detail tab first.
Download the Free Film Budget Template
Copy the Google Sheet into your own Drive, or download the Excel file. Both add up your totals for you. The PDFs are for planning on paper, and the Dead Air example shows every line filled in.
What Is a Film Budget?
A film budget is a list of every cost it takes to make a movie, from the script to the festival submissions. It has two parts.
- The top sheet: one page with the total for each category and the grand total. This is what a producer or investor reads first.
- The detail: every line item behind those totals, with a quantity, a unit and a rate. “DP, 3 days at $500” is one line.
The producer or line producer builds it, usually after the script breakdown and alongside the shooting schedule. The number of shoot days drives most of the costs, so the two documents change together.
Above the Line vs Below the Line
Every film budget splits its costs by a line. The terms come from old studio budget forms, where a line on the top sheet separated the creative leads from everyone else.
| Above the line | Below the line | |
|---|---|---|
| Who and what | Story rights, writer, producers, director, main cast | Crew, equipment, locations, food, post and everything else |
| How it’s paid | Often a flat fee or a deal | Usually by the day or week |
| In our example | 13% of the budget | 78% of the budget |
The last 10% or so is contingency. Our film crew positions list covers who sits on each side of the line.
What’s in the Film Budget Template
- Top sheet: project details, then estimate, actual and variance for 22 budget categories, with totals for each section
- Four sections: above the line, production, post-production and other costs like insurance and festivals
- Detail tab: line items with quantity, units, rate, fringe, estimate, actual and notes
- Contingency: type in a percentage and the grand total updates
- Actual and variance: track what you spend against the plan. Red numbers mean you’re over
- PDF version: a two-page top sheet plus two pages of blank detail lines, for planning on paper
The Google Sheet and the Excel file work the same way. Fill in the detail tab and the top sheet adds everything up by account number.
Film Budget Example: Dead Air
Here’s the template filled in for Dead Air, the made-up 13-page short about a late-night radio host from our shooting schedule and screenplay template. It shoots in three days with a fourth held for weather.
- Grand total: $32,736. That’s $29,760 in costs plus a 10% contingency of $2,976.
- Production is the biggest slice. Crew, gear, locations and food come to $17,810, or 54% of the budget.
- Post is 18%. Editing, the sound mix, music and color add up to $6,000. Short film budgets often forget this part.
- The reserve day costs money even if you don’t use it. A $250 hold fee on the location and a fourth day of van rental.
- Actuals came in under. The team spent $29,445, so they never touched the contingency. Camera, art, transport, catering and music all went over. The $500 of unspent festival fees covered it.
Here’s a habit worth building on your first budget.
Fill in the actual column the same day you spend the money.
A receipt you log that night is a line you won’t have to chase in post.
How to Make a Film Budget
- Break down the script. List the cast, locations, props, wardrobe and anything special in every scene. Our call sheet template and shooting schedule use the same breakdown.
- Set your shoot days. Days drive crew, gear, food and location costs, so lock the schedule first.
- Get real rates. Ask rental houses, locations and crew for quotes. A guess in a budget turns into a surprise on set.
- Fill in one line per cost. Quantity times rate. Three days at $500 is $1,500.
- Budget post-production. Editing, sound, music licensing, color and deliverables all cost money.
- Add the other costs. Insurance, legal review of your releases and festival fees.
- Add contingency. 5 to 10% is typical. Jungle Software suggests more for stunts, animals, kids, water work, night exteriors and remote locations.
- Track actuals. Update the actual column as you spend, and check the variance every day of the shoot.
Want a quick gut check on your total?
Divide the production section by your shoot days.
That’s roughly what each day costs you, and it tells you what an extra day would really add.
What Famous Low-Budget Films Really Cost
Micro-budget legends usually quote the shoot cost. The full story is in the post and distribution costs that came after. Here are three, counting down.
3. Clerks (1994): $27,575
Kevin Smith shot Clerks in the store where he worked. According to Wikipedia, he paid for it by selling much of his comic book collection, borrowing from his parents and maxing out a stack of credit cards. It grossed about $4.4 million.
2. Paranormal Activity (2007): $15,000
The shoot cost about $15,000. Paramount then spent about $200,000 more, mostly on a new ending, before the film earned about $194 million worldwide.
1. El Mariachi (1992): $7,225
Robert Rodriguez made El Mariachi for $7,225. Post-production for its studio release cost about $200,000, according to Wikipedia. The shoot was cheap. Getting it ready for theaters wasn’t.
The lesson for your budget: plan for post and delivery from day one. For bigger productions, our guide to how much it costs to make a movie breaks down where the money goes.
Turn each crew and cast line into a signed agreement with our free deal memo template.
FAQs About Film Budget Templates
What Are Fringes in a Film Budget?
Fringes are the costs on top of a person’s pay, like payroll taxes, union pension and health contributions, and benefits. Enter them as a percentage in the fringe column and the estimate includes them. If you pay everyone a flat rate, leave it at zero.
What Is the 2.5 Rule for Movies?
It’s a rough rule of thumb that a film needs to earn about two and a half times its production budget at the box office to break even. Theaters keep part of every ticket, and marketing costs extra on top of the budget.
Can I Use This Template for a Music Video or a Commercial?
Yes. Rename the categories that don’t fit and delete the lines you don’t need. Most music videos skip the writer and story rights lines and add a line for the artist or the track.
The Final Cut on the Film Budget Template
A film budget template turns a script into a number you can raise, spend and track.
Copy the Google Sheet, fill in the detail tab line by line and add your contingency.
Then keep the actual column current. What will your first line item be?
Jay Neill
Jay Neill is the founder and managing editor of iFILMthings and believes everyone should have access to the film resources they need to plan their filmmaking project, which is why he’s dedicated iFILMthings to helping all filmmakers.