Production budget template for a documentary special, 2018. Making a zerobased budget every month can help prevent this destructive spending. Simpson examines the football stars rise and falland the murder. Since film budget software like movie magic budgeting, showbiz budgeting, and ep budgeting can run on the pricey side, weve created a free film budget template. An aspiring film maker might wonder what finances to have for a documentary to come to life, and the budget which depends on a lot of factors. Pbs acclaimed documentary film series pov just released public money, a stunning short film on participatory budgeting in new york city pbnyc produced by our friends at meerkat media, the 15minute film follows community members in brooklyns sunset park neighborhood as they launch pb in the district. How to budget for documentary production wide awake films. Participatory budgeting has never been more beautiful. An introduction to documentary budgeting revised 10152010 by robert bahar this article was originally published as dont fudge on your budget. Producers and networks call on her to draft reliable production budgets that meet the industry cost benchmarks for the onair quality that all the parties involved in a. Investigators are confounded over an unspeakable crime thats been committed. Geralt of rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his. Just like documentaries, feature films are also longer, timeconsuming to make, and complicated.
For example, you are renting one single item lets say a prop gun description, for 6. This is a fully revised look at documentary budgeting, and updates the 2006 documentary article dont fudge on your budget. It is also a necessity if you are planning to fundraise for your film. Far from numbers alone, the budget is another way of telling the story of your film. However, this is the best documentary budget sample sheet ive found online. The documentary investment group with support from rick and nonnie burnes and janet traeger salz charitable trust. This is a fully revised look at documentary budgeting, and updates the. One example is a business budget, but you can also make and use personal budgets if you wanted to watch your own spending. This document, which could be over 4 pages long, is used to secure financing for and lead to preproduction and production of the film. In part two of our four part series on how to make a documentary, we look at funding, financing and budgeting. Do not take money from your marketing, outreach, engagement and impact allocationthey should be part of your marketing strategy from the creation of the budget.
The ultimate budgeting series why everyone needs a budget this article explores why everyone needs a budget and exactly what creating a budget can help you achieve. This documentary follows jackie, a privileged housewife and mother of eight, as her outrageously expensive world collapses around her. A teenage boy with a sex therapist mother teams up with a high school classmate to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at school. At the center of the documentary business is the budget, which offers a map of the filmmaking process, expressing both the film youre planning to make and how you plan to make it. Kelly to dueling fyre fest docs, its been a banner year for the genre. Copro partners who have approved her budgets include channel 4, arte and more. Our planet, babies and other docs are free for teachers and parents to use in remote learning, but theyre also available for. There is no set amount for a documentary budget forms due to the resources being different. Showbiz budgeting allows production accountants, production managers and independent producers to create all types of budgets for feature film, tv, commercial, music video, web series and corporate video projects.
Its easy to say i am going to make a documentary on antarctica and its going to air on the travel channel. Elizabeth is a highly valued industry expert in budgeting international coproductions. A production budget template for a documentary special, 201617. There are other budgeting packages eg octopuspmi, or the budget may be produced on a spreadsheet. Introduction to documentary budgeting international. These 4 documentaries will teach you about money my. Anyone vaguely thinking of a career as a producer needs to know how to make a film budget. The best documentaries of 2019 from investigations into michael jackson and r. How to track your income and finance your ideal lifestyle in this article, i give you insight on how to effectively track your income so you can. Every experienced network decisionmaker, funder and documentary producer knows what is the budget for documentary films at every quality level.
Watch your life, your money, the entire program as well as key moments. Lets create a detailed lineitem budget for your film, episode, or series a budget you can hand to investors, impress your crowdfunders with, or just use as a blueprint to actually produce your project. F ilm budgeting is an essential part of the filmmaking process. Budgeting for documentaries tickets, thu, sep 19, 2019 at. Film budgeting software showbiz budgeting media services. Take 5 minutes and give us a few of your films details and our film budgeting engine will create a fully professional, extremely detailed, custom 18page lineitem film budget for your film or series. There are dozens of movies, television shows, documentaries and documentary series available to cord cutters on popular videostreaming platforms, including amazon prime video, hbo now. Works perfectly for budgeting out short films, features, commercials, music video, and more. The essential guide to film budgets with free film budget. Sundance institute documentary fund sundance institute documentary film program spring 2012 budget assumptions shooting formats. This printfriendly film budget template provides all the robustness youre looking for in a budgeting template. Documentary has been described as a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries. These films, including maxed out, the ascent of money, inside job and jiro dreams of sushi, offer important lessons on how to manage money, maintain worklife balance and steer clear of. If youre interested in making a low budget documentary film, especially if youve never made one before, youll need to spend wisely and count every penny.
Ideally, it is also a living document that can help get. Watch mccarthy american experience official site pbs. A national nonprofit media arts organization, american documentary amdoc strives to make essential documentaries accessible as a catalyst for public discourse. Ideal for documentary courses as well as aspiring and established documentary filmmakers, this book has it all, with indepth lessons and insider perspectives on every aspect of preproduction, production, and postproduction. I cannot name either because i dont even have the job yet but i really hope i get it and i thought id share an inside look into behind the scenes of. All of genres and categories are benchmarked for their expected total documentary budget as.
Film budget pro is a top tier service company that creates detailed budgets, detailed schedules, and tax incentive analyses for filmmakers, production companies and the entertainment industry. Film budgeteers budget your production begins right now. The true cost of a documentary depends on many different factors so its hard to know how much your documentary will cost until youve nailed down some of them. It is based on a series of workshops presented by the author at. In the first part of this session, we will go over the elements which make up a documentary budget, different approaches to budgeting, and how to keep your budget realistic but. The detail area of a budget has multiple columns to help you segment and digest costs, while still giving you an accurate total. Other costs that are usually low or exempt are art department, wardrobe, locations and more. The documentary film budget template captures and provides rough estimates of these unique expenses. A documentary film is a nonfictional, motion picture intended to document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record.
Netflix puts 10 free docuseries and documentary films on. Others cost millions to shoot, edit and distribute. Film budgeteers create a film budget for your film or. You can probably imagine some of the netflix, hulu original documentaries cost more than a million, and john smith no budget documentary. The videos and other resources throughout this site are all meant to help you manage your money, not be managed by it. They, however, carry fewer details compared to documentaries. How do you present a 100% credible production budget to a network or. That said, lets look at the factors that go into the true cost of a documentary. It depends a whole lot on the documentary in question.
Documentary series following people with challenging conditions who are looking for love. And you should expect that even a simple film may cost more. Budgeting for the length of the edit is widely underestimated and you will invariably want more weeks. Meanwhile, the director previously claimed justin had found parts of his documentary series tough to watch back, especially the scenes that included his past drug use and health struggles. Netflix puts 10 free docuseries and documentary films on youtube. A budget is an important planning tool for documentary films. The most flexible film budgeting software for features, tv, commercials and web projects. Pbs releases new film on pbnyc participatory budgeting. To produce a factual genre budget, a synopsis of the programme or series with details of the delivery requirements are required.
Any ads appearing in this video are for the holders benefit only. Directing the documentary, sixth edition is the definitive book on the form, offering timetested principles to help you master the craft. Making that video and actually having it aired, anywhere, is a much bigger challenge. In this session with docs in progress executive director erica ginsberg, we will go over the elements which make up a documentary budget, different approaches to budgeting, and. Asa butterfield, gillian anderson, ncuti gatwa, emma mackey. The best financial movies you can stream right now. A documentary budget is a key item to raise money for your film. There are some harrowing aspects to how we get the food we eat every day and theyre revealed here in. How to make reality tv shows and documentary series with.