Budgeting an indie film

Contributed by Glen Berry

We have produced a number of scripts for TV. In essence we have, almost accidentally, put together a series of spoofs on the political and social situation in South Africa (where, believe me, people need desperately to start laughing at themselves). Because we've taken a slightly off-the-wall approach, the main-line producers find the lack of a familiar formula slightly disconcerting and too risky. So, in complete ignorance and arrogance, we've decided to produce at least one episode ourselves, and then take it from there. What I need now is to work out a budget! Can you help me with any examples, or standard budgets that I can adapt for our situation?

Unfortunately, there is no "standard" budget. Budgets are closely guarded trade secrets and getting straight answers about them is almost impossible. Although there are budget sheets that you can fill out line by line, they are generally not suited for professional use. Of course, big budget productions have an accounting office to handle jobs like this. However, that does not cover most of television production and independent film.

Many professional television and independent producers opt to utilize software packages such as Movie Magic to guide them through budgeting, script breakdown, shooting schedule and day out of days. I would recommend using this approach, provided that you can handle the $600 or so investment in the software.

Berry is the founder of the Northwest Film School and the creator of Film Underground, a popular and successful network of Moviemaking web sites that includes Cyber Film School.

A former member of the Whatcom Film Association Board of Directors, he also has twice served as the director of the Northwest Projections Film Festival. An award-winning filmmaker, Berry specializes in post production and is currently employed as an editor and post production supervisor on professional independent productions. Berry has written for “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Filmmaking,” “MovieMaker Magazine,” Cyberfilmschool.com and Filmfestivals.com. He also has served as an expert source for international newspaper and radio media outlets.

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