Film Budget Templates

A film budget is the costed plan for a production: every department, every shooting day, every piece of hired equipment, priced before anyone turns a camera on. It’s what investors and funders read before committing money, and what the production accountant measures actual spend against once shooting starts. The free templates below are editable budget forms, and beneath them you’ll find how film budgets are structured, a top sheet example, and the order in which a budget actually gets built.

How a Film Budget Is Organized

Film budgets everywhere use the same four-part structure, and knowing the vocabulary matters — funders expect to see it:

• Above-the-line (ATL) — the creative and rights costs agreed before production: story and script rights, writer, producer, director, and principal cast. These are negotiated individually and tend to be fixed regardless of how the shoot goes.
• Below-the-line (BTL) — the cost of actually shooting: crew, camera and lighting equipment hire, locations and permits, art department and set construction, wardrobe, hair and makeup, transport, catering, and accommodation. This is where the budget moves with the schedule.
• Post-production — editing, visual effects, sound design and mix, music composition or licensing, colour grading, titles, and delivery masters.
• Other / indirect — insurance, legal and accounting, completion bond where the production is financed, publicity stills, and contingency.

Each part breaks into numbered accounts (e.g. 2100 Camera, 2200 Grip & Electric), with detailed line items beneath. The totals of those accounts are what appear on the top sheet.

The Top Sheet

Every film budget has a one-page summary — the top sheet — that shows category totals only. It’s the page financiers actually read; the detail sits behind it. Here’s what one looks like for a modest independent feature:

PRODUCTION: “Harbour Lights”  |  Feature  |  18 shooting days Budget top sheet  |  Version 3  |  5 September 2026
Acct	Category	Total
1100	Story & script rights	15,000
1200	Producer & director	60,000
1300	Principal cast	85,000
Total above-the-line		160,000
2000	Production crew	142,000
2100	Camera, grip & lighting hire	48,000
2200	Locations & permits	26,000
2300	Art, set & props	34,000
2400	Wardrobe, hair & makeup	18,000
2500	Transport, catering & accommodation	39,000
Total below-the-line		307,000
3000	Editing & picture post	45,000
3100	Sound design, mix & music	32,000
3200	VFX, grade & deliverables	28,000
Total post-production		105,000
4000	Insurance, legal & accounting	30,000
4100	Contingency (10%)	60,200
TOTAL BUDGET		662,200

Free Film Budget Templates

Each template below gives you the account structure to work into. Start from the top sheet categories and fill the detail beneath each one.

Feature Film Budget Template (Full Account Structure)

Above-the-line, below-the-line, post-production, and indirect categories with numbered accounts and a top sheet summary.

Short Film Budget Template

A condensed version for shorts and student projects — the same categories, fewer accounts, sized for a few shooting days.

Breakdown, Then Schedule, Then Budget

A film budget can’t be written first — it’s the third step, and doing it out of order is why first budgets are wrong:

1. Script breakdown. Go through the script scene by scene and list everything each scene requires: cast, extras, locations, vehicles, props, wardrobe, stunts, effects, animals, children.
2. Schedule. Group scenes by location and cast availability to work out how many shooting days you need, and which days need what.
3. Budget. Now you can cost it, because almost every below-the-line number is a day rate multiplied by days.

This is also why shooting days are the lever that actually moves a film budget. Cutting one day doesn’t save one line item — it removes a day of crew, equipment hire, catering, transport, and location fees at once. When a budget comes back too high, the schedule is where the answer usually is.

Contingency, and the Costs People Forget

Around 10% contingency is the common convention, and financiers expect to see it. It isn’t padding — filmmaking generates unplanned costs reliably: weather days, a location falling through, a reshoot, an actor’s availability shifting.

The lines most often missing from a first-time budget:

• Production insurance — usually required before you can hire equipment or secure most locations.
• Music licensing or original score — the track you shot the edit to almost certainly can’t be cleared for the price you hoped.
• Sound post — dialogue editing, ADR, foley, and the mix. The single most common reason a “finished” low-budget film doesn’t look finished.
• Deliverables — masters, captions, artwork, and the technical specs a distributor or festival requires.
• Legal and clearances — chain of title, contracts, releases for locations, people, and any visible brands or artwork.
• Festival and marketing costs — entry fees, travel, screeners, and publicity, none of which sit inside the production budget.

Budgeting a Short or Micro-Budget Film

The structure doesn’t change when the money shrinks — the numbers do, and more lines get filled with favours and deferrals. Three things worth doing anyway:

Budget the real cost even when you’re not paying it. If a friend is lending a camera package, put its market rate in the budget with a matching “deferred / donated” note. You then know what the film actually cost to make, which matters for insurance, for grant applications, and for the next production when the favour isn’t available.

Reserve money for post. The classic micro-budget failure is spending everything on the shoot and finishing the film on goodwill. Sound post and colour are what separate a film that looks low-budget from one that looks unfinished.

Treat the famous examples carefully. Films like Clerks, The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity are routinely cited for their tiny budgets — but the widely quoted figures are generally the cost of shooting, not of finishing and releasing. Post-production, music clearance, legal work, and marketing were funded separately, often by a distributor after the fact, and frequently cost several times the shoot. Budget for the whole road, not the part that makes the headline.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is above-the-line and below-the-line in a film budget?

Above-the-line covers story rights, writer, producer, director, and principal cast — the creative deals made before production. Below-the-line covers the cost of shooting: crew, equipment, locations, art, wardrobe, transport, and catering.

What is a top sheet?

The one-page summary at the front of a film budget showing category totals only, with the detailed accounts behind it. It’s the page financiers read first, so the categories on it should match industry conventions.

How much contingency should a film budget include?

Around 10% is the common convention, and funders generally expect it. Productions with heavy location work, stunts, weather exposure, or children often carry more.

How do I budget a short film?

Break down the script, schedule it into shooting days, then cost each department as a day rate times days. Use the same category structure as a feature with fewer accounts, and reserve a meaningful share for sound post and grading rather than spending it all on the shoot.

What’s the biggest cost driver in a film budget?

The number of shooting days. Most below-the-line costs are day rates, so removing a day cuts crew, equipment, catering, transport, and location costs together. If a budget comes back too high, the schedule is usually where the fix is.

Does the film budget include marketing?

Usually not — production budgets and marketing (P&A) budgets are normally kept separate, and marketing is often funded by a distributor rather than the production. Independent filmmakers still need to plan for festival fees, travel, and publicity as their own line, outside the production budget.