Create a Film Budget
Film investors want to see the plan. Show them.
Take 5 minutes to enter some basic details about your film and the Screenplay Readers film budgeting engine, built by filmmakers and producers, (not A.I.) will create a professional, extremely detailed 18-page line-item custom film budget for your film or series.
$97 for an editable 18-page Excel/Google Sheets version OR $25 for a PDF of the topsheet only
Create a Film Budget
Film investors want to see the plan. Show them.
Take 5 minutes to enter some basic details about your film and the Screenplay Readers film budgeting engine, built by filmmakers and producers, (not A.I.) will create a professional, extremely detailed 18-page line-item custom film budget for your film or series.
$97 for an editable 18-page Excel/Google Sheets version OR $25 for a PDF of the topsheet only
How to create a film budget:
Step 1) You tell us about your film or series
In the 5-minute form below, we start by asking what you want your film budget’s grand total to be. Then we walk you through a series of easy questions about your film (or series), asking you things like, “How many cast members?” and “Do you think your film might need a lot of visual effects?” and stuff like that.
Step 2) Our film budgeting engine does its thing (not A.I.)
Our human-built film budgeting algorithm crunches the numbers and puts together your budget, from all the above-the-line and below-the-line costs to detailed departmental allocations, using the latest labor rates for guilds and unions (and non-union), and, of course, all fringes.
Step 3) We email your budget in ~2 minutes
Your fully-professional and detailed, 18-page line-item film budget is ready to add to your pitch package for film investors and get to your production team.
The Benefits of Having A Film Budget:
✅ A film budget proves to film investors you’re serious
Whether you’re meeting with investors or producers, or launching a crowdfunding campaign, or submitting for a festival, workshop, or fellowship, a film budget instantly transforms you from “yet another filmmaker with a script” into a filmmaker with a script and a plan, which gives you a huge leg up when trying to get that green light.
✅ A film budget proves your script is producible
Film industry professionals will read your script and ask, “Can this get made?” A film budget answers that question. Locations, cast size, stunts, VFX, period elements, etc. are no longer abstract, separating you from other writers who only think creatively and not practically.
✅ A film budget helps you write smarter, not smaller
Getting real about how much your script will cost to produce gives you the opportunity to make smart fixes (combining locations, reducing speaking roles, etc.) that make the script more shootable and sellable.
✅ A film budget positions you as more than just the screenwriter
Writers who understand film budgets are often seen as more producer-oriented, which makes you more appealing to work with and boosts your chances of being kept involved in more than just the writing stage of the production.
✅ A film budget can help land that grant or fellowship
Labs and fellowships and other serious funding paths typically want to see that you’re a credible filmmaker who understands the importance of budgeting and scheduling.
Frequently Asked Questions about our Film Budgets
How accurate will the budget be that I receive from Screenplay Readers?
No budget is 100% perfect (not even a budget created by a studio) but our budgets are as close as possible to the real-world costs of making your film: labor rates, guild/union rates and fringes, fuel costs, equipment rentals – you name it, and its price will change over time. Rest assured, our film budgets are more than enough to get you started, especially with fundraising.
I’m still raising money for my film. How can I make a budget if I don’t know how much money I’ll have at the end of the fundraising process?
Ah, but you won’t know how much money you need to raise until you have a film budget. Our advice is: before any fundraising or pitching or talking to investors begins, you and your team should have an accurate, line-by-line estimate of how much your film will cost to produce. Whether you budget your film yourself, hire a paid line producer to do it, or create a budget here at Screenplay Readers, having a budget before you start raising funds is essential.
Do I need to upload my script to create my film budget?
Nope. Just answer the questions in our 5-minute form and our algorithm dials in your budget from there.
Can I edit my film budget?
Yes. If you order the Excel/Google Sheets version, and not just the PDF topsheet-only version, you can edit it in Excel or Google Sheets.
Can I budget a series?
Yes. We offer two routes: budgeting for a single episode (such as a pilot), or budgeting your entire series as one big budget.
Will my film budget be created by A.I.?
No. To create our film budgets we use a set of custom, hand-coded algorithms, maintained and updated by human beings to reflect actual costs and make sure the budgets are useful for actual filmmakers.
Do you offer custom film budgeting services or line producing?
We do. Email us for more information.
Can I get my budget in Movie Magic / EP Budgeting format or some other format?
No. The Excel / Google Sheets version and the PDF version are all we offer.
Will I be able to import my downloaded Excel budget into EP / Movie Magic Budgeting?
Possibly! It’s a bit complicated getting anything to import correctly (and handsomely) into EP / Movie Magic Budgeting.
Why are some crew and other line items in my budget totally blank?
We start by asking what you want your total budget to be (from $25k to $250 million). If the amount you enter is too low to afford certain line items and crew, those things simply won’t appear in your budget.
Why do some crew members appear in my budget, but have no rate or cost?
If you’re shooting a smaller film, we include certain essential crew members on your budget, but don’t list a rate for them. This isn’t an accident. It comes from decades of experience working on small films: if your budget is too low, you simply can’t afford to pay most, if not all, of your crew.
What assumptions do your budgets make?
Our film budgets make several smart assumptions. Here are some examples:
Example 1) Our film budgets will assume that if your budget is $200,000, you probably can’t afford IATSE, DGA, Teamsters, or WGA crew members. Or if you do, you’ll be working with them at negotiated rates.
Example 2) Our film budgets will assume that if you’re making a $7,000,000 film, you can afford more for your camera package than you could if you were making a $700,000 film.
You get the idea. The higher the budget amount you enter, the more line items and crew will show up in your budget. Remember, you can always manually add or delete crew and line items after you download your budget.
Our recommendation: budget high, then pare away line items if necessary. If you budget low, certain line items and rates won’t show up to be modified.
When I edit line items in my downloaded budget, will it change the budget total amount?
Yes. Your downloaded Excel / Google Sheets version will behave just like a regular spreadsheet (e.g. if you change a number in column X, column Y will change its total, etc.).
Keep in mind: if you’re tweaking your film in a major way (for example, going from a $20,000 budget to a $10M budget), you may lose a lot of the smart calculations and assumptions we included in your original downloaded budget. Make sure you make a copy before you start editing anything.
Will my budget be calculated using the most recent labor rates?
Yes. We only use the most up-to-date labor rates, based on all the current union contracts: SAG, DGA, WGA, Teamsters, and IATSE.
What are fringes? Does my film budget need to include them?
Fringes are costs you must include in your budget for every cast/crew member.
For non-union cast/crew, you must pay FICA, Federal Unemployment Insurance (FUI), and State Unemployment Insurance (SUI).
For cast/crew members who are part of the DGA, WGA, Teamsters, SAG, or IATSE, you also pay unique guild fringes, such as Health & Welfare and Pension costs.
Fringes can add up, so they have to be budgeted for correctly.
If you’ve entered a small budget amount, your budget might only show a few hundred or thousand dollars for SAG. But if you’re budgeting for a large, multi-million-dollar picture, rest assured that your budget will include full union fringes.
That said, our budgets also account for real-world middle ground. For example, if you’re shooting a $4 million movie, you might not be using Teamsters for transportation. But if you’re making a $7 million movie, you probably need to be.
Can I create a budget in any non-US currency?
Not yet.
