Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well. I was wondering if anyone here can help me with estimating a budget for a short film (15 minutes) with two main characters, mostly outdoors, in saint-petersburg, Russia?
Producing : Budget Estimate by Kioumars Ahmadi
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Hello Kioumars, great question.My quick response is, 'it depends' on a variety of factors. Do you own the equipment or do you have to pay someone to shoot it? Are the locations free or is there a cost, etc? I can email you a budget template if that would help. My email is: art_thomas@mainmanfilms.com
that would be very helpful dear Thomas. in addition to rent the equipment, I need to rent a theater hall for one night as well. I will email you so we can be in touch. many thanks.
Great question Kioumars Ahmadi, and how generous of you to reach out with a template Arthur O. Thomas! As it was once told to me, the general rule is both one page = 1-minute of screen time but also $1k, so 15 pages = $15k, which can go way up or down depending on production factors, which will take up 60% (at least) of your total budget.
Do either of you use budgeting software?
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Hi Karen, thanks for your message. I was thinking of purchasing 'Movie Magic', but since we produce our original films, we have a handle on what it takes to produce them. How about you?
For the film you describe, Kioumars Ahmadi, the budget will be whatever you can raise. The more you raise, the more you can pay for things (cast, crew, equipment, locations, etc.) - the less you have, the more "creative" you'll have to become to get the film done.
thank you all for your insight. I haven't use any budgeting software. as I am now raising money, every financier ask me of a budget breakdown which is problematic for me in Russia, as it my first film here. again thank for your help. looking forward to hear from you.
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Hey, Arthur O. Thomas! DUDE! You've worked with Terrell! LOL! I saw you were from Denver, and I went to CFS and worked with Terrell and Alicia and Justin Lewis on Anomaly. Small world!
Yeah, you can totally do budgeting from an excel spreadsheet if you know what the line items are supposed to be, totally. I learned on Movie Magic, taught a curriculum around Gorilla/Chimpanzee, but I really like StudioBinder's system, too. Honestly, it just depends on whether or not you have to time to fuss with it LOL!
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Here are some resources. Filmdaily.tv, Stage 32 and Thescriptlab.com .