Screenwriting : What is your script's budget? by Vienna Avelares

I'm amazed an agent asked. Here is why. If you submitted your screenplay to one of the large agencies, a reader there will do coverage for the agent and they will, after reading it, figure the budget range (ie. $10-20M, $150M+). If you submit to a smaller agency, they will read it and determine the budget on their own. The truth is that you are not expected to know the budget of your script, and how could you? (Unless you have a working knowledge of how much a fiilm costs to make it.) The other thing to consider, is thatthere are multiple budgets to anyone screenplay. War of the Worlds can be done for $100K or $100M, depending on how it is approached, who is in it, where it's filmed, etc. etc. Just write the story as you see fit and let the agent determine what they think a proper budget is. * and FYI, the agent is only interested in the budget for the purpose of trying to package it and sell it and to determine what he/she believes a selling price could be for it. The real determiners of the budget are the producers./studio.

If an agent asks, just say "I don't know." It is totally acceptable to not know.

Thank you David, for your quick response, I was completely astonished since I had no idea I needed to know this. I was asked twice the same question by two different agents.

people do ask that . pl show to your friends they will guide you.I have my online friends to guide me

Thank you my friend I appreciate your input. Wish you well in your writing projects.

Since most producers are seeking low budget projects, screenplay spec writers need to know what the requirements constitute "low budget". Many say they are things like 2-4 characters, 1-5 locations, and no expensive stuff like special effects, animals, costumes, etc. There are some sites online to further educate you on this low budget issue. (Interesting that some producers consider $500,000 to $1M as low budget while others go as high as $100M. )

Thank you Ms. Davis, your comment has been extremely helpful. I wish you the best in your writing endeavors.

It's important to have a rough idea. Under a mil? 5 mil? 10 and above? Reps need an idea. Say they have a director looking for a first project and need a script in the 3-5 mil range. Or what if they pitch it to lionsgate. Can't walk in without an estimate. If you can have a producer read through it that's the best way. Otherwise sometimes getting coverage will give you a ballpark. A service like scriptshark provides this as part of their coverage.

Thank you Evan.

I kept this in mind as I wrote my first script. I did not let it limit me, rather I wondered if I was writing anything in particular that would change the below-the-line costs. When done I thought through the major scenes to see if I believed it could be done for under $0-$5M / $5-$10, etc. I did not believe this was essential information since producers/directors control that but it was good to know. For the next two scripts I used that technique to know where I could ADD costs to actually increase increase from a certain breed of producers.

Yes, that is what I am trying to keep in mind, as I write my scripts. I am writing and keeping the cost (action-plot) within the budget. I am trying, not easy, but not impossible.

There is a difference from knowingly writing a low budget script and knowing what the budget will be to film a movie. Writing a low budget just entails maintaining the amount of characters, length of the shoot, locations, special effects etc. A screenwriter turning in a spec can't determine the hundreds of variables that producers will go through in getting the film made. Almost any script can jump millions by what the producers decide to do with it, and excluding car chases/crashes, extreme CGI, explosions and things of that nature most scripts can be shot digitally for under 1million.