I'm producing my first project- a documentary- and have some questions about budgeting. Can anyone recommend a resource for where to find information on salaries and what expenses are acceptable to include in the budget? I'm finding a lot of websites and books, but they are either selling their services or not answering my specific questions. Until we get funding, everything is coming out of my pocket- which isn't very deep at the moment! Thanks for any help!
Producing : Budget questions by Laura Nagle
Budget questions
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What's the subject matter? For local interest topics, the best funding will be local, for instance.
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Yeah, Laura, I don't think there's really a rule book on this stuff. A lot of doc-makers I know, at least until they become established, self-finance their docs and don't collect salaries for themselves. But it really depends on who you're hitting up for money. My recommendation is to try to do as much of it yourself for free, figure out what else you can get for free, and only plan on paying for those things you can't find for free. So, if you can shoot, shoot. If you can edit, edit, (at least in the beginning). Then, once you've determined what you absolutely need to pay for, you can post requests on sites like this, Craigslist, or a great doc-only Yahoo Group, Doculink: http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/doculink/
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You have to register for this site, but the "file cabinet" has some good links to forms and helps on form templates: http://lineproducing.com/index.php/resources/files and when you get there, project size wise :O) you can also go to the actual guild sites for updated union scale/wage information for SAG budgets.
I appreciate the responses. :) We're filming the trailer in a couple of weeks and that is pro-bono. The organization we're filming is going to help with the fundraising, so there will be a budget, Don't know what it will be at this point. I just wanted to know what the ratio of paying the director would be compared to the DP to the Sound Op, Editor, etc... I fully plan on compensating my team before I see a penny. :)