Free Film Budget Template « Making the Movie

18Mar/0739

Free Film Budget Template

I'm putting together a budget for a short film I plan to shoot in May. Because I'm generous, I thought I'd make the template I designed available for free to the movie-making world (in various formats):

Film Budget Top Sheet Template as Google Spreadsheet
Film Budget Top Sheet Template as Excel Spreadsheet
Film Budget Top Sheet Template as Open Office (.ods)

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

Filed under: budget, film, free, spreadsheet, template Leave a comment

Comments (39) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Alesondra
September 15th, 2009 - 00:31

Thanks. You have helped me out marvelous much see you at the festival.
Bill Chott
September 20th, 2009 - 00:37

Thanks. This is great. Thanks to you, I just budgeted my first industrial!
Anonymous
November 13th, 2009 - 18:33

Thank you so much for the budget template specifically, and for sharing your knowledge in general! I just can't thank you enough…
Anonymous
November 23rd, 2009 - 20:10

Thanks a million!!

John
Anonymous
February 10th, 2010 - 23:33

Really – you think you're so generous for giving us this??
There's hardly anything to it! I mean – it barely starts to scratch the surface!
Thanks…but, "because you're generous" Really!!
J. Ott
February 11th, 2010 - 00:13

Sorry this budget template doesn't meet the generosity threshold of the previous commenter. I'm not an accountant, I'm a filmmaker.

I'll gladly link to a better budget that is also free. Therefore, I challenge the previous commenter to step forward and generously donate such a budget template.

Holding my breath
-john
Janice Hollinger
May 11th, 2010 - 10:20

Thank you so much for the template. Saved me lots of time and money. Janice
Nikky
May 23rd, 2010 - 12:08

thanks man, you are awesome..uber awesome..
Seth Lombardy
September 17th, 2010 - 22:54

Absolutely commendable. Thank you.
JenniferP
November 16th, 2010 - 12:43

Thanks a million.
Mark
December 23rd, 2010 - 20:04

Well, you didn’t have to share this but you did so anyway, thinking that it may be of use to someone out there. A very thoughtful gesture indeed. It was also extremely helpful to me, many thanks.
Sandeep
January 2nd, 2011 - 03:29

Its Rocking..
Thanks A LOAD 4 sharing such a wonderful subject with us…
KEVIN
January 18th, 2011 - 08:30

Thank you THank you Thank you!
Amanda
February 6th, 2011 - 09:03

Thanks so much! This was great to find for free online…appreciate you sharing very much!
Richard Trombly
March 3rd, 2011 - 21:15

John’s basic budgeter is great for a very basic production. Good on you for sharing it. Some beginners NEED this sort of basics to even make a starting point. Thanks. You said you would share a more in depth one free one.
http://www.birdlingbrains.com/ click on indiebudgetbuddy Rick Ferrando makes it available for free. It’s a well-designed spreadsheet with a few numbers in it for basic considerations.
us indie folks have to help each other out.
Tiph
March 22nd, 2011 - 08:10

Thanks You rock!!!!
tanusmita das
April 6th, 2011 - 04:26

thanks
siz
April 6th, 2011 - 10:42

What to say? You just saved ma day…
Emma
April 30th, 2011 - 16:15

Thx for putting this online, very generous and very useful !
sujay
May 9th, 2011 - 23:28

Thnx a loooooooooooot mahn!!
Mat
May 26th, 2011 - 07:12

Wow, thanks. Just what I’m looking for. That’s worth a cinama ticket or DVD sale.
W
June 15th, 2011 - 03:59

hooray! someone likes you, really likes you in paris.
thanks for posting.
nalaka
June 18th, 2011 - 03:01

Thank you so much for the template.
peter
June 19th, 2011 - 17:24

Good job, thanks it helps a lot…giving always comes back to the giver.
Michael
June 30th, 2011 - 21:13

Yes you do rock. Thank you so much for sharing. It will come back in kind in multitudes!
tosulakshi
July 2nd, 2011 - 04:44

Thanks a lot,
Brad hodge
July 7th, 2011 - 14:34

67film says thank you. We used it on “Survival of the fittest”
Director
Brad hodge
Shandy
July 8th, 2011 - 02:05

Yes, you are kind, thanks. i have used it.
Raja Rajveer Rajyana
July 10th, 2011 - 11:40

Thank you Sir, This template is a God-send. I trust I would be able to do “Precision Budgeting” after this.
Thuso Sibisi
July 28th, 2011 - 04:09

JOOOOOHN!!! On February 11th 2010 “Sorry this budget template doesn’t meet the generosity threshold of the previous commenter.” I just want to commend you on such a stylish come back! You are a legend! And that Anonymous guy is a sour sour cry baby! Nice one… I am also still holding my breath A big thank you from South Africa!
Ted Williams
August 7th, 2011 - 22:35

Not sure why people are complaining. Just take it as reference and build on it. I added fluffer to my list.
Harry Potter
August 10th, 2011 - 23:46

Thanks alot bro.. I am starting to work on a movie and this will really help me.
Toucara
August 21st, 2011 - 13:05

This is truly awesome! I got my film pitch accepted and they asked me for a budget, and I was struggling for days until I stumbled upon this!
I cannot even find the right words to describe my gratitude to you.

Thanks ever soooo much!!!!!
tim redpath
September 4th, 2011 - 11:51

Hey man thank you for making life so much simpler!
Oupa
September 16th, 2011 - 12:50

Thanks a lot, it made my life easier as im new in this industry.

Oupa
ron mendola
October 11th, 2011 - 11:50

I had to get a top sheet out for a $50,000.00 budget and now I am doing it. Thank you and if you ever need something let me know. Film graduate LACC, USC.
C Carey
October 20th, 2011 - 07:33

Thanks so much for sharing! Nice to know there are good people out there!
ben
November 8th, 2011 - 05:57

thanks bro.
Matt
November 8th, 2011 - 06:31

Thanks. This is a start on the budget for a micro budget. All I should need is top sheet. There won’t be much else and I can customized it to the crew, cast, tech and admin which I have. Heck it is all mostly me, anyway. The only pro stuff I will use in video and sound edit anyway. That will make the difference, “fix it in post.”