Budget worksheet

Work out
your number.

Ten minutes, before you talk to any production company. You do not need an approved budget to have a useful conversation. You need a range, and this is a way to find yours.

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Scope
Money
Ceiling
Drivers
Your number

01 What are you actually making

You cannot budget something you cannot describe. Rough answers are fine.

When this is finished, what exists that does not exist today? Where does it run, and who has to see it? What happens if it does not get made this year?

If that last one has no real answer, the budget conversation is premature. Worth knowing now.

02 Where the money comes from

Work top down. It is usually faster than adding up what things cost.

Roughly what is your annual marketing budget? What share of it goes to content and production? How much of that is uncommitted for the rest of this fiscal year? Is this project the whole of that, or one of several things it has to cover? What number can you approve without asking anyone?

That last one is the question most people skip and the one that matters most. What you can approve alone and what you could get approved are different numbers, and both are useful.

03 The ceiling test

If the first two steps did not produce a number, this will. Answer fast. Do not overthink it.

At what number would you say yes without hesitating? At what number would you have to build a case and take it upstairs? At what number would you say no immediately, without checking with anyone?

Your range sits between the first two. The third is your ceiling. Knowing it early is what lets a production partner recommend the right approach from the first conversation.

04 What will move it

Tick what applies. No prices here, because the answer depends on the project. These are the things that will change your number once the conversation starts.

On-camera talent, professional or real employees Rights to use that talent in perpetuity rather than for a defined term A specific, recognizable piece of music rather than library or original More than one location, or travel and overnights for the crew Animation, motion graphics or visual effects A large number of final deliverables, cuts and formats A compressed deadline Reshoots or a second phase later in the year

05 Your number

Your range

Answer step three to see your range.

When does it need to be live?

Bring this to your first call

We have somewhere between $______ and $______ for this, and it needs to be live by ______.

Any production company worth hiring will tell you honestly what that buys, and will say so if it does not buy what you are describing. If they will not talk about money until they have shown you a treatment, that is worth noticing.

We'll take it from here.

Got your range? Bring it to a first conversation, and we'll show you what it can do for the work.

Start a project

Work out your number.

We'll take it from here.

Work out
your number.