Creating a Budget

For a low budget documentary the creating the budget for the film will be the most important thing that will happen. The writing of the story will be dictated by the financial burdens of little money. The writer must keep in mind that the film has a very limited budget. Now this does not mean that the story line of the documentary is going to be bad. It just means that with each and every scene that the writer puts into the documentary, they must realize the budget issues facing the film. This will mean cutting back on difficult camera angles and locations. But once the documentary has been written the budget must be determined and reviewed.

There are three very important aspects to determine before the budget of the film can be planned. The first is the amount of time that will be given to research the topic of the documentary. Every documentary will require research on the topic at hand and this will take time and money to complete. The second thing that must be considered is the amount of days it will take to film the documentary. The cost will obviously go up with every day of filming. The third thing that must be considered is the amount of weeks that the filming process is spread out. Therefore, your final statement will look something like this: there will be one month of research, with 20 days of filming over a 4 week period. These things must be considered in the budget because each and every one of them adds to the final cost of the film.

The next step in forming the budget is to set the dollar amount for every aspect of the documentary. Here are the costs that go into a documentary: research, director, producer, story and other rights, archival photographs and stills, stock footage and film clips, music, production staff, editorial staff, talent, production expenses, travel expenses, post-production, insurance, office and administrative costs, promotion material, and professional services.

Research - This is the cost of all the research such as books, interviews, and other expenses required to research the project

Director, Producer and Writer - This is the cost to get a well run documentary.

Story and other Rights - This is the cost of securing the legal documentation for making the documentary and all rights that are connect to it.

Archival photographs and stills - This is the cost of getting the rights to any still photography that is used in the documentary.

Stock footage and film clips - This is the cost of the film used to make the documentary

Music - This is the securing all the rights to any music for the film.

Production staff - This is the cost of the staff that actually shoots the documentary.

Editorial staff - This is the cost of the staff that edits the documentary

Talent - This actors within the documentary.

Production expenses - This is the cost of the cameras, sounds, lighting, and crew meals.

Travel expenses - This is the cost of traveling to and from locations. It will include airfare, hotel rooms, unloading and loading the equipment.

Post-production - This is the cost of fixing any mistakes that are made during the production of the film.

Insurance - This covers anything from actor getting injured to a cameras getting broken.

Promotional material - This is the cost of getting the general population excited about the documentary.

Professional material - This is the cost of attorney to protect the documentary.

A director of a low budget documentary must go through each of these categories and determine what is needed to maintain the story line and what would just enhance the story line. For this the director needs to create two budges; the first is the professional one. This is the budget that includes everything that the documentary needs and everything that will enhance it. This first budget will be given to everyone that is thinking about funding the documentary. The second budget is the bare bones, it include one the things that the film needs. This budget is the one that is used by most low budget documentaries.

It is not easy making a budget but it does insure that funds will last as long as possible and insures the best quality of documentary possible.

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