The budget (or cost forecast) translates the film into money, category by category. It's the document used to finance, submit grant applications and steer production. Here's its structure, how to cost it and on what basis.
In short
- The production budget costs every category of the film: cast, crew, sets, costumes, equipment, transport, post-production…
- It's built from the breakdown (how many actors, sets, days) and follows collective-agreement grids and a standard template.
- A film budget is always expressed net of tax (VAT is reclaimed by the production).
The main categories of a film budget
A production budget follows a standard nomenclature. You always find the same chapters, which you add up before adding the closing lines (overheads, contingency, statutory levies).
- Cast: actor and extra fees.
- Crew: director, camera, sound, grip, location management… at collective-agreement rates.
- Sets & locations: rentals, dressing, picture vehicles.
- Costumes, makeup, props.
- Technical equipment: camera, lighting, sound, grip.
- Transport, accommodation, catering (per diems).
- Post-production: editing, color grading, mixing, music.
- Insurance, overheads, contingency, statutory levies.
How to cost each category
Costing starts from the breakdown and the shooting schedule: the number of shooting days determines the crew and equipment (× days); the number of actors and extras determines the cast; the number of sets determines the rentals.
Rates aren't made up: for the crew, you apply the collective-agreement grids with employer contributions; for extras, a fee per day present; for technical categories, market packages.
The closing lines
After the subtotal of categories, a submitted budget adds conventional lines, as a percentage of the subtotal.
- Financing costs: ~2% of the subtotal.
- Producer salary: ~3%.
- Overheads: ~7%.
- Contingency: ~10%.
- Statutory levy: a small percentage of the production cost.
Why a film budget is net of tax
A production budget is always expressed excluding tax: the production company reclaims (deducts) the VAT, which is therefore not a real cost for it. Funding bodies, financing plans and co-productions all reason in net-of-tax terms.
Generate the budget automatically
Building a budget by hand means transferring every breakdown element into a spreadsheet and applying the right grids: slow and error-prone, especially when the project evolves.
Soldum costs the film automatically from the breakdown, using the French collective-agreement grids and the standard template, and re-aligns the budget when the schedule or scenes change. The first project is free.
What's your pre-production challenge?
Frequently asked questions
How much does a film cost?
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It depends entirely on ambition: a first independent film can be shot for a few hundred thousand euros, a produced feature often exceeds €2-3M. The budget starts from the broken-down screenplay to estimate each category.
Is a film budget net or gross of tax?
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Net. The production reclaims the VAT, so the real production cost is the net-of-tax amount: that's what funders expect.
How does the budget update when the film changes?
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Every change (added scene, extra shooting day) changes the quantities. Soldum recalculates the budget automatically from the up-to-date breakdown and shooting schedule.