Cost and Budgets
From 4docs
Introduction
Getting the funds to make a short film is generally pretty hard work and in some ways for good reason. You may have little or no track record and short films are very unlikely to make their money back - so they are not the best investment opportunity! Still with preparation, determination, resourcefulness and flexibility and a bit of blagging you will succeed.
Be aware that there are not many mechanisms for your short film to bring you any income but check Showing and Sharing for ways to get your film out to the world.
What Should I Earn and What Should I Pay People?
Working out what to pay people can be tricky, same as knowing how much money to ask for on low budget productions. There are no hard and fast rules on how much each role should have on every production, but Shooting People have put together a guide with all best weight loss sorts of useful information about negotiating, unpaid collaborations, minimum wages etc.
How Much Should I Pay? How Much Should I Earn?
Creating a Budget
For any project you need a budget, particularly if you want to get investors, make it realistic and try to stick to it. You could try doing two budgets - a 'top line' budget including all the whistles and bells and including lines for crewing that you show to investors and a 'bottom line' budget that just shows the actual cash costs that it will take to get you to completion.
The budget will most likely change depending on what what deals you get, what money you raise and how the film unfolds but it is good to start somewhere.
For a short you don't need to go over the top, but the more you flesh out the budget the more it will make you think of other things you could require, so perhaps start diet pills with more headings and cutting out the sections you don't need. be realistic and honest - some corners simply can not be cut, however little money you have.