The SHORT! Guide to Producing

Chapter 1Getting Down to Business

Financing Your Film

Before you start worrying about how you are going to pay for your movie, do yourself a favor: read the rest of this book. By the end of it, you will have a detailed understanding of the factors that determine a production’s budget. In truth, you can only get an accurate picture of a project’s budget once a number of important variables, from production format to cast and crew size, have been nailed down. This is why it is risky to talk in terms of a “typical budget” for a short film. I have overseen shorts that ranged in budget from a few hundred dollars to over $60,000. The great majority of productions have fallen within the range of $6,000–$12,000, but it would be foolish to therefore ...