How to Budget Expenses for a Post-Production Project

When you are trying to make money on a film project, you must create a budget that includes both your time and any extra equipment that you will need. After all, you want to make sure the client feels that they got what they paid for, but at the same time, you don't want to have to pay for any project expenses out of your own pocket.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Speak to the client to see what available funds there are in the budget for your time and effort. When you know what the client has, you can do more educated research for the extra things in your budget.

2. List extra items you need for your project. A good example is stock photography, which you must pay for in order to use. Even specialized fonts or extra drive space will cost money. Since the project can't be completed without these items, each item must be a line in the budget.

3. Negotiate with the companies you are purchasing equipment or items from. Just because you have an amount budgeted does not mean that you have to use all of it. If you get an item for less, you can always apply the difference to an item that might cost more than you budgeted for.

4. Communicate to the client what they are going to get for their money. You can use budgets or completed projects from other clients. And to keep yourself and your budget items in check, compare them to past projects or to projects of other people you know in the field.