Film Production Budget Calculator

Work out film production budget instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Film Production Budget Calculator

Shoot cost is days times the daily rate, post production is a percentage of that, and contingency is applied to the combined subtotal rather than to the shoot alone. Shooting days are the single biggest lever in a budget, which is why schedule compression is the first thing producers attack when a film is over budget.

Formulas

Shoot cost

shoot = shooting days x cost per day

Total

total = (shoot + post) x (1 + contingency)

Worked example

With the default values below, Film Production Budget Calculator returns Total budget of $5,544,000. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Shooting daysminimum 1: 35
Cost per shooting dayminimum 1: 120,000
Post production as % of shoot costaccepts 0–200 %: 20 %
Contingencyaccepts 0–50 %: 10 %

Results

Total budget: $5,544,000
Principal photography cost: $4,200,000
Post production cost: $840,000
Contingency: $504,000

Step by step

1Values used
2Shoot cost
3Total
4Total budget= 5,544,000
5Principal photography cost= 4,200,000
6Post production cost= 840,000
7Contingency= 504,000

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to whole numbers, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Film Production Budget figure worked out?

shoot = shooting days x cost per day. Shoot cost is days times the daily rate, post production is a percentage of that, and contingency is applied to the combined subtotal rather than to the shoot alone.

Why does this matter?

Shooting days are the single biggest lever in a budget, which is why schedule compression is the first thing producers attack when a film is over budget.

What do I need to enter?

Enter shooting days, cost per shooting day, post production as % of shoot cost, contingency. The defaults shown are a realistic worked example — swap in your own figures to get a result you can use.