Budget

[p_2225]

How much does it cost for a film crew, editing, researcher and other production to record a documentary?

[joko]

it depends - it can be done for buttons or thousands - depends on the locations, the length, the necessary crew - some people have done docs with just a camera operator and narrator then an editor, and done any other jobs between them - other jobs being catering, accommodation, runner, lighting, researchers, manager, sound, drivers, etc etc etc

obviously if it about, say, india and you have to go there - your budget will be bigger, but if its more like a story of one man in birmingham it won't be as much

it also depends on the crew. you can get established crew who charge a lot or students and newcomers who charge less

so no set amount i'm afraid

[p_2225]

Oh totally, I understand that. I need these kind of details for my University project; I'm pitching a documentary idea and need to include budgets etc. Do you know anyone who will be able to give me more indepth details? I have tried a few companies, but no one seems to want to now?!

[joko]

I don't know anyone who would work it all out for you for free

- is it a real pitch? or an example, or mock up?

when I did this at college we were to just make one up - it was more about understanding how to prepare and balance a budget so the actual amounts didn't matter

you will have to work out what your budget is and allocate amounts to each item

you will have to research suppliers and get estimates off them - websites will have price lists and you just work it out weekly or whatever

you could start with kemps - www. kftv.co.uk for suppliers of mags, cameras, crew, sound gear etc - though most crew will have their own and you pay them for it.

[p_2225]

yeah one step ahead of you there on kemps. thats exactly what i'm doing! thanks for the heads up, makes more sense now. Thank you, your a star!

[joko]

you could also try -

www.4rfv.co.uk and www.theknowlegdeonline.com - or co.uk

once i typed into a search engine 'sample buget for...' and got a full budget listing and i just tweaked the figures to suit my budget and deleted any sections i didn't need and added extras that i did - like animal handlers etc.

although some would consider it a 'kind of cheating', all it actually gave me was a budget template and a list of possible budgetry requirements, such as facilities, staff needed, expenses, travel - even down to stamps and coffee etc, and it made sure i didn't overlook anything - i still did all the balancing and allocating of the money, (which is the important thing) - as the sample was for a hollywood block buster, and i was doing a low budget feature

[mushroom25]

this probably isn't quite what you're looking for but if you go to http://www.worldonfire.ca/ you can get an idea of how much music videos cost, (with some interesting food for thought) as well as listening to quite a nice tune.......