hard-knocks, expensive film budgeting software and late night self-training with a technical textbook (if you can find one). In the 20 years that I’ve been working in the film business, I have NEVER shown a film budget to anyone but a select few insiders – Producers, Production Managers, Studios, Bonding Companies, etc. So, exposure to actual film budgets really is an insider’s privilege – which I am about to open the door to for my readers. (Keep in mind the figures shown are samples only. The figures are real enough, but are not drawn from my actual past/present/future film productions.)
How can film students get familiar with film budgets while they have the time and opportunity? The only colleges with film budgeting in their syllabus (that I could find after hours of internet searching) was in a specialty course for Production Managers at the New York Film Academy,