What This Short Film Budget Template Covers

The short film budget template is built for productions under 40 minutes, typically budgeted between $5,000 and $50,000. Short films have a compressed structure compared to features: fewer shoot days, smaller crews, and simplified post-production pipelines. The template reflects this with a single-sheet layout that covers pre-production, shooting, and post without the multi-department complexity of a feature budget. Film festival submissions, student productions, and proof-of-concept shorts all fit this format.

Short Film Budget Categories

Pre-production for a short film covers script rights if applicable, location scouting, casting, crew prep, and equipment deals. Even a two-day short needs a clear pre-production budget to avoid last-minute surprises on set. Production costs include shooting crew day rates, equipment rental, location fees, set dressing, props, wardrobe, catering, and transportation. Post-production for a short film is typically simpler than a feature: a single picture editor, color correction, and a sound mix. Festival deliverables (DCP, ProRes, subtitles) should be budgeted as a separate line item.

The template includes a contingency line at 10% of total costs. Short films are particularly vulnerable to single-day overruns that eat a disproportionate share of a small budget, so contingency is not optional.

Short Film Budget Tiers

A no-budget short under $5,000 can be managed with a simplified spreadsheet, but any production involving equipment rentals, paid crew, or location fees benefits from a structured template. The $5,000 to $15,000 tier typically covers one or two shoot days with a skeleton paid crew. The $15,000 to $50,000 range supports three to five shoot days, union-eligible rates for key crew, and a proper post-production budget. SAG-AFTRA's Short Film Agreement allows cast to defer up to 50% of their fee, which is commonly used at this tier.

Using the Template in Saturation

Short films often run with a single person wearing the producer and accountant hat simultaneously. Saturation is built for this. The template auto-calculates totals as you enter line items, shows your contingency buffer in real time, and lets you share a live read-only budget link with your director or executive producer. No emailing spreadsheet versions back and forth between locations on shoot day.

Saturation Pay expense cards work for short film productions too. Issue a virtual card to your art director with a $500 limit for props and set dressing, and the spend hits your budget automatically when they make a purchase. One fewer thing to reconcile after wrap.

Ready to get started? Explore Saturation's film budgeting software to manage actuals alongside this template, or read our guide to creating a film budget for a step-by-step walkthrough. Saturation cardholders also unlock exclusive production perks on software and services used every day on set.