Fundamentals Of Budget Creation

Get Certified in Fundamentals Of Budget Creation

Taught by Maegan Philmore, Paramount’s Director of Production

If a screenplay is the creative roadmap for any film or TV series, the budget is the roadmap for the physical production. 

Knowing the importance of a budget, how to create a budget, read a budget and work with a budget throughout the production process is key for any producer, production manager, line producer, financier or crew member responsible for a production’s money and cash flow. Once a budget is generated for a project, it allows investors and financiers to know how much money is needed to complete a project. Cash flow schedules can be predicted and made. Crews can be hired, locations secured and equipment sourced with a sense of where and how everyone fits in. And the actual management of a production’s budget is a full-time job overseen by a show’s line producer. This critical position is supported by multiple crew members including assistant directors, production coordinators, production managers and production accountants.

In this certification course, you’ll learn the fundamentals of budget creation and budget management. This knowledge will allow you to contribute immediately on any production team and be a critical step toward becoming a line producer who can manage a budget on any shoot. You’ll walk away from this session with an overview and understanding of how production budgets are created and managed. 

The course will cover:

• Brief Overview of the course
  • How a feature film budget is made
  • Software Available
• Script and Its Breakdown - 4 to 8 pages a day depending on budget tier
  • Locked Script
  • One Liner
  • Production Post Schedule
• Software
  • Movie Magic
  • Celtx
  • Studio Binder
  • Excel
• Sunken Costs
  • Union Versus Non-Union
  • Writer
  • Producers/Director
  • Development
  • Talent
  • Tax Incentive/Location
• How To Make A Budget
  • Extras
  • Stunt and Special Effects
  • Art
  • Vehicles/ Animals
  • Crew
  • Legal
  • Insurance
  • Post
  • Contingency

What is Individual Certification?

Individual Certification is a single course centered around one subject. Upon the completion of this course you will be Stage 32 Certified in this area of production. (To be Master Certified in a particular area of expertise, please see the Master Certification section of the platform.)

After viewing the course you will be given a test of your knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. You have the ability to pause your course and go back to review sections as you are learning. You will be given three attempts to take the test. If you do not pass the test after the third time you will need to re-enroll in the course. 

Once you pass the test you will be issued a Stage 32 Certificate and you will be listed in our master database accessible by film commissions, productions and any executives who are looking for talent. You will also receive a Stage 32 Certification badge that will be added to your Stage 32 profile, so people who are hiring on Stage 32 will know that you have completed a Stage 32 Certification course. 

In addition to Stage 32, we highly recommend you post your Stage 32 Certificate on your LinkedIn and other social media profiles.

About Your Instructor

You will learn directly from Maegan Philmore who is the Director of Production at Paramount (formerly ViacomCBS) in Los Angeles, California, with a current focus on movies of the week for Paramount, MTV, Comedy Central and VH1. She previously worked as a production executive at The National Football League and YouTube Originals. She has worked on numerous productions including “Reno 911: The Hunt For QAnon” on Comedy Central, “Hip Hop Family Christmas” on VH1, "Draft A Thon 2021” for the National Football League, “The Jesus Strand: A Search for DNA” on the History Channel, "Welcome To Sweetie Pie’s" on OWN (winner of the 2013 NAACP Image Award “Reality Series”) and the 3 Time Emmy Winning show "Freedom Riders” on PBS.

(Payment plans available at checkout)