Film Budgeting: Or How Much Will It Cost to Shoot Your Movie? [Paperback]

Ralph S. Singleton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0943728657 | ISBN-13: 978-0943728650

The most complete, reliable and comprehensive trade book about budgeting motion pictures.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ralph S Singleton

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Lone Eagle (January 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0943728657
• ISBN-13: 978-0943728650
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Terribly Outdated and Poorly Edited, June 28, 2005

By 

Danielle Turchiano (Van Nuys, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Film Budgeting: Or How Much Will It Cost to Shoot Your Movie? (Paperback)

If you're looking to produce a very low-budget, extremely independent movie this book is not for you. If you are a completely green producer, this book is helpful in the sense that it gives you the page design of all the important budget forms at a much cheaper price than purchasing Movie Magic. However, the primary example in this book is a Coppola film, "The Conversation," which had a budget much higher than one could afford just with personal investments. Thus, a lot of adjusting math figures is necessary for you to get what you need out of it. What's more, this book is in desperate need of a new edition: this was printed in 1996, and a lot has changed in terms of technology and film "norms." For example, this book says the average mileage reimbursement is 28 cents per mile, which I'm sure was true in 96, but now, nine years later, the average acceptable payment is 40 cents per mile from a studio and 32 from an individual (ie low budget indie). Cell phones are not even mentioned once in this book. It's also a hard read because it's hard to get past the sophomoric spelling mistakes and typographical errors. These are small, insignificant details that just appalled me: I can't take advice from someone who doesn't know the proper use of "your" or "you're." Overall this book is just frustrating. I'm sure he is a fantastic force in the film industry, but the execution of this book made it seem like he just doesn't care; it feels like an afterthought.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide for new and experienced producers., February 22, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (San Francisco, Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Film Budgeting: Or How Much Will It Cost to Shoot Your Movie? (Paperback)

I used this book in the recent shooting of a feature film, and found it and the separately-available workbooks very helpful. The workbooks use examples from an actual film budget ("The Conversation"); the text is clear, compelling, accurate and up-to-date. Best of the "how to" film production books I have seen and used.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WRITTEN BY A PRO, December 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Film Budgeting: Or How Much Will It Cost to Shoot Your Movie? (Paperback)

Author Ralph Singleton knows his stuff. He is not a "wannabe" producer (check out his credits on the IMDb!). Do what I did--take the complete 'do-it-yourself course' with the Scheduling book, Workbook and Forms book. Computer budgeting software is great -- but this book actually teaches you HOW to budget -- not just put numbers in columns.