Producing : Budgeting software by Nena Eskridge

There are so many options when it comes to this. I think that MovieMagic budgeting is still the industry "standard" most projects I work on want to see it in that format. Personally, I've really liked using Showbiz budgeting by Media Services. I believe both platforms have trial versions.

There's also just good ole' fashion spreadsheets.

If you'd like to discuss more, I'm happy to chat about it.

Celtix is good

Thanks, guys!

'user friendly, inexpensive, micro-budget budgeting software'? How about a legal pad and a # 2 lead pencil.- works for me.

I use both methods lol

Budget templates - free" http://www.mwp.com/filmschool/resources_new.php?partner=mwp&resource=bud

... they're Excel based

I have tried several, including beta-testing a new one and making my own Excel application that works off of the breakdowns. In my humble opinion Movie Magic is the way to go. Don’t waste time and money on the others. Sooner or later you will find that they don’t do what you want and you’ll be frustrated. Moreover, Movie Magic seems to be the “industry standard “ and is universally accepted, used and understood. Roberta MacIntyre- Producer, Catch of the Day Movie. www.catchofthedaymovie.com.

Hire an Intern from film school with a laptop full of software - Final Draft, Movie Magic, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, etc. Give Intern a “Producers” credit in exchange for free labor. Buy hot lunches.

The way students go to and or pay for school has changed so I really think the whole hire an intern for free labor for credit should stop . There has to be a better way to look at college students in today's economy . I think we get caught up in looking like Hollywood instead of telling awesome stories because that is how you get viewership . In my humble opinion off course ..

Someone should ask Dan Max if he has arrived in this business why is he on stage 32 trying to discourage people ? I read your profile it was arrogant and funny .

Excel is fine for basic budgeting to get a general sense of a low budget project's shape. But if you're at the point where you actually need a real budget and there's real money involved, Movie Magic is essential. The globals and fringes functions are incredibly useful. To set them up in Excel as formulas would be a tedious task. And the power to use globals to change shooting days and account for shifting labor costs as contract changes trigger on specific dates saves a lot of hand-fixing when you're doing multiple budgets based on different Critical Assumptions.

If you're doing little budgets for micro projects, Movie Magic may not be worth shelling out for. But if you're doing anything with a real budget, it's worth it.

Interning is always a polarizing concept. On the one hand it gives young people an opportunity to meet and impress future employers while learning skills they might not otherwise have in an actual work environment. On the other hand, by its very nature (unpaid labor), it tends to exclude low income individuals from participating.

I started out working for free in the business, and I remember crashing on various friends couches, subsisting off instant Ramen and barely having enough gas to get around in my twenty year old car. I can't even call it interning because it wasn't even for college credits. It was free labor, plain and simple. But the connections I made paid off and I started getting hired because I had access to people who otherwise wouldn't have known me from Adam and wouldn't have hired me for pay if I hadn't proven myself to them.

I do think internships have a place in the film business and not just as a "right of passage." Within the first few weeks, you know pretty much if you're cut out to be in the industry by experiencing it. A lot of people just really aren't cut out for it and school can't prepare them for it. Internship at least allows them to try it out to see if it suits them before they get in over their heads, get fired or quit from their first job and feel like failures.

Microsoft Word

List everything you need, price it all up, put a total at the bottom.

How you deliver that information is another matter, but the numbers are what's really important.

Oswald - Dan M is a good guy; he's been in the trenches and speaks the truth. If you find that discouraging - I think that's your baggage. You're way off the thread's course.