Thursday, August 21, 2008

I Am...

over budget! :(

No. Really over budget. By like 30%.

This is bad.

On the other hand, it's not like:

- I wrote the script that calls for the locations we need
- I decided how many days I need to rent locations for prep and wrap
- I negotiated the contract that get Tarrytown cops $90/hr working OT shifts.

Which kind of means that a lot of this stuff costs what it costs and the only way for me to cut money out of the budget is to cut items. Maybe I shouldn't get locations on Wednesdays.

Or maybe every Monday, the trucks should just circle the block until some parking opens up.

I realize that all sounds pretty glib and I actually will make the effort to bring some of these things in under budget, but I'm not about to turn in a budget that I'm guaranteed to overspend.

I don't have much to say today. I'm off to read all of your blogs. Hope you have something entertaining for me!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

They're more like guidelines. ;)

I have five projects. I have no control over the original budget, which is usually unrealistic.

#1 is 25% over budget
#2 will be 33% over budget
#3 will be 23% over budget
#4 is 40% *under* budget but it's the smallest
#5 has no budget approved and we've already spent $200K

My bosses are not particularly pleased - but hey, they got us here by slashing my estimates by 25-33% before approving my budgets. I have documentation. :P

Nonetheless - I commiserate.

Nathan said...

I have the same conversation about two weeks before the beginning of any shoot.

Production Manager: You've got to make some cuts. You've got to trim ___% of your budget.

Me: ::handing over the printout:: Show me where.

PM: That's your job. Find the cuts.

Me: I'll be happy to make the budget say anything you want it to, but put that in your drawer. That's what the movie is going to cost.

My budget is consistently 5% more than what I actually end up spending.