Budgeting for ITVS Open Call

ITVS programming staff Jen Gilomen and Jorge Trelles hosted a budgeting webinar for Open Call on Thursday, July 24, 2014. Below is the recorded event, which includes an overview presentation and Q&A with participants. Also below is a recap of the new budget format for Open Call.

As part of your application to Open Call (now in WizeHive, an online system), we ask for summary budget information for your program – including secured funding and expenses. Your “request to ITVS” is based on your total budgeted expenses minus the total secured funding you have received for your project. The “Total Request to ITVS” is therefore the total amount you need to complete your public television program as outlined in your proposal. Your budget, with the rest of your application, tells a story to reviewers about how you plan to complete your film.

Secured Funding: This section is only for “secured” funding (no in-kind contributions). This means “Producers Cash” contributed to the production (hard costs you have incurred that weren’t covered by other funding sources) and other grants and income sources you have obtained for your film. “Secured” means you have already received the funding or have been promised the funding in writing.

Expenses: Expenses are all of the costs associated with producing your public television program from inception to final masters delivered for broadcast. It should not include any other expenses, such as costs associated with creating another version of your film, distribution, marketing, your film’s website, outreach efforts, etc. Budget categories from the ITVS Budget Template are pre-populated in the online application for convenience, but you can edit the categories to fit your existing budget. You are welcome to use (but not required to use) the ITVS Production Budget Template (download here in Excel formats: xlsx or xls) to calculate subtotal amounts for your major budget categories. (Please note that if your project is selected for Open Call panel review, you will be required to submit a full ITVS Production Budget in this format. Even then, you will be able to modify the category names.)

Applicants often ask how much they should budget for specific expenses or categories. We cannot offer specific guidance to applicants on their budgets because each program, team, subject matter, clearances, and methods of production are different. We do want to see that producers have done their due diligence to estimate budgets that are as accurate as possible and based on industry-standard rates appropriate for the project being proposed. A few other specific points of guidance:

• If you are not experienced in producing films for public television, we strongly encourage you to a) research sources and vendors and obtain quotes for major expenses wherever possible; and b) collaborate with an advisor or colleague to review your budget before submitting your application.
• We expect the primary producer(s) of ITVS programs to pay themselves reasonable salaries based on their level of experience and the work required to produce professionally for public television. We also expect to see some calculation of how producer and personnel salaries are derived (a week rate, day rate, etc.), and that each major role is covered. If a producer will play multiple roles (such as editor), combine them into one producer salary line.
• Obtaining all rights and clearances necessary to exhibit the film on public television are part of the producer’s responsibilities. Be sure to budget for clearances you will need to obtain for any material you propose including in your film. These costs can vary widely by film; you are advised to seek professional help if you do not have experience obtaining such clearances.
• ITVS has several specific requirements that we ask you to budget for: Closed Captioning for your final program, a photographer, bookkeeping, transcription, copyright registration, title search, and a videotape technical evaluation for your broadcast master tapes. Public television broadcast also requires Errors & Omissions insurance. The budget template includes these categories and others that may be relevant to your film.

Happy budgeting!