Resources · Budgeting
How much does a low-budget feature cost to shoot in New York?
Draft for review. Numbers are illustrative and not yet checked.
The honest answer is "it depends on the script", but that doesn't help when an investor asks for a number. Here's how I think about it, with a sample top sheet for a typical New York indie.
The short version
Most of the independent features I see shooting in New York fall into three bands:
- Under $250K: a small crew, mostly non-union, 12–18 days, few locations and a lot of favors. Possible, but hard to do without cutting corners on insurance and pay.
- $250K–$1M: the sweet spot for a first or second feature. A SAG-AFTRA low-budget agreement, a real department structure, 18–24 days, and money for proper post.
- $1M–$5M: name cast, union crew agreements, more company moves, and the tax credit starts to matter a lot.
The script decides where you land. Page count, number of locations, night exteriors, kids, animals, period, stunts and picture cars move the number more than anything else.
A sample $500K New York top sheet
This is an illustrative budget for an 18-day, contemporary, mostly-practical-locations drama shooting in the five boroughs. Fringes are rolled into each line to keep it readable.
Illustrative only. Not a quote, and not a substitute for a budget built from your script.
What makes New York expensive
- Locations. Location fees, holding areas and parking eat budgets fast. Apartments, bars and restaurants all want paying, and they want you out on time.
- Permits and insurance. The city's film permit itself is free, but you need proper liability insurance to get one, and certificates for every location and vendor.
- Transportation. Trucks, vans and parking for them. Every company move costs you time and money.
- Crew rates. New York crew are some of the best in the world, and their rates reflect it. Union low-budget agreements can make that work at the right budget level.
- Overtime. Long days and late wraps add up quickly. A realistic schedule is the cheapest way to save money.
Where the tax credit fits
New York has one of the biggest film incentives in the country, with an extra bump for shooting upstate. But the rules on qualified costs, stage use and minimum spend decide whether a small feature qualifies at all, and the credit pays out after you've spent the money, so it helps your financing plan more than your cash flow.
Check the state's current program guidelines before you count on it.
How to get a real number
A top sheet like the one above is a starting point. A real budget starts from your script: breakdown, schedule, then line by line, with the right fringes for your unions and state. That's the version investors and financiers expect to see.
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