Line Producer:  “Why? I’m not saying no, I just need to understand why before I can allocate $350/day for something  that was never discussed or budgeted for.”

Show Runner:  “Yeah, well, the DP says we need it to create the effect we need.”

Line Producer:  “Okay, what effect is that?”

Show Runner:  “Create that halo effect we need for a scarier look.”

Line Producer:  “There’s no other way to get that look?”

Show Runner:  “Absolutely not, and without it, the entire scene will fall totally and completely flat.  We just have to have it or it won’t look right, the scene won’t play and we might as well not shoot it.”

Line Producer:  (To herself) – “Fine don’t shoot it, that’s one less thing to try and problem solve.”

Line Producer:  (To Show Runner) – “I’ll look at the numbers and see where I can get it from.”

DP:  We absolutely must have that light, without it, there won’t be a scene because you won’t be able to see it.

Line Producer:  “So I’ve been told. Working the numbers, standby.”

Assistant Director:  “Why hasn’t that light been ordered?  We’ve got to have it.”

Director:  “I’m not sure anyone has told you, but we gotta have this light, it will set the tone for the entire series.”

Line Producer: “I’ve been told, and told and told. Don’t worry, I made it work. You’ll have that light.”

Three days into shooting the Line Producer arrives on set and notices there’s no halo light. She turns to the Production Manager and asks, “Where the heck is that light that I was tortured and harassed over? I don’t see them shooting with it.”

The Production Manager points to the back of the grip truck and says, “Oh, you mean that light?”

Line Producer:  “Yeah – what’s it doing sitting on the truck?

Production Manager: (Shrugs.)

Line Producer:  “Please, please tell me it’s broken and you’re about to return it for a replacement?”

Production Manager:  “Nope, they decided they didn’t need it.”

The Line Producer is now silent because her head exploded.

Creative is ALWAYS going to need something or someone that was never planned for and isn’t in your budget. Before agreeing to anything, find out if they really do need the item. I mean, find out, don’t just take their word for it. Inspect the situation, ask lots of questions, do some research, otherwise you’ll waste money and it will be just another light on a truck.

This mystical closet I’m speaking of contains thousands and thousands of only one item.  What’s in this closet?  A monkey wrench.  Yup, that thing when thrown disrupts any situation.

These monkey wrenches seem to hurl themselves directly at Line Producers when they least expect it.  You could be sailing along working on a cost report, quietly smiling to yourself that once again you saved the day by performing herculean feats and still not going over budget when BAM! you’re smacked on the side of the head by a monkey wrench labeled – “we need more pick up shoots”.

DUCK! Another monkey wrench hurling towards you-  Oops – not fast enough, hit the kneecap.  Before you fall to the ground you’re told you have to pay the show runner an additional five weeks because we really, really need him.

WHACK! Oh Man! The Elbow – a direct hit!   Jeez that smarts.  Another request for more edit time on top of the additional edit time you already gave.   Can you spell m-o-n-k-e-y w-r-e-n-c-h.

You can’t cry “FOUL!” when monkey wrenches are darting toward you like a stealth bomber.  Instead you need to learn to pad your budgets.  But be clever about it.  Production companies and networks are getting smart and they can see through pad and make you take them out before the budget is locked.  So put the pad where they don’t check.  Put it in your fringe, gas money, per diem, anywhere no one will really look.  Add additional personnel you’ll never hire.  Just pad, pad, pad to protect you from those nasty hits you’re bound to take on any production.

All you can do to save yourself and your budget is to whip out some serious bad ass thinking. That’s what they hired you for, to be able to think on your feet hanging upside down while flying over the Rockies.

Here’s a formula that might help: Expert negotiating, plus pad, multiplied by clever solutions, equals the slowing down of hurling objects in your direction. Because, in the end you, the Line Producer, will need to come up with solutions.

Don’t continually say, “We can’t afford it.”  No one likes that. Even you’ll hate yourself after a while.

When it comes to reality television there are some rules, but, in reality each new series is virgin territory.  No two series are alike, formatted or not. They each start out with their own unique footprint and that footprint is managed by the Line Producer.

The Line Producer doesn’t determine whether a series will be successful or not, the LP determines whether the series makes a profit and is delivered on time to the network.

So, here’s one piece of advice, and one of the components to being a successful LP:  When you’re tracking costs, at the first sign of trouble, and I do mean the very first hint of an overage – say it.  Don’t believe for a second that anyone knows about it – that’s what they’re paying you for – so shout it out loud.  Each week, as you’re tracking your current costs you should also be estimating your final costs.  In those final estimated costs you should be projecting any overages because that’s the only way you can stop and recalibrate, and hopefully make the necessary adjustments before the production hemorrhages  – at which point all eyes and fingers will be pointing in your direction.

Lesson to be learned:  Speak up.  FOR REAL.

When your budget is printed you’ll have a one-page summary known as a “top sheet” followed by the detailed line-by-line budget. The top sheet delineates what is an above-the-line cost and a below-the-line cost.

ABOVE THE LINE
Above-the-line includes all the creative costs and creative personnel. These are the costs associated with purchasing story rights, clearing the title, paying the writers, the director, the producers, the cast, and the expense to travel your producer, director and cast.

BELOW THE LINE
Below-the-line costs refer to the physical production expenses. This portion of the budget includes everyone working on the production, the equipment, the locations and the editing. These line items include, the Director of Photography, Production Manager, Art Director, cameras, lights, Editors, edit equipment, music, etc. etc.

THE ORIGIN
How did it come about that a distinction was needed between “above and below”? From what I could find, it began in the early days of film making with the big studios; 20^th Century Fox, MGM, and Warner Bros. The studios had a stake in the creative aspects of the story rights, choosing the director, producers, and talent, so when they created their budgets they drew a line delineating their stake and it became known as above the line.

This mystical closet I’m speaking of contains thousands and thousands of only one item.  What’s in this closet?  A monkey wrench.  Yup, that thing when thrown disrupts any situation.  These monkey wrenches seem to hurl themselves directly at Line Producers when they least expect it.  You could be sailing along working on a cost report, quietly smiling to yourself that once again you saved the day by performing herculean feats and still not going over budget when BAM! you’re smacked on the side of the head by a monkey wrench labeled – “we need more pick up shoots”.

DUCK! Another monkey wrench hurling towards you-  Oops – not fast enough, hit the kneecap.  Before you fall to the ground you’re told you have to pay the show runner an additional five weeks because we really, really need him.

WHACK! Oh Man! The Elbow – a direct hit!   Jeez that smarts.  Another request for more edit time on top of the additional edit time you already gave.   Can you spell m-o-n-k-e-y w-r-e-n-c-h.

You can’t cry “FOUL!” when monkey wrenches are darting toward you like a stealth bomber.  Instead you need to learn to pad your budgets.  But be clever about it.  Production companies and networks are getting smart and they can see through pad and make you take them out before the budget is locked.  So put the pad where they don’t check.  Put it in your fringe, gas money, per diem, anywhere no one will really look.  Add additional personnel you’ll never hire.  Just pad, pad, pad to protect you from those nasty hits you’re bound to take on any production.

Take a deep breath, you are about to figure out how to spend millions of dollars to create 6, 8, 10  or 12 episodes of the latest hit cable series.  And if you’re going to do that – then I beg you – don’t get cocky and act as though you’ve done this a million times.  Each budget is a new and unique experience, and creating the schedule will tell you where the bodies will have to be buried.

Break it down into units of time :
Scripting
Casting
Shooting
Editing
On-line
Mix

The schedule breakdown will give you valuable information.  How many weeks you’ll need the casting department, writers, story producers, field producers, DP, editors, etc., etc.  Once you know how many weeks each person will be on your show, you can start plugging in numbers, including how many edit rooms you’ll need, how many days for pre-production before a shoot, how many crew and cast you’ll need to feed, how many truck rentals and on and on.  The schedule is the key whether you’re dealing with a $1000 budget or a $10,000,000 budget.

Start with the schedule and then start plugging the numbers in.

Let me give a little illustration –

Some years ago I was producing a music video and we were shooting in The Tombs in NYC.  For those not familiar with The Tombs, they’re the holding cells in NY for accused criminals waiting for transport to federal prison.  The client wanted to shoot there.  Yes, they did – something about authenticity.   So arrangements were made and we were allowed to shoot from 6pm until 4am when prisoners were sent below somewhere I wasn’t privy to.  As you can imagine security getting in and getting out wasn’t just tight – it was sealed up – as in, once the crew and talent were inside, no one could leave until the entire crew left.  That meant, there would be no runs to any store for anything that was needed once  inside.  Everything needed to be carefully and skillfully prepared before 6pm the day of the shoot.   In addition the crew needed to be a small as possible.  In particular, we couldn’t have catering or craft services on the ‘set’.  That meant I had to ensure all arrangements were made for the proper amount of food and beverage for a 10 hour work day.

While I have always been prepared to expect the unexpected, I didn’t think rats would abscond with the some of the food while we waited to take our meal break.  I was forced to order the food that had been picked at by those nasty rodents to be thrown out.  That left precious little for a crew that had been working for five hours in 102 degree heat with no windows inside an actual jail.  Needless to say, I didn’t just get dirty looks, at that point I had a bull’s eye painted on my chest and back and it was target practice time for the crew, because in the end, it falls on you the producer.

So – here’s a little tip.  If you find yourself in a position of having to shoot in a place you can’t leave make sure your food budget is large.  And then make sure you keep the food under wraps – as in hermetically sealed.