pre-pro Scheduling and Budgeting Software

Hi there,

I’m currently producing my first narrative feature and am considering which software to use for this (am currently working on the script breakdown, using the method of a pencil/ruler and highlighters).

Movie Magic appears to be prohibitively expensive; Gorilla is affordable. Of course, any freeware or cheaper alternatives would be optimal.

I’m wondering if I need to worry whether people involved with production will need to have/purchase the same software in order to receive/work with certain documents? I have not approached anyone about working on the project yet, so only have a list of prospective cast/crew.

For budgeting, it seems that Excel should do the job. However, a funding body that I’m considering appears to require industry standard documents, created in software like MM.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
You might try Celtx. They're best known for their screenplay software, but they do also offer production tools such as budgeting and scheduling.

I use their screenwriting software sometimes on script consulting projects, and it's decent (not my favorite, but certainly fine). Their package is probably cheaper than Movie Magic, and should produce something in line with industry standards.
 
It's probably not what you want to hear, but Movie Magic is going to be your best bet, both from the standpoint of getting your work done and sharing files with others on your production. If you expect to be producing projects beyond the current one, then it's worth the investment. That said, it does bother me how much they charge for a piece of S/W that hasn't had any major upgrades in years.
 
For Indy filmmakers I suggest Showbiz Budgeting from Media Services - there customer service exceeds EP aka Movie Magic and they are much more Indy friendly than EP too. You’ll find if you need funding or tax credits that these types of entities will not accept free/shareware and Movie Magic and Showbiz Budgeting are the primary accepted budget software formats.
 
As an update,

I own and use MM. However, I an testing an Excel based program called True Budgeting that is free for a year. It gives a top sheet, globals, fringes and tax credits. It also prints out as a PDF for Union and non financial team members. I have noticed working vs estimated columns for on set reconciliation during production. It might be an alternative. I’m more familiar with Movie Magic but so far I’ve done one project with it without issue.
 
As an update,

I own and use MM. However, I an testing an Excel based program called True Budgeting that is free for a year. It gives a top sheet, globals, fringes and tax credits. It also prints out as a PDF for Union and non financial team members. I have noticed working vs estimated columns for on set reconciliation during production. It might be an alternative. I’m more familiar with Movie Magic but so far I’ve done one project with it without issue.
Which MM are you using? Because unless I am wrong, and it happens a lot, you can’t buy and “own” MM anymore?

It’s now an app and it’s cost is charged as a monthly or yearly subscription service which syncs to their cloud whenever you go online and they’re retiring MM7 for good this summer (though I don’t know what effect that has on anyone in possession of the software disc versions)
 
I still have legacy 7 on a Mac. It is not a subscription. I have had some issues with the 1st page on reopened edited budgets since they made the final switch but if you have a legacy version it may not be supported after a while but it is yours.

Not wanting a subscription agreement is one of the reasons I am trying out new programs...
 
Hi there,

I’m currently producing my first narrative feature and am considering which software to use for this (am currently working on the script breakdown, using the method of a pencil/ruler and highlighters).

Movie Magic appears to be prohibitively expensive; Gorilla is affordable. Of course, any freeware or cheaper alternatives would be optimal.

I’m wondering if I need to worry whether people involved with production will need to have/purchase the same software in order to receive/work with certain documents? I have not approached anyone about working on the project yet, so only have a list of prospective cast/crew.

For budgeting, it seems that Excel should do the job. However, a funding body that I’m considering appears to require industry standard documents, created in software like MM.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Celtx.

I don't use budgeting software per se on my features, but I do rely on software for scheduling. Celtx is buggy as fuck, but once you grow familiar with it, you can work around the limitations. I did buy Chimpanzee to try out, but it's just not as intuitive to me as Celtx.
 
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