Structuring a Hong Kong short film budget: accounts and common omissions

The four parts of a budget

The English Wikipedia article "Film budgeting" says a film budget is usually divided into four parts:

1. Above the line: the key creatives, such as the writer, producers, director and lead cast, plus the rights the script is based on.
2. Below the line: direct production costs.
3. Post-production: editing, visual effects and so on.
4. Other: insurance, completion bonds and so on.

According to the Wikipedia article "Above-the-line", the terms "above the line" and "below the line" come from an actual horizontal line on early studio budget summary sheets that separated the two kinds of cost. The article also mentions that above-the-line costs are usually negotiated or committed before principal photography begins.

The "Film budgeting" article also mentions that if a work is distributed by a third party, the budget generally excludes promotion and marketing costs, which are the distributor's responsibility.

A Hong Kong reference: the First Feature Film Initiative budget form

The application form for the First Feature Film Initiative (Professional Group, September 2025 version), published on the Hong Kong Film Development Council website, includes a complete production budget that can serve as a local reference for accounts. This initiative funds first feature films, and the form notes that short films are not regarded as first feature films; this note borrows only its account structure. The form has several features:

• It is divided into two main parts, "線上 ABOVE-THE-LINE" and "線下 BELOW-THE-LINE", each with its own total and percentage.
• Each item is filled in under two columns, "Hong Kong" and "outside Hong Kong", which helps projects that film across borders.
• Below the line is further split into two stages, "pre-production and production" and "post-production", each with its own total.
• Insurance and contingency each take a separate line in the final part of below the line.
• The form states that the production budget excludes the film's sales and distribution expenses.

Below are accounts excerpted in the form's order. The form itself lists items by number; the group names in the left column were added by us for readability, and the item names follow the English version of the form (some are shortened):

By stage: pre-production, shoot, post

The same budget can also be cut by time. The First Feature Film Initiative form splits below the line into two stages, "pre-production and production" and "post-production", each with its own total.

Cutting by stage shows when money has to be paid. The application guidelines for the Film Development Fund's Film Production Financing Scheme require production companies to submit cost reports within thirty days of completing each of pre-production, principal photography and post-production, explaining any variance from budget in each cost category. Reports are not always required for short films; even so, if you keep accounts in the same three stages, during the shoot you will know how much is left for post.

Where insurance and contingency go

In Wikipedia's four-part split, insurance sits under "Other"; in the First Feature Film Initiative form, it is a separate line in the final part of below the line. Whichever split you use, insurance should have its own line and should not be folded into miscellaneous, because equipment houses, venue owners and departments may all ask to see the policy first (see Production insurance in Hong Kong: what is required).

Contingency, or the reserve, is also a separate line. This site's budget allocation calculator describes its purpose as covering unforeseen costs such as overtime, weather rescheduling, equipment damage or reshoots. How large the contingency should be depends on the project's risks, and this note gives no ratio; the default ratios in the calculator are reference allocations and are not official or industry standard figures.

Items short film budgets commonly leave out

Compared with the First Feature Film Initiative form, these are the items most easily left out of short film budgets:

• Music and footage licences. The form lists "licensing fees (including music, clips and any intellectual property)" separately. If you use existing music or clips, budget for licence fees and allow time for negotiation.
• Titles, credits and subtitles. The form states that this includes translation. If you need subtitles in several languages, budget for several translations and productions.
• Trailer, stills and poster. The trailer and poster are only needed in post, but stills and behind-the-scenes need people arranged during the shoot; the form also lists the stills photographer and behind-the-scenes crew as separate roles.
• Delivery and master materials. The files and materials needed when delivering the finished film to festivals, platforms or funding bodies.
• Set construction and strike. The form puts set construction and strike on the same line; dismantling sets and clearing out also need people and time.
• Meals, transport and overtime. The form states the number of shoot days under "on-set operations", followed by separate lines for daily crew, meals and catering, transport, daily vehicle hire and overtime.
• Storage media. Hard drives, memory cards and on-set data wrangling have their own line in the form.
• Application and location fees. Beyond location rent, some filming applications charge a fee: the Government Property Agency's location filming application form, for example, states that a fee based on filming hours and a deposit are payable once the application is approved. For each department's charges, follow its own announcements (see Filming permits in Hong Kong: which department to start with).
• Aerial filming. The form lists drones under camera equipment. If you plan aerial shots, also allow time to apply to the Civil Aviation Department for permission and to arrange insurance (see Filming with drones in Hong Kong).

Working the budget out from the breakdown

Most budget accounts can be worked out directly from the script breakdown: props, wardrobe, set dressing, stunts, effects and the number of extras are all categories on the breakdown sheet (see An introduction to script breakdown). The number of shoot days comes from the stripboard. With these two documents in place, every line of the budget has a basis. This site's script breakdown demo lets you download the breakdown as Excel and fill in quotes category by category.

Frequently asked questions

What do "above the line" and "below the line" mean?

Above the line covers the key creatives and related costs, such as the writer, producers, director, lead cast and rights; below the line covers direct production costs. According to English Wikipedia, the terms come from a line on early budget summary sheets that separated the two kinds of cost.

Does a short film budget need to be split above and below the line?

It is optional; splitting it helps show the ratio of creative fees to production costs. The budget form of the Hong Kong Film Development Council's First Feature Film Initiative uses this split and can serve as a reference.

How much of the budget should contingency be?

This note does not give a ratio. Contingency should be set according to the project's risks; for example, many exteriors, heavy exposure to weather or stunt sequences all call for a larger reserve. The default ratios in this site's calculator are for reference only and are not an official or industry standard.

Should marketing and distribution costs go into the production budget?

The First Feature Film Initiative form states that the production budget excludes sales and distribution expenses, and Wikipedia also mentions that for works distributed by a third party, the budget generally does not include promotion and marketing. Festival entry fees and similar costs for a self-submitted short film can go on a separate sheet.

References

1. Wikipedia, "Film budgeting" (English): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_budgeting
2. Wikipedia, "Above-the-line (filmmaking)" (English): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Above-the-line_(filmmaking)
3. Hong Kong Film Development Council, First Feature Film Initiative (download page for application forms and guidelines; Chinese page): www.fdc.gov.hk/tc/applications_detail.php?id=2022042210252142851
4. Hong Kong Film Development Council, application form for the 9th First Feature Film Initiative (Professional Group) (Chinese Excel file, September 2025 version): www.fdc.gov.hk/common/application/fffi/9th%20FFFI_application%20form_pg(tc)_15092025.xlsx
5. Hong Kong Film Development Council, First Feature Film Initiative (English download page): www.fdc.gov.hk/en/applications_detail.php?id=2022042210252142851
6. Hong Kong Film Development Council, application form for the 9th First Feature Film Initiative (Professional Group) (English Excel file, September 2025 version; the item names in the table above follow this file): www.fdc.gov.hk/common/application/fffi/9th%20FFFI-application%20form_pg(e)_15092025.xlsx
7. Hong Kong Film Development Council, Film Production Financing Scheme (download page for application forms and guidelines; Chinese page): www.fdc.gov.hk/tc/applications_detail.php?id=2022052417501670586
8. Hong Kong Film Development Council, application guidelines for the Film Production Financing Scheme (Chinese PDF): www.fdc.gov.hk/common/application/fpfs/FS-Guide(C)_202406.pdf
9. Government Property Agency, application form for location filming at GPA-managed properties (PDF): www.gpaproperty.gov.hk/en/public-forms/LocFilm-en.pdf

The pages above were accessed on 31 October 2026.

Published 25 September 2026. Last updated: 31 October 2026.