Generates a structured line-item budget estimate for documentary production using industry rate ranges. Useful for pitches, funding applications, or sanity-checking existing budgets.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/autopunk-media-skills:production-budget-estimatorThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Produces a structured line-item budget estimate for a documentary production or a specific production phase, using standard industry rate ranges and the project specification you provide.
Produces a structured line-item budget estimate for a documentary production or a specific production phase, using standard industry rate ranges and the project specification you provide.
Required:
Optional:
Establishes the production scale. Determines the broad budget tier based on format, duration, shoot days, and market. A 4x60-minute observational series shot over 40 days operates in a fundamentally different cost band than a 1x30-minute archive-led film with 5 shoot days. This framing prevents rates from drifting unrealistically.
Builds the line-item structure. Organises the budget into standard production accounting categories: Development, Pre-Production, Production (crew, equipment, travel, location), Post-Production (edit, grade, sound, music, graphics), and Overheads/Contingency. Each category contains individual line items with a unit basis (day rate, week rate, flat fee, or per-minute rate) and a quantity.
Applies rate ranges rather than single figures. For every line item, provides a low-to-high range reflecting typical market rates for the specified region. For UK productions, references Bectu/Pact indicative rates. For US productions, references common indie documentary ranges. Flags any line where rates are highly variable (e.g., archive licensing, original music composition) and notes what drives the variance.
Calculates subtotals and a total range. Sums each category and provides an overall budget range (low estimate to high estimate). Adds a standard 10% contingency line. Notes which line items carry the most cost risk — the items where actual spend is most likely to deviate from the estimate.
Adds practical notes. Flags common budget traps for the production type: archive costs that escalate with territory; music licensing that doubles for international distribution; travel costs that spike without advance booking. Recommends which line items to firm up first.
Structured budget document with category headers, line-item tables, and a summary. Each line item shows: description, unit type, quantity, low rate, high rate, low total, high total. Category subtotals and overall total at the bottom. Followed by a "Budget Notes" section (3–5 bullet points) flagging key cost risks and next steps. Currency matches the specified production region (GBP for UK, USD for US, EUR for European co-productions) unless the user specifies otherwise. Tone: precise, professional, suitable for attachment to a funding application or internal planning document.
Production type: Single documentary film Duration: 1 x 90 minutes Shooting format: Location (domestic, 3 regions) plus some archive footage Shoot days: 20 Region: United Kingdom Crew: Director, Producer (also Series Producer), Camera Operator, Sound Recordist, Researcher. Self-shooting director covers some days alone. Post-production: Offline edit, online/grade, sound mix, original score (small ensemble), motion graphics for 4–5 data sequences Archive: Approximately 8–10 minutes of archive footage from institutional sources Travel: Domestic only — 3 regional trips of 3–4 days each with accommodation Notes: Not a union shoot. Independent production, no broadcaster attached yet.
PRODUCTION BUDGET ESTIMATE Project: Untitled Documentary — 1 x 90 min Market: United Kingdom (Independent) Currency: GBP Date: April 2026
| Item | Unit | Qty | Low Rate | High Rate | Low Total | High Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research & development | Flat | 1 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 5,000 |
| Treatment / proposal writing | Flat | 1 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 1,000 | 2,500 |
| Subtotal — Development | 3,000 | 7,500 |
| Item | Unit | Qty | Low Rate | High Rate | Low Total | High Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Weeks | 4 | 1,200 | 1,800 | 4,800 | 7,200 |
| Director | Weeks | 2 | 1,200 | 1,800 | 2,400 | 3,600 |
| Researcher | Weeks | 4 | 700 | 1,000 | 2,800 | 4,000 |
| Recces / location visits | Flat | 1 | 500 | 1,200 | 500 | 1,200 |
| Subtotal — Pre-Production | 10,500 | 16,000 |
| Item | Unit | Qty | Low Rate | High Rate | Low Total | High Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Days | 20 | 350 | 550 | 7,000 | 11,000 |
| Producer (on-set days) | Days | 10 | 350 | 550 | 3,500 | 5,500 |
| Camera Operator | Days | 14 | 350 | 500 | 4,900 | 7,000 |
| Sound Recordist | Days | 14 | 300 | 450 | 4,200 | 6,300 |
| Researcher / Runner | Days | 20 | 150 | 250 | 3,000 | 5,000 |
| Camera kit hire | Days | 20 | 200 | 400 | 4,000 | 8,000 |
| Sound kit hire | Days | 20 | 75 | 150 | 1,500 | 3,000 |
| Lighting kit hire | Days | 14 | 50 | 150 | 700 | 2,100 |
| Travel — fuel/rail | Flat | 3 | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1,800 |
| Accommodation | Nights | 12 | 80 | 130 | 960 | 1,560 |
| Per diems / subsistence | Days | 40 | 20 | 35 | 800 | 1,400 |
| Location fees | Flat | 1 | 500 | 2,000 | 500 | 2,000 |
| Production insurance | Flat | 1 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 1,500 | 3,000 |
| Subtotal — Production | 33,460 | 57,660 |
| Item | Unit | Qty | Low Rate | High Rate | Low Total | High Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offline Editor | Weeks | 10 | 1,000 | 1,600 | 10,000 | 16,000 |
| Edit suite / storage | Weeks | 10 | 100 | 300 | 1,000 | 3,000 |
| Online / grade | Days | 3 | 800 | 1,500 | 2,400 | 4,500 |
| Sound mix (dubbing theatre) | Days | 3 | 800 | 1,500 | 2,400 | 4,500 |
| Original score — composition | Flat | 1 | 3,000 | 8,000 | 3,000 | 8,000 |
| Original score — recording | Flat | 1 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 | 3,000 |
| Motion graphics (4–5 sequences) | Flat | 1 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 5,000 |
| Archive footage — licensing | Minutes | 9 | 150 | 500 | 1,350 | 4,500 |
| Archive footage — research/access | Flat | 1 | 500 | 1,500 | 500 | 1,500 |
| Deliverables / QC | Flat | 1 | 500 | 1,500 | 500 | 1,500 |
| Subtotal — Post-Production | 24,150 | 51,500 |
| Item | Unit | Qty | Low Rate | High Rate | Low Total | High Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production office / admin | Flat | 1 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 1,000 | 2,500 |
| Legal (contracts, clearances) | Flat | 1 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 | 3,000 |
| Contingency (10%) | % | 10% | — | — | 7,211 | 13,466 |
| Subtotal — Overheads | 9,211 | 18,966 |
| Low | High | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Production Budget | £80,321 | £151,626 |
npx claudepluginhub ur-grue/autopunk-media-skills --plugin autopunk-media-skillsGenerates a structured production budget estimate for a specific project element or an entire short-form production, broken down by standard industry cost categories.
Builds day-by-day production schedules for film/commercial shoots, balancing creative needs with crew, location, and budget constraints. Useful during pre-production planning.
Creates, edits, and optimizes skills for Claude Code, including drafting, evaluating with test prompts, iterating on performance, and improving skill descriptions for better triggering accuracy.