GLOSSARY
10/13ths - A 10/13ths deal for an actor guarantees the actor payment for up to 10/13 episodes in a season, whether or not they appear in 10/13 total episodes. For example, If a season has 10 episodes, they will be paid for 8 episodes. If they appear in more than 8 episodes, they will be paid for those episodes as well.
Above The Line (ATL) - Part of a film’s budget reserved for major players in the production, such as the director, producers, writers, and recurring actors.
Accounts - Subsections within the budget for individual departments or expenses, which are assigned a number, such as Set Operations (2500), Directors (1300), and Editing (5100). These numbers are the same in every single budget for every show across every studio.
All Episodes Produced - If an actor is contracted for all episodes produced, they are paid for every episode of the season, whether they appear in it or not.
Amort - Amort is the budget for expenses that are not attributable to a typical episode. The cost of the amort is equally divided across each episode of a season.
AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) - the collective face of the various entertainment conglomerates. Member companies include the major studios (including Paramount, Sony, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, and Lionsgate), the principal broadcast television networks (including ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC), the streaming services (including Netflix, Apple, and Amazon Prime), certain cable television networks, and other independent film and television production companies.
Below The Line (BTL) - All physical production costs not included in the above-the-line expenses, including departmental crews, labor, equipment and materials, locations, etc.
Block Shooting - Scheduling two or more episodes together based on location or the availability of a stunt actor. Typically hard on actors but more cost-effective. For example, filming all scenes for two episodes that take place in the main character's house before moving on to all scenes for the same two episodes that take place at a character’s workplace.
Breakage - A foreseen budget overage that will typically add value to the show, which the network agrees to split with the studio.
Clearance - The process of approving real or fictional names of businesses, persons, or artwork that will be shown on screen, both from a legal and creative perspective. Most studios have a clearance department that works in tandem with production and writer’s rooms.
Consultant - A person who contributes to the creativity of a show in the form of assisting writers and producers with expert knowledge or skills. For example, a cop show will hire real police officers as consultants to maintain veracity in the plot and dialogue of the show. Another type of consultant is someone who has written in the same genre before and can help the show’s overall vision but is not a writer for the show.
Cost Plus - A licensing deal model for a first-run show in which a network pays the studio the entire cost of production plus a premium in exchange for the exclusive right to exhibit the show, both in domestic and international markets, for upwards of 10 years.
Day Out of Days (DOODs) - A chart that shows which days actors (or picture cars or another expensive piece of rented equipment) are working over the course of the shoot.
Deficit Financing - The traditional licensing deal model for a first-run show in which the network pays the studio a percentage of the cost of production in exchange for the right to exhibit the premiere of each episode exclusively. The studio covers the remaining cost.
DGA (Directors Guild of America) - represents the creative and economic rights of directors and members of the directorial team working in film, television, commercials, documentaries, news, sports, and new media.
Discretionary Fund - Typically part of an overall deal, a production company’s pool of money to use to invest in development.
EP - Shorthand acronym for Executive Producer. Can refer to the showrunner, head writer, Writing EP, or a non-writing EP.
Episodic Budget - Customized version of the pattern budget that meets the needs of that specific episode.
Estimated Final Costs (EFCs) - Financial reports that the show’s production accountant sends out to actualize where the episodic budget stands after the production of an episode wraps. Sum of the actual amount spent to date, plus the estimated amount to complete.
Estimator - A studio employee who covers the job of the production accountant before they are hired and after the show or season is wrapped. Usually puts together the first few drafts of the budget and then EFCs and Cost Reports after the season has wrapped.
Fringes - The costs attributed to an individual cast or crew member which are not salary. This includes FICA, localized taxes, union medical insurance, etc.
Greenlight - When a network agrees to actually make a pilot or series, and gives the producers the go-ahead to start production. Sometimes can also refer to moving to the next development step, i.e. “They greenlight a mini room.”
Gross - Complete cost of a production before applying the tax credit.
Hiatus - A pause or gap during a production period. A common example of a hiatus is for the winter holidays, or when making a show with 22 episodes, a break in the middle is deemed a mid-season hiatus.
Hot Costs - Daily reports that the show’s production accountant sends out to actualize where the episodic budget stands.
IATSE (IA) - The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists, and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories, and Canada. Or IATSE, for short, or IA, for shorter. Artists who belong to this union include Editors, Cinematographers, Art Directors, Customers, and many more. More than 150,000 workers strong, this union is broken into Locals based both on location and craft. Each determines its own Constitution and By-Laws, officer elections, dues structure, membership meetings, and more through democratic processes. Locals negotiate labor contracts regarding wages, work rules, and grievance procedures. Some also provide services to their members by administering health and retirement funds and providing training and education. Examples of locals below:
LOCAL 600 - The International Cinematographers Guild represents camera professionals and publicists. Jurisdiction is the entirety of the United States.
LOCAL 729 - Motion Picture Set Painters & Sign Writers. Jurisdiction is Hollywood.
Intellectual Property (IP) - Refers to the intangible creations of the mind used in business - in this case, a TV show. IP includes the product of an episode but also a series’ unique storyline, premise, world, and characters.
Key Hires - The first hires when staffing a show. Typically includes the Writers but also the Line Producer, Department Heads, and the Producing Director.
Kick-Off Meeting - The first development meeting with the production company and writer after the writer's deal is closed, typically before any work is started.
License Fee - What a network pays to a studio for the right to exhibit a show. Locked Budget - A finalized version of the budget that will no longer be changed.
Modified Adjusted Gross Receipts (MAGR) - The definition of revenue used when calculating a profit participant's share.
Movie Magic - Computer software used to schedule and budget both TV shows and features, used by most major studios, line producers, assistant directors (ADs), and accountants. The two programs, Movie Magic Budget (MMB) and Movie Magic Scheduling (MMS), can work in tandem, but typically in TV, the programs are used completely separately. The ADs handle the scheduling, and the accountants handle the budget, with the line producer acting as the bridge.
Net - Final cost of a production after applying the tax credit.
One Liner - An abridged version of the shooting schedule. Scenes are listed and arranged in shooting order and broken up by shooting days. This is the most commonly distributed schedule as it only contains the essential scene information.
Overage - When the cost of a specific piece of production goes over the prior budgeted amount.
Package Fee - When an agency represents more than one of the above-the-line talent, or the showrunner has an overall deal at the studio, that agency used to get a “package fee” in the budget of the show. This is now being phased out, as per the 2021 WGA legal victory.
Packaging - Process of assembling various creative elements (script, writer, director, actor, etc.) of a project to take a show to buyers. (unrelated to package fee)
Pad - Line Producers and studio production executives will often “pad” the budget. This is a hidden contingency buried in an unrelated account that allows a cushion in case of overages.
Pattern Budget - Sometimes referred to as the Series Budget (or Series Pattern Budget), the Pattern is a per-episode budget estimating the consistent cost of producing each episode.
Per Diem - A daily cash allowance to pay for food and miscellaneous expenditures when an employee is working at a distant location other than their primary residence.
Pilot Budget - Single episode budget for a pilot. Typically only used when the pilot is a separate step.
Producing Pod - A consortium of producers that represent a collective producing entity that works with a studio to make a movie or television show. Typically the principal of a pod is either a former studio or network executive or a prolific creative turned producer.
Production Accountant - In pre-production, production accountants help the producers and production managers prepare budgets. During production, they oversee all payments, manage payroll and provide hot costs and EFCs.
Residuals - Union mandated payments that creatives receive on a project after it is produced based on “reruns.” These payments are often divided and dispersed to all those eligible: directors, writers, actors, etc.
SAG (Screen Actors Guild) - Represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, and stunt performers, voiceover artists, and other media professionals.
Scale - The minimum amount of compensation for a union job. Typically only low-level or inexperienced persons are paid scale and then are given a raise in subsequent seasons of a show. Scale usually increases by about 3% each year to keep up with inflation.
Script Supervisor (Scripty) - On set, this role is responsible for maintaining continuity.
Script Coordinator - Acts as the liaison between the writer’s room and production. They distribute drafts to the crew and actors and are also responsible for the paperwork that is filed with the WGA and studio that triggers credit and payment.
Spec - An uncommissioned script that a writer wrote with the hope of selling to a production company, studio, or network after the first draft was completed.
Studio System - An industry database of all major players (projects, talent, agents, production companies, studios, networks, etc.) and how they relate to one another. (For example, CAA agent Brian Nossokoff represents Margaret Qualley, who has 7 nominations, including an Emmy nomination for her work on MAID, which was produced by John Wells Productions, which has an overall deal at WBTV.
Studio Zone - 30-mile radius in the Los Angeles area used by union film projects to determine per diem rates and driving distances for crew members.
Stunt Casting - When a celebrity comes in for a guest role. Much more expensive but garners media attention. Often done in popular sitcoms, such as FRIENDS.
Scenechronize - Another Movie Magic product that is used to organize, manage, and distribute all production documents digitally.
Tax Incentives (Tax Credits) - Cancels a portion of the tax owed to the government (country, state, province, county, or city) by the production company.
Teamsters - The Motion Picture and Theatrical Trade Division represent thousands of workers in the motion picture industry, including drivers and other transportation professionals, animal wranglers, casting directors, location scouts, and others.
Top Sheet - Provides a snapshot of your overall estimated production budget, with the total sum for all the accounts.
Turnaround - The rest time that the crew and cast receive between each work day, negotiated by their unions.
Underlying Rights - The intellectual property, material, script, article, book, etc. that the project will be based on. The underlying rights agreement will determine what a party can and can’t do with the material.
Unions - Hollywood unions handle their members' credits, healthcare, and pensions; and bargain individually with the AMPTP.
Variance (Two-Budget Comparison) - A side-by-side comparison of a previous budget draft with a new one.
WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) - Composed of about 10,000 members, this union for screenwriters is actually made up of two groups, WGA East and WGA West.