What sits above the line on a small film
On a studio picture, above the line is where the famous names are. On a micro-budget film it's a much shorter list, but the accounts are the same: 1100 for story and rights, 1200 for producers, 1300 for the director, 1400 for cast and casting, and sometimes 1500 for above-the-line travel. What changes at this level is how each line gets paid. Some are cash, some are deferred, some become points, and a few are legally required no matter how small the budget is.
Two lines you can't zero out:
- Rights. Even if the writer is the director, the production company needs a signed option or purchase agreement so it owns the script. Without it you have no chain of title, and no distributor or insurer will touch the film. The cash price can be $1; the paperwork can't be skipped.
- Cast you pay as employees. If performers are on payroll, employer payroll taxes apply, and if they're SAG-AFTRA members, the production has to be signatory to an agreement first.
Which SAG-AFTRA agreement fits the budget
SAG-AFTRA sets its independent agreements by total budget. The ones relevant to micro and ultra-low productions, as described on SAG-AFTRA's help center:
| Agreement | Budget limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-Budget Agreement | $20,000 or less per picture (or per episode) | Live action, recorded entirely in the US; most terms negotiated; not for projects needing an intimacy coordinator or where the producer was paid for distribution rights |
| Short Project Agreement | $50,000 maximum total budget | Running time up to 40 minutes; principal schedule up to 30 days; principal performer rates negotiated; P&H contributions owed |
| Ultra Low Budget Project Agreement | Total budget less than $300,000 | Day rates set on the current rate sheet |
The Micro-Budget Agreement also doesn't make performers eligible to join SAG-AFTRA, and its exhibition is limited to film festivals, free-to-consumer streaming, Academy qualifying screenings, public access, demos, and classrooms. If you already expect to sell the film, plan for a different agreement. For current Ultra Low day rates and how the tiers compare, see SAG-AFTRA tiers and SAG-AFTRA low budget agreements.
Example 1: a $19,500 feature on the Micro-Budget Agreement
HOLLOW CREEK is a fictional 70-page horror feature shot in 8 days, with 6 speaking roles and a total budget of $19,500. All figures are example deals.
| Acct | Line | Math | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1100 | Script option and purchase | Writer-director's own script, signed purchase agreement | $500 |
| 1200 | Producers | Two producers, fees deferred, 5 backend points each | $0 |
| 1300 | Director | Fee deferred | $0 |
| 1400 | Cast | 24 performer days x $150 negotiated | $3,600.00 |
| 1400 | Payroll taxes on cast, 15.15% example | $3,600 x 0.1515 | $545.40 |
| Above the line | $4,645.40 |
$4,645.40 is 23.8% of $19,500. Everything else (a 7-person crew, owned camera, food for 8 days, a location fee, insurance, and a DIY post) has to fit in the remaining $14,854.60.
Look at what the zeros cost later. The producers' points and the director's deferral are promises against future revenue, and they belong in writing and on the budget as a memo line: "Deferred compensation: director $10,000, payable from first receipts after recoupment". See deferred pay and backend points for how those are usually structured. Whether a deferral counts toward an agreement's budget limit is a question to ask SAG-AFTRA before you apply.
The 15.15% payroll tax figure is the example load from our film budget fringes post: employer Social Security and Medicare set by the IRS, plus placeholder rates for unemployment tax, workers' comp, and a payroll fee. Replace it with your payroll company's quote.
Example 2: a $280,000 feature on the Ultra Low Budget Agreement
DRY SEASON is a fictional 15-day drama with a total budget of $280,000, under the Ultra Low Budget Project Agreement's $300,000 limit, and a DGA director.
| Acct | Line | Math | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1100 | Screenplay purchase | Flat, paid to writer's loan-out | $10,000 |
| 1100 | Rewrite | Flat | $2,500 |
| 1200 | Producers | 2 x $6,000, loan-outs | $12,000 |
| 1300 | Director fee | Negotiated under the DGA Low Budget Sideletter | $15,000 |
| 1300 | DGA pension, health, parental leave | $15,000 x 22.5% | $3,375 |
| 1400 | Performers | 60 performer days x $400 (example rate) | $24,000 |
| 1400 | SAG-AFTRA P&H, 22% placeholder | $24,000 x 0.22 | $5,280 |
| 1400 | Payroll taxes, 15.15% example | $24,000 x 0.1515 | $3,636 |
| 1400 | Casting director | Flat | $5,000 |
| Above the line | $80,791 |
That's 28.9% of $280,000. The DGA figure is from the guild's 2026 to 2027 rate card: 8.75% pension, 13.5% health, and 0.25% paid parental leave. On films budgeted at $3,000,000 or less, the sideletter leaves the director's fee itself to negotiation, so the $15,000 is a negotiated figure.
The $400 day rate is an example, not the Ultra Low scale; check the rate sheet, which sets the floor. The 22% P&H is also a placeholder for the percentage on that rate sheet.
Where the cast line gives
Cast is the above-the-line account that moves with the schedule, so it's where a micro-budget producer has the most control. In DRY SEASON, cutting performer days from 60 to 45 saves:
| Line | Math | Saved |
|---|---|---|
| Wages | 15 days x $400 | $6,000 |
| P&H at 22% | $6,000 x 0.22 | $1,320 |
| Payroll taxes at 15.15% | $6,000 x 0.1515 | $909 |
| Total | $8,229 |
Fifteen performer days usually come from the schedule, not from cutting roles. Boarding a supporting character's scenes onto consecutive days, instead of spreading them across the shoot with paid holds in between, is how you find them. The day out of days shows exactly which performers are carrying holds.
Deals that look free and aren't
Some above-the-line terms don't show up as cash in the budget but change what the film owes later:
- Favored nations clauses. If one actor has favored nations and you pay another $50 more a day, the first actor gets the raise too.
- Pay-or-play commitments, which make a fee owed even if the film is recast or delayed.
- Points granted to cast and crew in place of fees. They're fine on a micro-budget, but they have to be defined against the same revenue definition as the investors' deal, or the waterfall stops making sense.
Budgeting above the line with the rest of the film
Storiara's budget setup wizard asks for production type, union tier, shoot days, prep and post weeks, contingency, and whether there's a completion bond, then estimates above-the-line lines (story and writing, producers, director, cast) alongside the rest. Cast paid days come from the day out of days, and rates you've entered on cast records are used before any estimate, so negotiated deals like the ones above can replace the defaults.
Before you get that far, the film budget estimator gives a quick range for a given day count, and the indie film budget template has accounts 1100 to 1500 set up with memo rows for deferrals.