# Above-the-line

Source: https://storiara.com/glossary/above-the-line
Last updated: 2026-09-14
Author: Charles Hirschhorn, Storiara

> Above-the-line (ATL) refers to the budget accounts for the creative elements negotiated before production: story and screenplay rights, writers, producers, the director, and principal cast, along with their travel and fringes. The name comes from the line on a traditional budget top sheet that separates these costs from crew and production expenses.

## What sits in the 1000 series

In most charts of accounts, above-the-line lives in the 1000s. A typical breakdown:

| Acct | Category | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| 1100 | Story and rights | Option and purchase price for the book or script, chain of title costs |
| 1200 | Writers | Screenplay fees, rewrites, polish |
| 1300 | Producers | [Producer fees](https://storiara.com/glossary/producer-fee), associate producers, assistants |
| 1400 | Director | Director's fee, prep and post weeks |
| 1500 | Cast | Principal cast salaries, stunt coordinators on some charts |
| 1600 | ATL travel and living | Flights, housing, [per diem](https://storiara.com/glossary/per-diem) for the people above |
| 1900 | ATL fringes | Payroll taxes and union benefits on the salaries above |

Account numbers vary between templates, so match whatever your [production accountant](https://storiara.com/roles/production-accountant) uses. The groupings stay the same.

## A worked example with fringes

Say the lead on a small feature is a SAG-AFTRA performer on the Low Budget Agreement, booked for 4 weeks at the weekly minimum of $2,896 in effect from July 1, 2026. Salary is 4 x $2,896 = $11,584. The union's pension and health contribution, 22% for performers as of September 6, 2026, adds $11,584 x 0.22 = $2,548.48. Payroll taxes come on top of that, so this single cast line is already over $14,000 before any overtime or travel. Those figures come from the [SAG-AFTRA 2026 Low Budget rate sheet](https://www.sagaftra.org/sites/default/files/LBA%20Rate%20Sheet%2026-30.pdf); see [SAG-AFTRA tiers](https://storiara.com/glossary/sag-aftra-tiers) for how the agreements compare.

## Why the line matters

Above-the-line deals are negotiated individually and usually locked before prep. That makes them hard to cut later. Below-the-line costs, by contrast, scale with the number of shoot days, so when a budget has to come down, schedules and crew sizes get squeezed first. Producers on low budget films often defer part of their ATL fees through [deferred pay](https://storiara.com/glossary/deferred-pay) or trade cash for [backend points](https://storiara.com/glossary/backend-points). If you do that, show the deferral clearly on the [top sheet](https://storiara.com/glossary/top-sheet), because SAG-AFTRA's low budget agreements count deferred compensation toward the total production cost that decides which agreement you qualify for.

## Common confusions

"Above-the-line" describes where the cost sits in the budget. It says nothing about how important a job is. Some charts put the casting director or the stunt coordinator above the line, and some put principal cast travel below it. What matters is consistency within one budget, so the [below-the-line](https://storiara.com/glossary/below-the-line) totals and the ATL totals don't double-count anyone. The [film budget template](https://storiara.com/templates/film-budget) keeps the standard split, and the post on [above-the-line vs below-the-line](https://storiara.com/blog/above-the-line-vs-below-the-line-how-film-budgets-are-structured) goes into more depth.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the cinematographer above or below the line?

Below. The director of photography is a department head, but on a standard budget the camera department sits below the line. The usual above-the-line group is rights, writers, producers, director, and principal cast.

### What percentage of a film budget is above the line?

There is no fixed ratio. A star-driven studio picture can put a large share of its money above the line, while a micro-budget feature with deferred producer and director fees might put very little there. Financiers mostly want the ratio to make sense for the kind of film you are selling.

### Are casting directors above the line?

Usually not. Most charts of accounts put casting in a below-the-line production account, even though casting happens early and affects the cast line.