# Completion bond

Source: https://storiara.com/glossary/completion-bond
Last updated: 2026-09-14
Author: Charles Hirschhorn, Storiara

> A completion bond is a contract in which a completion guarantor promises a film's financiers that the picture will be completed and delivered according to the approved script, schedule, and budget. If production runs into trouble, the guarantor can step in, fund overages, or take over, and if the film cannot be delivered it repays the financiers.

## What the guarantor reviews before bonding

Before it signs, a guarantor reads the shooting script, the [shooting schedule](https://storiara.com/glossary/shooting-schedule), the full [production budget](https://storiara.com/glossary/production-budget), the [cash flow schedule](https://storiara.com/glossary/cash-flow-schedule), key deals, the insurance package, and the résumés of the director, producer, [line producer](https://storiara.com/roles/line-producer), and [production accountant](https://storiara.com/roles/production-accountant). It looks for things like 14 pages scheduled on a day with a car stunt, or a camera line that assumes a package rate no rental house would quote. Problems get fixed before the bond is issued, and the budget that comes out of that review becomes the [locked budget](https://storiara.com/glossary/locked-budget).

## Where it sits on the top sheet

| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total above and below the line | $2,400,000 |
| Contingency, 10% | $240,000 |
| Completion bond fee | per guarantor's quote |
| Grand total | $2,640,000 + bond fee |

Guarantors generally require the [contingency](https://storiara.com/glossary/contingency) to be in the budget, and the bond agreement often treats that contingency as the first money used when costs rise. Only after contingency is gone does the guarantor's own money come into play.

## How it works when things go wrong

During production the guarantor receives the same weekly [cost report](https://storiara.com/glossary/cost-report) and [daily production reports](https://storiara.com/glossary/daily-production-report) the producers see. A show that falls a day behind in week one gets a phone call. A show whose [estimate to complete](https://storiara.com/glossary/estimate-to-complete) keeps growing gets a guarantor representative on set, then meetings about cutting scenes, and in the worst case a takeover in which the guarantor controls the remaining spend. If the film can't be finished at all, the guarantor repays the financiers.

## What a bond doesn't do

A completion bond doesn't insure against a cast member's illness or a fire on stage; that's [production insurance](https://storiara.com/glossary/production-insurance), which the guarantor will require separately. It also doesn't guarantee the film is any good or that it sells. And it protects the financiers, not the producer: overages the guarantor covers can be recouped ahead of the producer's own backend under the financing documents.

The [completion guarantor](https://storiara.com/glossary/completion-guarantor) entry covers the companies and parties involved, and [completion bonds explained](https://storiara.com/blog/completion-bonds-explained) walks through a bond agreement section by section.

## Frequently asked questions

### Who pays for a completion bond?

The production does. The bond fee is a line on the budget, usually between contingency and the grand total, and it's paid out of the financing. The fee is negotiated per picture and depends on budget size and risk.

### Does an indie film need a completion bond?

Only if a financier requires it. Banks lending against pre-sales and tax credits nearly always do. Equity-only micro-budgets rarely carry one.

### Can the bond company fire the director?

The bond agreement gives the guarantor escalating rights when a production goes off plan, up to taking over the production. Replacing key people is possible in that scenario, which is why guarantors review the director, producer, and line producer before they agree to bond a picture.