September 15 – 17, 2026
on-site
Max. 12 participants
Fee: 500€
APPLICATION DEADLINE: JULY 15, 2026

Every creative decision is a financial decision. Every financial decision is a creative one. Most people in the industry know this is true and act as if it is not. This workshop treats the budget as a creative document.

How much does a movie cost? The difference between our estimates and reality can be surprising. This is where the workshop begins: breaking down scenes into budget frameworks, rewriting the same scene at three different budget levels, negotiating a 30% cut in a role play between producer and writer, understanding that the compromises you make with the script affect the final film as much as the compromises you make with the budget affect the final film. All related.

Structure of the workshop: Each day opens with a lecture on the logic of film budgets, the relationship between story decisions and production costs, and case studies of films in which financial pressure led to unexpected creative solutions. Everything else is practical: group exercises, peer presentations, role plays, and writing under pressure. In the final session, the participants will be asked to write a scene under hard constraints and shoot it on their phones/School equipment. The constraint becomes the point, while each group will get different criteria.

No accounting background needed. The goal is to develop instinct, not expertise.

What participants leave with

• A clear understanding of how script decisions translate into budget lines, and back again
• The ability to read a budget as a story document
• A producer’s instinct for the invisible economy of a film
• Direct experience of what financial pressure does to creative decisions, and what creative decisions do to financial ones

Application materials:
1. CV with filmography (if available)
2. Motivational Statement (half a page)