Budgeting in Video Production

A general production budget is broken down into 3 main categories: Above the line expenses, Below the line expenses and Contingency.
Above the line expenses include payments for: Director, producer, actors, story / script, etc.
Below the line expenses include payments for: Legal expenses, traveling / living expenses, extras, crew, post production expenses, etc.
The contingency is an extra allowance added to the production budget to cover unexpected expenses. The contingency normally is at least 10 percent of the above-the-line and below-the-line expenses to satisfy the completion guarantor.

Of course budgets will vary depending on the production and usually each portfolio on the production will have a sub-budget in addition to the overall budget.