Budget Tier

A budget tier is the cost class your script belongs to, read directly off the page. Every location, speaking role, night shoot, period detail, stunt, and VFX moment adds cost — which means your writing choices set your budget long before a line producer ever runs numbers.

We use four tiers:

• Micro — under $1M: contained locations, small cast, contemporary setting
• Low — $1M–$5M: a few locations, modest cast, limited set pieces
• Mid — $5M–$20M: broader scope, name-cast potential, some spectacle
• Studio scale — $20M+: wide-canvas spectacle, VFX, period, or franchise scope

The killer mismatch is a script whose page-scope and stated tier disagree — a "micro-budget" script with forty locations and a helicopter chase. It signals inexperience faster than any dialogue flaw, which is why our scorecard scores budget realism as its own metric instead of burying it in comments.

The good news: scope is a rewrite decision. Consolidating locations and trimming cast is often the cheapest path to a higher score — and in an emerging production landscape like Nevada's, budget-honest scripts are exactly what new slates need.