the cost of producing TV

[dookula]

a lot of tv these days look like they could be movies, the quality is just that good. how come they're so much cheaper to produce? they do this week in week out, mind you.

it can't just be a question of special effects. how come indie movies with no effects take so damn long to come around? you always hear indie filmmakers bitching and whining.

alfred hitchcock famously used the same crew from his tv show to shoot psycho. how come people today don't do the same?!

[Meteornotes]

A lot of production costs are higher because of union/guild minimums. Plus the distribution system for film is more expensive (all those prints cost a lot of money).

dt

[M. Sean McManus]

They don't really make them every week. They shoot them well before air dates. I would guess they shoot in advance of six months or more. Then all that time is spent in post production. It looks easy because we all know the smoke and mirrors that can go into a show but I can tell you it ain't easy, kid.