“Normally I would’ve gone on location,” Petok says, “but because of COVID, I’m forced into buildings and therefore forced into excess material costs.” However, some, including Petok, argue that it’s been harder to do so during the pandemic. “It’s certainly easier to shoot on a stage and build a set that you can control and light from a stage, but we can go to real places and shoot there in almost 90 percent of the cases,” notes a production exec. Meanwhile, a handful of productions are opting for practical locations so that they don’t have to construct sets. “We’re trying to do what’s best for the client and the design based on the budget.” “We’ve been recycling old sets and making modifications to try to get the job done,” says 41 Sets COO Rafael Loza. When it comes to lumber, that might mean going with some type of veneer or thin plywood instead of using luan, a more expensive option for set-building.Īnother way to slash bloated budgets is to repurpose previously used sets that still are in good condition. One approach involves using less expensive versions of materials that aren’t necessarily as high in quality but offer a similar enough look. Sources say that most productions aren’t simply defaulting to building fewer sets in an effort to save money, though they may look to do so in the near future.įor now, production teams have been looking at other ways of offsetting the inflated costs. “It really hit me because we’re building several sets from scratch, and the cost for materials are about fourfold,” he explains. Petok especially has felt the impact on a pilot he’s working on. “On the shows that I do, it’s gone from maybe $25,000 in total materials - $10,000 of that being lumber - to $45,000 or so,” he says. Michael Petok, an executive producer on Black-ish, Grown-ish and Mixed-ish, suggests that the percentage rise could even be higher, depending on the project. “We’re having to pay the premiums,” says one major studio’s top production exec. While most production executives say they’re mainly facing delays and have not yet reached the point where they’re unable to get their hands on materials, many acknowledge that the current estimates they’re receiving for key supplies are about 10 percent higher compared with even just a few months ago. Whereas workers would normally build the exteriors first and then build out the interiors, the construction team at the studio lot has had to do the opposite because of a delay in shipments of exterior materials. “Supply chain shortages caused us to alter the way we build our stages,” says Frank Patterson, president and CEO of Trilith Studios in Atlanta, home of Disney+’s WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Rising prices are forcing producers and executives to change the way they do things. Inside Actors' Equity's Stripper Union Organizing Effort: "They Are Our Siblings in the Labor Movement"