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Hollywood Aims to Trim Production Costs Amid Inflation Surge, Supply Chain Pain

Hollywood Aims to Trim Production Costs Amid Inflation Surge, Supply Chain Pain

Studio execs and stage operators say sets are at least 15 percent more expensive to build than they were just last year: “We’re asking, ‘This scene is seven-eighths of a page. Do we need the set, which costs $500,000?’

Last year, most production executives and set construction shops said they were mainly facing delays and hadn’t reached the point where they were unable to procure certain set fixtures. Some now say that impossible-to-meet demand nationwide for the same materials, equipment and parts amid record demand for content is impacting set-building. “If a scene calls for a bathroom, but nothing happens there, we won’t have it to bring costs down,” says a major studio’s top production executive. In California, where the cost of gas now averages $6.34 cents a gallon, this executive notes: “For the first time, we’re asking how to reduce fuel expenditures.”

"We have been fortunate to have made two movies in Maine — The Way We Get By and Beneath The Harvest Sky.” Maine is a very special state in that there are so many options for locations. Given its size, you can travel to northern Maine, southern Maine, all along the coast, and tell a number of different stories in totally unique worlds with each film having very distinctive looks. The abundance of locations combined with the incredible generosity of the people and communities, make filmmaking in Maine a pure joy. We would not be filmmakers today without the support from the people of Maine and we will be forever grateful."

- Gita Pullapilly and Aron Gaudet, The Way We Get By and Beneath the Harvest Sky

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