This geographical divide has fostered the myth that there is some kind of essential and unbridgeable difference between the dramatic arts of stage and screen. The Business of Show Business Since it is clear that the amount of money involved is one of the main practical distinctions between the dramatic arts of stage and screen, some specific examples may be useful. For theatre my lecture on Musicals offers a detailed look at the largest kind of theatre budget. The lecture Theatre Today, examines the more modest area of public versus private funding. The film industry, as we have said, possesses the largest budgets.
Television is in the middle with costs rising all the time.
If you multiply these figures by the twenty-two episodes in a season you can see how expensive they have become. Let's take a closer look at where the costs go in the production of a one-hour prime time television drama. The package is essentially the cost of hiring actors, directors, and writers. Runaway Productions One of the current trends in television is the rapidly escalating costs of production. Personal managers are demanding to be listed and paid as executive producers for merely making their clients available.