A Study on the Cost of Production in Film Project Management: Taking Small-Budget Films in China as an Example

Abstract

At present, Chinese film has been becoming industrialized with the production management system still being imperfect. Small-budget films account for the largest proportion of Chinese film output while with the problems in production management being the most, which influences the development of the entire cultural industry to a certain extent. Among them, the waste of funds caused by management problems emerges endlessly. In this article, in-depth interviews with nine veterans in the industry and multiple case studies into six small-cost film crews for practical observations are combined and the cost control problem in small-cost films is explained from the perspective of project cost elements for the first time. Four aspects of personnel expenses, material costs, equipment rental expenses and other living expenses are analyzed and discussed and the details of the cost and the hidden factors are studied to expand the application of the theoretical framework of project cost elements in this field.