B Movies Invade Your TV! describes the Sci-Fi channel’s strategy of making its own cheap, topical “B” movies:
Shot on budgets ranging from $1 million to $2 million, Sci Fi’s movies are made in money-saving locales like Bulgaria, Romania and Missouri. They’re cast with B-list celebrities like Luke Perry and Stephen Baldwin, with the occasional big-picture actors — Sean Astin and John Rhys-Davies of ‘Lord of the Rings’ — making an appearance. The network pays $750,000 for domestic TV rights, and the producers make their money back through international and DVD sales.