Great article, Bob. I’ve seen so much of this firsthand, and it is always seated squarely between frustrating and disappointing.
I watched a feature film take well over a year and a half to complete after production because they didn’t have anyone on production sound. They’d spoken to several local PSMs, but wouldn’t budge on their terribly low rates. They ended up with someone who wasn’t really experienced and that person lasted only a few days on the production. From that point on, it was whichever cast or crew member who wasn’t doing anything at the moment and could hold a boom pole and point the mic in the general direction of the dialog. They had to ADR the entire film, and it cost them more in post than it would have to hire a real PSM to begin with.
If you don’t have time, it will cost you money. If you don’t have money, it will cost you time. But time is money, so...
Another feature hired me, but well after all the locations were locked. Nobody with a sound mind was on the scouts. Imagine a period piece set in the mid 19th century... shot in several places that were adjacent to busy highways and community airports. Once scene had the actors standing right under a busy road, with cars driving past literally 6 feet above their heads. That particular production had larger issues well beyond sound. It may or may not ever be completed.