I too have worked in both industries and what the speaker is not telling you is he is comparing apples to oranges. In other words, he's comparing a commissioned construction project to an independent film project that is basically done on spec. Both industries have their own versions of 'commissioned' (pre-bought and paid for by a client) and 'spec' (self-initiated with intent to sell upon completion). In the film/video business, one can work on commissioned projects with from 10 - 30 % paid up front and further payments made as the project meets its milestones. Conversely, one can also do a building construction project on spec and hope that someone buys it after it's built.

This video lecture has great content but, man, the sound is really hard to take!

Well some posts are so informative that we get a feeling that we missed this information when we actually wanted it, but this post is something i am looking for, thank you.