Continuing a downward trend, on-location production in the Los Angeles area declined by 13.2% from July through September compared to the same period last year, though officials expressed optimism that California's revamped $750 million tax-credit program will revitalize the entertainment industry, it was announced Tuesday.
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The L.A. region had 4,380 shoot days in the third quarter of the year, or 668 fewer shoot days, compared to 5,048 shoot days in the summer of 2024, according to figures released by FilmLA -- the partner film office for Los Angeles County and city, and other local jurisdictions.
While data are not what they hoped for, officials with FilmLA emphasized there are early signs of improvement thanks to recent actions by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators.
In July, Newsom signed AB 1138, legislation that more than doubled California's Film and Television Tax Credit Program from $330 million to $750 million. It also expanded the program to prioritize workforce development, added funds for the Career Pathways Training Program and launched what officials called the nation's first "Safety on Production Pilot Program."
Film and television workers, industry leaders and others have advocated for the program's expansion, citing a need to stop runaway productions, as well as to assist an industry that has faced challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, dual writers and actors strike, and current federal immigration policies.
The program has been "oversubscribed year after year," according to the governor's office. Film and television projects were driven out-of-state, coaxed by investments elsewhere.
FilmLA noted the California Film Commission was processing applications days after the state budget was approved and AB 1138 was signed into law.
The first 22 projects to be approved for the expanded program included 18 television series planned for Los Angeles, and had 180 days to start production after they received their award. About 22% of L.A.-area feature production and 9% of area television production in the third quarter came from incentive-linked projects, Film LA reported.
"We know that it will take a little while for new incentive-backed projects to get underway and be reflected in our data, so we were not surprised to see on-location production continue to slip this summer despite the state's increased investment," FilmLA Vice President Philip Sokoloski said in a statement.
"Fortunately, we've already begun to see early signs of these incentives having their desired effect; we're excited to be taking calls from productions looking to line up their locations and pull permits.
Feature production slightly bucked the overall summer trend with 522 shoot days, or 46 more shoot days, than 476 shoot days in 2024. Independent projects shot in the area during this time -- such as "Animals," "Misty Green," "The Musical," "The Seekers," and "You Can't be Happy" -- contributed to the increase.
Meanwhile, television production had 1,441 shoot days, a decline of 376 shoot days, compared to 1,817 shoot days in 2024.
According to FilmLA, the decrease in local television production is primarily due to a steep quarterly drop in TV reality production, which stood at 649 shoot days. "Dancing with the Stars," "The Price is Right," "The Valley" (Bravo!), "Dinner Time Live with David Chang" (Netflix), and "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," (Hulu), compose the reality TV and game show category.
TV dramas stood at 545 shoot days, a decline of 19%, compared to 673 shoot days in 2024. TV comedy stood at 79 shoot days, an increase of 41.1%, compared to 56 shoot days in 2024, and TV pilots were down 34.5% to 19 shoot days. Projects in these categories such as "9-1-1" S9 (Fox), "Criminal Minds" S19 (CBS), "High Potential" S2 (ABC), "Bel-Air" S4 (Peacock), "Golf" S1 (Netflix) and "Shrinking" S3 (Apple TV+) filmed in the L.A. area.
Commercial production declined by 17.9% to 668 shoot days. FilmLA noted that commercials receive no form of business incentive to create production jobs in California.
Still-photo shoots, student films, documentaries, short films, online content, music and industrial videos -- which are the "other" category -- declined by 9.9% to 1,749 shoot days in the third quarter.
"L.A.'s creative industry is too important to let go without a fight," Sokoloski said. ``As part of our ongoing focus on streamlining and enhancing the on-location filming process, we are convening industry listening sessions and using what we learn to improve our service delivery and recommend actionable process and policy improvements to our valued government partners.'
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