Local on-location filming dropped by 12.4% year-over-year from April through June, totaling 5,749 Shoot Days (SD) in the second quarter of 2024.
According to FilmLA, the partner film office for the City and County of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions, feature film production fell by 3.3% to 704 SD, and commercial production decreased by 5.1% to 817 SD.
However, the most significant decline was in unscripted television production, which plummeted by 56.9% to 868 SD, bringing the overall Television category down by 27.7% to 1,901 SD.
The go-to source for Los Angeles film production released two reports for this quarter. The first report covers on-location filming in the second quarter of 2024, while the second examines stage-based production during the first half of 2023.
Scripted Production Grows
Scripted television content saw substantial growth compared to the early strike-affected months of 2023. TV Drama production increased by 98.3% to 714 SD, TV Comedy production rose by 103.6% to 171 SD, and TV Pilot filming went up by 54.5% to 17 SD.
“Unscripted television is typically a location-heavy format that generates a significant volume of permits,” said Philip Sokoloski, FilmLA’s VP of Integrated Communications. “Although its employment impact is lower than scripted TV and it is not eligible for state incentives, it remains an important part of LA’s production economy.”
Reality TV series filmed locally last quarter included Accident, Suicide or Murder (Oxygen), American Idol (ABC), John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA (Netflix), 90 Day Fiancé (TLC), The Golden Bachelorette (ABC), The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Bravo), and Selling Sunset (Netflix).
Most feature films produced in the region last quarter were independent. Projects supported by the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program included Dreamquil and Lurker. Other independent films in production were Nickels, The Prince, and Watch What You’re Doing. Streaming services also contributed with films like “Bubbi” (Apple Studios) and “Mercy” (Amazon).
Television shows filmed on-location in Los Angeles last quarter included incentive-enrolled projects like Forever S1 (Netflix), High Potential S1 (ABC), Matlock S1 (CBS), Orphan S1 (ABC), Paradise City S1 (Hulu), S.W.A.T. S7 (CBS), and The Rookie S7 (CBS). Other notable productions included Bookie S2 (HBO Max), Bosch Legacy S3 (Freevee), Shrinking S2 (Apple TV+), 9-1-1 S7 (Fox), and Suits: LA S1 (NBC).
REELated:
Car Companies Dominate Commercials
Commercial productions, which are not eligible for incentives in California, continue to be attractive to other jurisdictions. In Greater Los Angeles, many car companies like Ford, Honda, Lexus, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota shot commercials in the second quarter, along with brands like Google, Lululemon, Sam’s Club, Spectrum, Starbucks, Verizon, and Walmart.
FilmLA’s “Other” category, which includes smaller projects such as Still Photography, Student Films, Documentaries, Music and Industrial Videos, saw a slight decline of 0.9% to 2,327 SD for the quarter.
On-Location Production Report: Historical Analysis
The WGA and SAG-AFTRA labor actions in 2023 reduced industry output, but a decline in production had already been evident before the strikes. FilmLA Research’s chart shows a sustained decline across all major production categories. On a rolling five-year basis, on-location filming levels heading into summer are down 33.4% below their five-year seasonal average.
“Streaming content spend is down, and both Los Angeles and its global competitors are still recovering from post-strike paralysis,” said Sokoloski. “Workers in this industry are seeing fewer opportunities amid ongoing labor negotiations in an era of content contraction.”
For studios that produce, purchase, and distribute content, investor focus on financial austerity over new subscriber growth and corporate consolidation limits new content investment.
“Given the double strike in late 2023, the rest of this year might look better on paper,” Sokoloski added. “An authentic production lift is possible, pending successful contract negotiations. If new content investment occurs, it will be cautious, measured, and globally distributed.”
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