Not great, but somewhat expected news for the Los Angeles Film community. FilmLA has released its 2023 Q4 Year-to-Date Film Production Report, revealing a stark decline in regional filming activity.
The conclusion of work actions by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on September 27 and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) on November 9 came too late to revive production by the end of the year.
The fourth quarter saw a significant downturn in local on-location filming, recording 5,520 Shoot Days (SD)*, marking a substantial -36.4 percent decline compared to the same period in 2022. When viewed annually, encompassing four consecutive quarters of double-digit decline, production activity plummeted -32.4 percent year-over-year in 2023, totaling 24,873 SD.
FilmLA President Paul Audley remarked, “History offers no point of comparison to the present. The pandemic year aside, we have to look very far back – farther back than permit records allow – to find a time when production levels stayed so low, for so long.” He added that despite the desire for production to resume, the industry remains in uncharted territory, with uncertainties about what the new normal for filming in LA will look like.
The return of some programming in October, including late-night talk shows, brought hope for a resurgence in scripted television before the holidays. However, only a few continuing series attempted new episodes, resulting in a -54.3 percent decline in Television production for the quarter and a 43.8 percent drop for the year.
Reality TV, while down -29.2 percent in the fourth quarter, remained a significant contributor, constituting 76.5 percent of all on-location Television production in 2023. Notable local reality productions included Dancing with the Stars (ABC), Death in the Dorms (Hulu), Master Chef (Fox), Selling Sunset (Netflix), and Murder in the Heartland (Investigation Discovery).
REELated:
TV Drama production experienced a staggering -91.3 percent drop, and TV Comedy production fell by -85.6 percent. Projects qualifying for the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program logged 25 SD during the period, with more expected to restart in January. Quick returns to production were observed for shows like Loot (Apple TV+), The Family Business (BET+), Quantum Leap (NBC), The Rookie (ABC), S.W.A.T. (CBS), and Unstable (Netflix).
Feature film production also faced a substantial decline, dropping by -57.5 percent in the last quarter to 323 SD. Independent productions and projects under SAG-AFTRA interim agreements made up the majority of Feature projects in production during the summer.
Web and TV Commercials Mostly Unaffected
Web and television commercials, unaffected by the strikes but trending lower due to runway production, experienced a -9.9 percent year-over-year drop to 746 SD. Locally produced commercials included advertisements for automobile brands like BMW, Chevy, Honda, Lincoln, Nissan, and Toyota, as well as retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart, and Walgreens.
FilmLA’s “Other” category, encompassing smaller, lower-cost shoots like Still Photography, Student Films, Documentaries, Music and Industrial Videos, and other projects, declined -18.1 percent for the quarter and -20.7 percent for the year, totaling 2,744 SD and 10,157 SD, respectively.
The report highlights the profound impact of the recent strikes and ongoing challenges faced by the local film industry.
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