On-Location TV Production In Los Angeles Plunges Amid Strike Jitters & Uncertainty Over Corporate Restructuring, FilmLA Says

Concern about looming labor unrest and uncertainty surrounding pending corporate restructuring have contributed to a 35. 8% plunge in on-location TV production in Los Angeles in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period last year, according to the latest report from FilmLA , the city and county film permit office. Related Story Yep, It’s Slow: How A Potential Strike & Industry Pivoting Has Hollywood’s TV Biz At A Standstill “Over three consecutive quarters, we’ve seen a significant slowdown across all of the most economically important categories of on-location production,” said FilmLA President Paul Audley .

“Particularly in the television world, decisions about future content direction are on hold, pending the outcome of corporate restructuring actions and industry labor negotiations. ” Overall, local on-location shoot days fell by 24% in the first quarter this year compared to the first quarter last year – down from 9,832 to 7,476 shoot days – and 16. 8% below the region’s five-year average of first quarters.

(FilmLA notes that the five-year averages it cites exclude 2020, when L. A. County production was shut down for three months amid the Covid pandemic.

) FilmLA defines a “shoot day” as one crew’s permission to film at one or more defined locations during all or part of any given 24-hour period. FilmLA data does not include production that occurs on certified sound stages or in jurisdictions it doesn’t serve. Read the full report here .

FilmLA Asked about L. A. ’s overall decline in on-location TV production, Audley told Deadline that “We have a multitude of things impacting it, and we’re not really clear which one is having the greatest impact.

But certainly the news that’s been around for months now about the majors and the streaming services beginning to reduce the amount of production has had an impact. In the first quarter of 2022, we still had sort of a halo from Covid, with people not being able to travel and a lot more production in L. A.

And we have seen some concerns about starting production on series, with a potential strike. So, there are all kinds of things in the balance. But it is part of a longer-term trend – the downturn in production for greater Los Angeles.

” The Writers Guild this week received overwhelming approval from its members to launch a strike if negotiations for a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers can’t be reached by May 1. And the DGA is set to begin its own contract talks with the AMPTP on May 10, followed by SAG-AFTRA on June 7. RELATED: Los Angeles Remains World’s Soundstage Leader, But Other Locales Are Catching Up: FilmLA Report “We would hope that when all the various unions and guilds that are in, or going into, labor negotiations settle out, that we would see some level of a return to production to whatever our new normal is,” Audley said.

“But we have to also realize that the international and national competition remains extreme for California,” he added. “One of our major competitors, New York, is going from $420 million in tax incentives to $700 million this year, while California remains, if the governor’s budget is passed, at $330 million. We’re behind on infrastructure development of new stages, as other major areas are building massive and multiple new stages, and we’re sort of at the beginning of doing that.

So, the answer is to meet the completion and beat it in the mid-term – not long-term – because if we wait too long, we’re out of the game. “The other part of the answer is that we’ve seen, in this report and in past reports, how critical the tax credit has been in at least maintaining some level of production here. When you look at television, and realize that almost a quarter of our TV has been associated with that tax credit in this last quarter, imagine the numbers if we didn’t have that tax credit in place.

It would be basically bottom-barrel for us, and we’d be in more serious trouble than we are in now. ” California’s tax credit was increased by $90 million – to $420 million – this year and last year, but will return to $330 million next year – or less than half of what New York is offering, and far below the $900 million allotted by Georgia. RELATED: Are Streaming Residuals Being Slashed? As WGA’s Own Data Shows, It’s Complicated The one bright spot in FilmLA’s latest report is that that on-location production of TV comedies increased by 25.

1% – to 324 shoot days – from last year’s first quarter but are still down by 22. 1% from the five-year average of first quarters. Only 12 of those shoot days, however, involved productions that received California tax credits – or just 3.

7% of the total comedy shoot-days. TV sitcoms that filmed locally last quarter included American Auto (NBC), Young Sheldon (CBS), Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO), It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX), Killing it (Peacock), and This Fool (Hulu). FilmLA On-location production of TV dramas, meanwhile, plunged 40.

4% to 762 shoot days in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022, and fell by 37. 3% compared to the five-year average of first quarters, although FilmLA don’t include 2020 in its five-year averages because production was suspended in Los Angeles County between mid-March through mid-June dues to the Covid-19 pandemic. TV dramas that shot in the region last quarter included The Company You Keep (ABC), All American (The CW), Mayans MC (FX), The Sympathizer (HBO), Presumed Innocent (Apple TV+) and Interior Chinatown (Hulu).

A total of 186 of the 762 TV drama shoot days – 24. 4% – were from projects that received California tax credits. Reality TV shows, which aren’t eligible for the state’s tax credits, plummeted 37.

8% in the first quarter, although production levels in this category hover 17. 4% above the five-year average. RELATED: As WGA & AMPTP Talks Kick Off, Details Emerge Of DGA’s Attempt To Reach Under-The-Radar Deal With Studios TV Pilots, produced far less often in an age of direct-to-series orders, generated just seven shoot days for the quarter – a whopping 88.

3% decline from the previous year, and 95. 4% below the five-year average. Part of this decline in pilots, however, can be attributed to bookkeeping.

FilmLA relies on companies to self-classify their project type when they apply for permits, and while for a time applicants tended to call their first episode a pilot, even for a direct-to-series show, now they often just call their show a TV Drama or TV Sitcom. FilmLA On-location production of feature films, meanwhile, remained flat for the quarter – 595 shoot days in 2023 versus 594 shoot days in 2022 – but was down 13. 1% over the five-year average.

A total of 99 feature film shoot days – 16. 6% of feature production – were tied to films that received the state’s tax incentives. Local productions included Unicorn (Apple Studios), Fast X (Universal Pictures), Black Girl, Erupted (BET Her), and indie films On Swift Horses , Stealing Pulp Fiction , and Wishing Well .

Commercial productions, which aren’t eligible for the state’s tax credits, continued their decline last quarter, with a 22. 5% percent drop compared to last year (to 899 shoot days), and an even steeper 32. 5% decline compared to its five-year average.

Companies such as Ally Bank, Chevron and Walmart recently filmed spots locally, as did car companies such as BMW, Dodge, Ford, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and Volvo. FilmLA’s “other” category, which included still photography shoots, student films, music videos and all other miscellaneous production categories, was down by 13. 7% compared to last year.

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