FilmLA Reports Weakest Quarter of 2024 as Greater L.A. Filming Drops by 5%
FilmLA, the quasi-public agency that handles film permits in Los Angeles, has reported a weak third quarter for 2024.
Production in the Greater Los Angeles area dropped 5 percent to 5,048 shoot days.
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Scripted television producers logged 758 shoot days last quarter across the economically important TV Drama, TV Comedy and TV Pilot categories.
There was an increase in feature film production, some of which continued during the strikes, which rose by 26.6 percent last quarter, to 476 shoot days. These developments brought some relief to LA-based cast and crew, local studio operators and industry vendors.
However, industry output and employment continues to fall short of expectations set during the post-COVID, streaming bubble era.
FilmLA President Paul Audley said, “Only a few months ago, the industry hoped we’d see an overall on-paper gain in the third quarter, due to the strike effect. Instead, we saw a pullback and loss of forward momentum, heading into the fall season that will make or break the year.”
Shoot days for reality TV fell by 56.3 percent, recording only 946 shoot days. The 1,220 shoot days summer drop in reality production was so steep, that it more than accounts for the entire loss seen in aggregate across all filming categories (5,311 shoot days in Q3 2023, vs. 5,048 in Q3 2024).
Commercials for both television and web-based filming in Greater Los Angeles rose by 7.4 percent last quarter (to 814 shoot days). While it was the first time commercial production grew year-over-year in any quarter since 2022, levels still trail their 5-year adjusted averages for the period and year-to-date. Adobe, Amazon, AMEX, Google, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Sketchers, Starbucks, Subway, and The Farmer’s Dog were some of the brands to have filmed commercials in Los Angeles.
FilmLA has recently voiced support for the expansion of California’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program, to build upon the program’s current success. This summer several series were filming their first season in Greater Los Angeles because they qualified for the state filming incentive, including: “Forever,” “High Potential,” “Matlock” and “Orphan.”
“Paradise City,” “S.W.A.T.” and “The Rookie” are some of the longer running incentivized series Nearly a quarter (24.4 percent) of all Q3 shoot days recorded for TV dramas (or 164 shoot days) came from incentive-linked projects.
“California’s film incentive is a proven jobs creator that studies show provides a net positive return on every allocated dollar,” said Audley. “What the program lacks is funding and eligibility criteria that reflect the outputs of the industry in 2024. The program’s structure and management through the California Film Commission — these are excellent. But just as our competitors continue to innovate, California must do the same.”
Still Photography, Student Films, Documentaries, Music and Industrial Videos and other projects, declined 0.6 percent (to 1,941 shoot days) for the quarter.
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