Summer production in Greater Los Angeles fell 5%

All entertainment production in the Greater Los Angeles area fell 5% year-on-year as the third quarter delivered 5,048 shoot days in the weakest quarter of 2024 so far.

Feature film production climbed to 476 shooting days, up 26.6% on the year-ago period, when the Hollywood strikes drastically slowed down production, according to FilmLA’s latest report.

The third quarter number dropped against 704 for the second quarter and 634 for the first quarter.

Scripted television producers logged 758 shoot days across TV drama, TV comedy, and TV pilot categories tracked by FilmLA, which is the partner film office for the City and County of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions.

Current levels of every category of scripted production tracked by FilmLA trail their adjusted five-year averages on both a per-quarter and year-to-date basis. When aggregated, all categories registered 5,048 screening days compared to 5311 a year ago.

“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,” said FilmLA president Paul Audley. “Instead, we saw a pullback and loss of forward momentum, heading into the fall season that will make or break the year.”

Unscripted production fell 56.3% from 2,166 shoot days in the year-ago period to 946 screening days.

FilmLA has supported the expansion of California’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program, which incentivised several series to shoot their first season in Greater Los Angeles such as Forever, High Potential, Matlock, and Orphan.

Nearly one-quarter (24.4%) of all Q3 shoot days recorded for TV Dramas (164) 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 programme lacks is funding and eligibility criteria that reflect the outputs of the industry in 2024. The programme’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.”

This story originally appeared on our sister site Screen