Reality television production in Los Angeles declined sharply this summer, leading to a nearly 21% drop in overall TV shoot days, a new report shows.
The total number of shoot days in the greater L.A. area from July to September was 4,380, down 13.2% compared to a year ago, according to data from FilmLA, a nonprofit that handles film permits for the Los Angeles region.
The third-quarter data does not reflect the full effect of the state’s newly bolstered film and TV tax credit program, which was passed this summer.
In the most recent round, 22 TV series were chosen amid a nearly 400% increase in applications, with 18 of those shows primarily filming in the L.A. area.
Projects that received an incentive have 180 days to start production after notice of their award, and it often takes time to commence filming.
Because of that, FilmLA executives were not surprised to see on-location production continue to slip during the summer months.
“Fortunately, we’ve already begun to see early signs of these incentives having their desired effect,” he said. “We’re excited to be taking calls from productions looking to line up their locations and pull permits,” FilmLA Vice President Philip Sokoloski said in a statement.
TV production totaled 1,441 shoot days, down 20.7% compared to the same time period last year. The decline is especially significant because TV is the region’s main driver of production.
Reality TV dropped to 649 shoot days, down 31.4% compared to last year. Other genres of TV production also saw a downturn — drama (down 19%) and pilots (down 34.5%). Production of television comedies, however, was a bright spot with 79 shoot days, up 41.1%.
Feature film production in L.A. also ticked up with 522 shoot days, an increase of 9.7% compared to last year. But commercial production, which does not receive a tax incentive, was down 17.9% to 668 shoot days.
The report’s “other” category, which includes student films, still photo shoots and documentaries, saw a decrease of 9.9% to 1,749 shoot days.
A shoot day represents one crew’s permission to film at a single location in a 24-hour period.
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