Filming on location in Los Angeles will fall in 2022; According to FilmLA, TV pilots are down 71.9% while film and TV productions are down

Filming on location in Los Angeles was down 2.4% in 2022 compared to the previous year, with film and television shoot days down 9.6%, TV pilots down 71.9% and commercial shoot days down 22.6%, according to the latest report from FilmLA, the city and county’s film licensing agency.

Last year looked to be a good year for local filming, but production fell sharply in Q3 and again in Q4 – down 19.5% compared to Q4 2021. Still, shooting days on location remain stable at non-so -high values ​​before the pandemic.

“The return to pre-pandemic film levels puts us roughly where we were in 2019, which itself was a year of significant production declines,” said Paul Audley, president of FilmLA. “Can we stay here or will the pre-Covid downward trend continue? That’s the question everyone is asking.”

The only bright spots in the report were TV reality shows, up 5.2%, and the Other category, up 22.9%. Were it not for the increase in shooting days in the “Other” category, which accounts for more than a third of all shooting days on location for things like still photography, student films, documentaries, music and industrial videos, and various approved events – and employ significantly less staff than film and television productions – the decrease compared to the previous year would have been much greater.

The total number of days on location for the year was 36,792, down from 37,709 in 2021. FilmLA defines a shooting day as a crew’s permission to film in one or more defined locations during a specified 24-hour period, or any part thereof. FilmLA data does not include production that takes place on certified sound stages or on location in non-delivered jurisdictions.

Fourth quarter figures show that feature film shooting days were down 16.2% from the fourth quarter of 2021. Of those 760 filming days in the most recent quarter, 44.6% received California tax credits. Projects that received the California Film & Television Tax Credit and filmed in the Los Angeles area include those from Netflix Atlas and Beverly Hills Agent 4and independent films arms and Moses and Billy Knight. “Folk film production continues to decline from previous highs,” the report said. “By the end of 2022, the feature category was (down) 24% below its five-year annual average.” That five-year average, the report says, “excludes 2020, all of which was historic due to the significant impact of Covid-19 on production that year.” distort comparisons”.

In television, last quarter’s 3,734 filming days were 24.2% lower than the fourth quarter of 2021, with just 9.6% receiving state tax credits. TV drama was down 10.7% in the fourth quarter and TV comedy was down 33.9%. According to the report, 29.3% of the 1,155 TV drama days shot in the quarter were funded, and only 5.5% of TV comedy days shot received tax credits.

TV dramas filmed on location in the last term 9-1-1 (Fox), Call air (Peacock), Bosch heritage (Freevee), Fatal attraction (excellent+), Good difficulty (free form), snowfall (FX), gossip (CBS), The beginner (ABC) and win time (HBO). TV comedies were filmed here in the last quarter Control your enthusiasm (HBO), household economy (ABC), Great team (NBC) kill it (peacock) and bitch (HBO Max).

Just nine days of filming were reported for TV pilots last quarter — 89.8% less than the 88 days of filming in the fourth quarter of 2021. Reality TV shows, which don’t receive tax breaks, saw an increase in the fourth quarter with 27.2% down. Among the reality programs recorded locally Prominent debenture (TLC) let’s make a deal (CBS), 90 Days: The Single Life (discovery+), sunset sale (Netflix) and Vanderpump Rules (Well done!).

Commercial advertising, which also does not receive a tax credit, fell by 33.7% in the quarter. “Of the major production categories tracked by FilmLA, Commercials were the hardest hit in 2022, performing 24.5% below its five-year average,” the report said. Recent commercials filmed in the area include commercials for retailers Albertson’s, McDonald’s and US Bank, as well as car commercials for Lincoln, Nissan and Toyota.

According to FilmLA, the fourth quarter “brought the year to a lackluster end.”