As a big fan of seeing movies and shows filmed here, I was disappointed to read a new report saying that even with tax breaks, things are still slow for local film and TV production in the LA area. It seems like those incentives haven’t been quite enough to really boost filming around here.
Filming in the greater Los Angeles area slowed down this spring. From April through June, there were 4,711 days of shooting, which is almost 13% lower than the same period last year, according to data from FilmLA, a local filming tracking organization.
Compared to the five-year average, that second-quarter figure is a drop of about 36%.
As a total movie buff, I was a little bummed to hear that film production really took a hit this past quarter – it was down about 20% compared to last year. And it wasn’t just movies, either! TV production saw an even bigger drop, decreasing by 30%. It makes me wonder what’s going on behind the scenes, but hopefully it’s just a temporary dip.
More and more filming days are happening on projects that receive financial incentives. For example, in the last quarter, 33% of the 443 days spent filming movies were on productions that got a tax credit. Similarly, about 28% of the 1,607 days spent filming TV shows were for projects using the tax incentive, especially dramas and comedies.
Mayor Karen Bass stated that FilmLA’s latest quarterly report shows financial incentives are successfully attracting more film and television production to Los Angeles, though continued effort is still needed.
TV drama filming dropped by 6.4% this quarter to 732 days, with over 38% of those days being projects that qualified for incentives. Comedy production for TV fell even more sharply, down 43% to 57 days – 21 of which benefited from tax credits. FilmLA points out that many local comedies originate as stage shows and aren’t included in these figures.
FilmLA CEO Denise Gutches stated that attracting scripted television shows is key to reviving the regional film industry because this type of production creates more jobs than any other sector. This will help rebuild our local economy and get people back to work.
While the incentives did offer some help, it was cancelled out by significant drops in filming activity for projects that don’t qualify for the state’s tax credit.
Filming for reality television decreased by 40%, dropping to 676 days in the latest quarter compared to the same period last year. Big competition shows like Jimmy Kimmel’s “Schooled!” can qualify for state tax benefits, but many other popular reality TV programs don’t meet the requirements for these incentives.
As a movie critic, I also keep an eye on commercial production, and the latest numbers are a bit concerning. Filming for commercials really slowed down this past quarter. We only saw 543 days of shooting, which is a significant drop – almost 22% – compared to last year. Even more telling, it’s nearly 46% below the average we’ve seen over the last five years. It suggests a real cooling off in advertising spending, and that’s something the whole industry is feeling.
There was some good news regarding filming activity: student films, photoshoots, documentaries, and music videos – grouped together as ‘other’ by FilmLA – increased by 10% in the last three months, totaling 2,118 shooting days.
The increase was mainly due to a 47% jump in online content shoots. While filming for short films and documentaries also increased during the second quarter, these projects accounted for far fewer shoot days overall, according to FilmLA.
2026-07-23 22:31