Film, TV and commerical production work shot up 15.4 percent in the third quarter, according to a regular survey conducted by non-profit group FilmL.A.
The surge was driven primiarly by a dramatic uptick in filming of features, which was up nearly 50 percent from the third quarter of 2010. (The metric used by FilmL.A. is days of shooting — and there were 2,079 feature-film shooting days in the region during the just-completed quarter versus 1,387 in the third quarter 2010.)
Also read: Why I'm Cool With Runaway Production
FilmL.A. credited the California Film and Television Tax Credit for spurring the growth — eight films that shot in the region during the last quarter qualified for the tax break, representing about 12.5 percent of the film shooting days.
Those projects: "Argo," "Breaking the Girl," "Gangster Squad," "My Mother's Curse," "Sports Camp," "Thinnk Like a Man," "This Is 40" and "We Have Your Husband."
TV reality shows were up 30.4 percent in the quarter, meanwhile, and sitcoms spiked 12.6 percent. Dramas were down 20.3 percent.
Here's the full FilmL.A. press release:
Los Angeles Welcomes Rise in On-Location Feature Film Activity
California State Incentive Boosts Features Category, Reduces TV Drama Losses
LOS ANGELES – October 4, 2011 – FilmL.A. — the not-for-profit community
benefit organization that coordinates permits for filmed entertainment shot on-location in
the City of Los Angeles, unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County
and other local jurisdictions — today announced that on-location filming across all
categories increased 15.4 percent in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same
period in 2010. The quarter was marked by a welcome surge in on-location Feature film
production and an anticipated decrease in on-location production of TV Dramas.
On-location Feature production increased 49.9 percent for the quarter (2,079 PPD in
2011 vs. 1,387 PPD in 2010)*. The California Film & Television Tax Credit did its part
to spur local production, as eight Feature projects that qualified to receive state credits
filmed on-location in Los Angeles during the period. These projects generated 260
PPD, or 12.5 percent of overall Feature production.
State-qualified Feature projects that shot locally included Argo, Breaking the Girl,
Gangster Squad, My Mother’s Curse, Sports Camp, Think Like a Man, This is 40 and
We Have Your Husband. Other projects driving a significant amount of Feature activity
included director Christopher Nolan’s latest big-budget film Magnus Rex, director Oliver
Stone’s film Savages, plus End of Watch and He Loves Me, among others.
Production in the Television category increased 5.8 percent in the third quarter (4,304
vs. 4,068 PPD), driven by increases in the TV Reality subcategory (up 30.4 percent)
and to a lesser degree TV Sitcoms (up 12.6 percent) and TV Pilots (up 88.5 percent).
This summer, the Los Angeles area claimed more than 100 new reality television
production starts. The TV Drama subcategory (down 20.3 percent) slid as a result of
L.A.’s loss of ten one-hour drama series – as outlined last quarter in FilmL.A.’s 2011
Television Pilot Production Report. Six incentivized projects accounted for 10.4 percent
of area TV Drama days.
“Unfortunately, our summer prediction of diminished third quarter TV Drama production
was spot-on,” said FilmL.A. President Paul Audley. “While the California state incentive
brought six television dramas to Los Angeles this quarter, we’ve seen other jurisdictions
capture an unusually high number of these economically beneficial projects.”
Production of Commercials increased 16.5 percent for the period (1,726 vs. 1,481
PPD). This quarterly increase comes on the heels of a second-quarter loss, resulting in
a 3.4 percent increase in category production year-to-date.
“It’s important to remember that increases in local production days mean local workers
are being hired and local businesses are seeing a benefit,” Audley added. “The
California Film and Television Tax Credit Program is a proven job creator.”
Examples of the state program’s success can be found at filmworksla.com.