California’s expanded film and TV tax credit program couldn’t arrive soon enough for Los Angeles’ production workers, as the latest FilmLA report showed that on-location shoot days dropped again by 6.2% year-over-year.
The drop is largely attributable to feature film shoots, which fell 21% from Q2 2024 to just 553 shoot days, as well as commercials, which are not eligible for tax credit incentives and recorded 692 shoot days, down 15% from the previous quarter.
The one bright spot was an increase for television shoots, which logged 2,224 shoot days for the best quarter for the category since the start of last year. TV dramas, with 782 shoot days, did the most filming since the 2023 strikes ended, while reality TV at 1,124 days had its best quarter since Q1 2024.
Starting this quarter, the California Film Commission will begin providing tax credits to applying productions under the state’s expanded program, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month as part of the state’s budget.
Half-hour TV productions and large-scale competition shows are among the projects that have been added to the eligibility list while the overall cap for the program has been increased from $330 million to $750 million, with $75 million of that allotted to independent productions.
“While there is work ahead to bring Los Angeles-area production back to its full
potential, we are optimistic and grounded in our mission to keep production affordable, accessible and straightforward,” FilmLA president Paul Audley said in a Tuesday statement. “We look forward to our continuing conversations with government officials and our partners in the industry to see the full fruition of the economic, cultural, and employment benefits that Los Angeles’s film ecosystem offers to our community.”
