The ongoing television and film writers strike had little impact on the year-end on-location production numbers released by FilmLA. The start of the Nov. 5 walkout by members of the Writers Guild of America occurred when many scripted programs were already in the production pipeline and the holiday filming hiatus was not far off, the organization said. On-location television production was up by 2,663 permitted days in 2007 when compared with the previous year. Most of that activity was connected with reality television shows, which finished with a total of 10,177 production days. Overall, on-location television, feature film and commercial production in the Los Angeles region of dropped by 1 percent Feature film production was down by 6.4 percent to 8,247 permit days. There were 8,813 permit days for film in 2006. With the drop in 2007, on-location film production has eroded nine of the last 11 years. The figures do not include production taking place on studio soundstages. The first quarter 2008 production numbers will reflect the lack of television production due to the strike as no filming will take place during the traditional pilot season of January through April. An estimated $300 million is generated during a pilot season, FilmLA President Steve MacDonald said. That is in addition to the $160 million per week in direct production costs for existing sitcoms and dramas, MacDonald said. FilmLA is the not for profit agency that coordinates permitting in the City of Los Angeles, unincorporated Los Angeles County, and a number of school districts and municipalities.
