Location Filming Drops in Third Quarter

On-location filming of movies, television series and commercials was down in the third quarter, according to figures released Thursday by FilmL.A. The Hollywood nonprofit that coordinates location film permits in Los Angeles, unincorporated Los Angeles County and other jurisdictions handled 9,226 on-location shoot days in July through September, a 5 percent decrease from the same period a year earlier. The one bright spot, FilmL.A. reported, was in TV comedies, which had an increase to 754 shoot days, or 46 percent more over the third quarter of the previous year. One-hour dramas, pilots, web-based shows and reality programs all declined in the quarter. A shoot day is one crew’s permission to film at one or more locations during a 24-hour period. FilmL.A.’s data does not include activity on soundstages or studio backlots. FilmL.A. President Paul Audley said the organization’s report omits much of the story of film and television production in the city and county and is at odds with other production indicators and local employment trends. That would include a report from FilmL.A. about how 42 percent of scripted television shows filmed in Los Angeles and union officials assuring the organization that there are ample work opportunities for crew members, he added. “We can only surmise that there is significant filming confined to area soundstages or taking place in adjoining cities where the activity is not tracked,” Audley said in a statement. The one other bright spot was the “other” category of music videos, student films, documentaries, industrial videos and still photography. Those productions increased by 10 percent to 3,225 shoot days in the third quarter. Feature film production, which has struggled this year, showed a 25 percent drop in on-location filming to 980 shoot days. In the television category, one-hour drama production fell by 29 percent to 1,069 shoot days, while web-based programs declined by 9 percent to 346 shoot days and reality shows dropped by 7 percent to 1,051 shoot days. Overall, on-location television production fell by 10 percent from last year. On-location commercial production decreased by 5 percent in the third quarter to 1,330 shoot days.