On-location filming was up in the third quarter, netting the third-highest total for any quarter on record, according to figures released Wednesday by FilmLA.
The Hollywood nonprofit that coordinates on-location film and television permits in Los Angeles, unincorporated Los Angeles County and other jurisdictions handled 10,127 on-location shoot days from July through September, up 141 percent from the 4,199 shoots days in the same coronavirus-constrained period last year.
According to FilmLA analysts, that number makes for the third strongest quarter in the 26 years of that organization’s existence.
“The last time the region saw filming levels this high was in Q4 2018 (with 10,359 shoot days) and Q4 2016 (with 10,170 shoot days),” the agency said in a release.
A shoot day is one crew’s permission to film at one or more locations, often an outdoor site, during a 24-hour period. FilmLA’s data does not include activity on soundstages, studio backlots or jurisdictions outside its control.
On-location filming for feature films increased by 213 percent to 1,100 shoot days from 352 in the third quarter of last year, while television filming increased by 175 percent to 4,956 shoot days in the third quarter from 1,799 in the same period a year earlier.
Commercials increased by 96 percent to 1,533 shoot days in the third quarter, compared to 782 shoot days in the third quarter of last year.
Paul Audley, FilmLA president, said the biggest takeaway from the report is that the pace of local production continues to increase.
“The late-pandemic recovery is uneven in some ways, but community receptiveness to filming is steady and the work opportunities are undeniably there,” Audley said in a statement.
TV series that filmed on-location in the third quarter include “Mr. Mayor” and “This is Us,” both airing on NBC; Showtime’s new series “Super Pumped” and an untitled Los Angeles Lakers project, as well as “Made for Love” and “The Flight Attendant” for streaming service HBO Max.
Features filming on-location during the quarter included Paramount Pictures’ “Wild Chickens,” New Line Features’ “House Party 2” and an untitled Jonah Hill project.