In the third quarter, on-location filming in Los Angeles experienced a substantial 41.4% year-over-year decline, totaling 5,311 shoot days, as a result of the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which brought Hollywood productions to a standstill, according to a recent report by FilmLA.
FilmLA also noted that the labor disputes were not the sole factor contributing to this drop, highlighting a seven-quarter consecutive decline in overall on-location filming in the region.
Notably, the most significant losses were observed in the near-complete halt of scripted television production in May, with television drama and comedy production plummeting by 99% and 99.4% for the quarter, respectively. TV drama productions only had 12 shoot days compared to 1,198 shoot days a year ago, while comedy productions amounted to 2 shoot days, compared to 352 shoot days in the previous year. No filming occurred for projects eligible for the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program, and there were no TV Pilot shootings.
Feature film production also saw a 54.6% drop in the third quarter, recording 376 shoot days compared to 828 shoot days in the previous year. Most of these projects were more minor, independent productions that could proceed under SAG-AFTRA interim agreements. Projects like “Adult Best Friends,” “Don’t Trip,” “Eyes in the Trees,” “From Ashes,” “Isaac,” “Lake George,” “Roses on the Vine,” and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” were among them. Similar to the television category, no recent features in production were affiliated with the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program.
Despite a 23% year-over-year decrease in the third quarter, reality TV productions emerged as the region’s primary driving force of production, constituting 97.3% of all television filming for the period and 40.8% of all on-location filming.
Reality TV productions accounted for 2,166 shoot days in the quarter, compared to 2,824 shoot days the previous year. Some of the productions included “Basketball Wives,” “Bite Stop,” “Dress My Tour,” “Real Murders of Los Angeles,” “Side Hustlers,” and “Vanderpump Rules.”
Commercial production continued its decline, experiencing a 25.8% year-over-year drop to 758 shoot days. The output for this category fell by 42.7% compared to its five-year quarterly average. Commercials filmed locally last quarter included spots for well-known dining brands such as Chili’s, Chipotle, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jimmy John’s, McDonald’s, Panera Bread, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks.
FilmLA expressed concern over the ongoing loss of production to competing jurisdictions, even though recent industry strikes have not directly impacted commercial production.
In addition, FilmLA’s other category, encompassing smaller shoots like still photography, student films, documentaries, music and industrial videos, and other projects, experienced a 29.8% decrease, amounting to 1,952 shoot days.
This latest data from FilmLA follows the conclusion of the WGA strike on September 27, after a tentative agreement was reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The agreement was ratified on October 9 with an overwhelming 99% approval from the guild.
Meanwhile, discussions between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP broke down recently. During Bloomberg’s Screentime conference, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos referred to the actors guild’s proposed added levy based on subscribers as a “bridge too far,” comparing it to the studios’ initial offer of a “success-based bonus.”
Sarandos emphasized that the “success-based bonus” mirrors the agreement the studios and the WGA reached. He further noted that while the proposal from the actors guild would cost four to five times as much as the writers’ agreement, the studios were open to exploring its potential.
In a statement addressed to its members and shared on social media, SAG-AFTRA accused the studios of employing “bully tactics” towards the guild and claimed that the AMPTP had “intentionally misrepresented” the cost of the guild’s proposal by overestimating it by 60%.
FilmLA President Paul Audley expressed optimism: “We take encouragement from the recent successes achieved by the WGA and AMPTP at the negotiating table. That will be welcome when remaining talks conclude and production returns under mutually agreeable terms.”
