FilmL.A., the not-for-profit film office serving the Greater Los Angeles region, today announced the release of a new report prepared by its research division. The 2013 Feature Film Production Study analyzes a sample of 108 U.S. feature films released theatrically last year, identifying where they were filmed, how much was spent to produce them and how many jobs they sustained during production. The report also analyzes California’s current attractiveness to feature film producers.
By FilmL.A. calculations, last year California ranked fourth behind Louisiana, Canada and the United Kingdom in total live-action feature projects, total related film jobs and total related production spending. California’s significantly diminished share of global feature film production is illustrated by some of the report’s other findings:
- Fifteen years ago, California’s share of the top 25 live-action films was a commanding 64 percent. By 2013, California’s share of the same had fallen to just 8 percent.
- When it comes to commercially successful big-budget films, California-produced animated films outnumber California-produced live-action films by more than 2- to-1.
- Of the 26 sampled live-action films with production budgets over $100 million, just two (The Hangover Part III & Star Trek: Into Darkness) were made primarily in California.
- Without exception, California’s most successful competitors for new feature film projects offer significant, uncapped film incentive programs.
“The film and entertainment industries are absolutely essential to California’s middle class, and this underscores the importance of our work to level the playing field against the other states and countries who are luring our jobs away,” remarked Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “These jobs not only support California families, they generate revenues that pay for schools, infrastructure, and other state services.”
“Considering California’s vast filmmaking talent, the state should be exporting films for global audiences, not jobs to global competitors,” said FilmL.A. President Paul Audley. “State policymakers have the opportunity to make a difference this year by expanding California’s film and television tax credit. We hope they give the strongest possible signal to the film industry that they want to keep film jobs in California.”