Projects participating in California’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program accounted for 40.3 percent of scripted on-location filming in Greater Los Angeles during the third quarter, nearly double their share a year earlier, according to a new report from FilmLA Research (the research arm of the non-profit FilmLA Foundation). Overall on-location filming totaled 4,171 Shoot Days* from July through September, a 4.8 percent decrease from 4,380 during the same period last year.
Television
The increase in incentivized production was concentrated in the Television categories. Incentivized projects accounted for 62 percent of TV Comedy Shoot Days (compared to just 19.0 percent at this time last year) and 49.4 percent of TV Drama Shoot Days (compared to 20.6 percent).
TV Comedies ended the quarter with 192 Shoot Days, a 143 percent increase from 79 days a year earlier. Nearly all of the growth came from incentivized productions, which logged 119 TV Comedy Shoot Days, up from 15 a year earlier. The increase reflects last year’s expansion of the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program, which allowed projects with minimum episode lengths of 20 minutes to qualify for increased incentives. Notably, these figures tell only part of the story, since a significant share of TV comedy production takes place on sound stages that are not captured in FilmLA’s on-location data. TV comedies shooting locally last quarter included incentive recipients A Hundred Percent S1 (Netflix), Shrinking S4 (Warner Bros. TV/Apple TV+), High Potential S3 (ABC), I Love LA S2 (HBO), and Rooster S2 (HBO).
TV Dramas overall logged 494 Shoot Days during the third quarter, 9.4 percent below the same period last year (545 days). Incentivized TV Drama productions logged 244 Shoot Days, more than double the 112 recorded a year earlier. TV Dramas that filmed on location last quarter included the forthcoming Baywatch reboot (Fox), Mr. & Mrs. Smith S2 (Amazon), NCIS: Origins S3 (CBS), Prison Break S1 (20th Television/Hulu), The Night Agent S4 (Sony Pictures Television/Netflix), The Rookie S9 (ABC), and Tracker S4 (CBS).
The TV Reality category logged 630 Shoot Days during the third quarter, 2.9 percent below the same period last year (649 days). The slight drop followed double-digit declines in each of the first two quarters of 2026. Reality and competition series shooting locally last quarter included 90 Day Fiancé S6 (HBO Max), Dancing with the Stars S35 (ABC), Let’s Make a Deal S18 (CBS), The Flip Off S2 (HGTV), The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills S16 (Bravo), and The Valley: Persian Style S2 (Bravo). The 2025 expansion of California’s Film & TV Tax Credit Program made some competition series eligible for incentives for the first time; Schooled! (Netflix), which filmed during the third quarter, became the first competition series to receive credits under the program.
Overall, the Television category logged 1,400 Shoot Days during the third quarter, 2.8 percent below the same period last year (1,441 days), with gains in TV Comedy offsetting most of the declines in other television categories.
Feature Films
Feature Films finished the quarter with 533 Shoot Days, up 2.1 percent from the same period last year (522 days) and 20.3 percent from the second quarter (443 days). Incentivized projects accounted for 24.2 percent of Feature Shoot Days, up from 22.0 percent a year earlier. The majority of local Feature production came from independent films. Features shooting locally included 13 Going on 30 (Netflix), Cut Off (Warner Bros.), They Follow (Neon), and independent films such as My Darling California, Salsa Sangre, Streets, and Youth Juice.
Tax Credit Outlook
Across feature film and television production, incentivized projects logged 505 Shoot Days during the third quarter, more than double the 242 recorded a year earlier.
“Los Angeles is the big leagues, and after more than a decade away, I’d forgotten what I was missing. From the cast and crew to the caterers, everyone here brings their A game. Honestly, moving here elevates everything,” said Elwood Reid, showrunner and executive producer of the hit CBS drama Tracker, which moved production from British Columbia to Los Angeles for its fourth season.
“Tax credits drive production decisions today, and California’s incentive is what made it possible to bring Tracker here,” Reid added. “With a 22-episode season, a relocating show like ours brings a lot of steady jobs.”
“Where the tax credit applies, it’s working to bring productions back to Los Angeles and put local crews to work,” said FilmLA CEO Denise Gutches. “Still, overall production remains far below where Los Angeles needs it to be, and crews and businesses across the region are feeling it.” Looking ahead, Gutches noted that she expects the tax credit program’s impact to keep building with dozens of newly approved projects yet to begin filming.
On October 7, the California Film Commission announced tax credit awards for 35 films, 28 of them independent productions, which are expected to log 1,049 shooting days in California. Recipients have 180 days to begin production. Those that film on location within FilmLA’s jurisdiction will appear in FilmLA’s data.
Since July 2025, 214 projects have received awards through the expanded tax credit program, according to the Commission. Legislation signed by Governor Newsom in September will also strengthen California’s incentives: SB 186 makes credits more valuable through enhanced refundability and exempts some independent productions’ credits from a temporary cap on business tax credits beginning in 2027, and AB 2319 creates the state’s first standalone post-production credit.
“Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world, and while overall filming activity continues to face challenges, we’re seeing encouraging signs of progress,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “Television comedy filming increased by 143%, and tax-credit-supported productions more than doubled their on-location filming days compared to last year. These gains show that incentives work, but we must do more. That’s why I’m calling for an uncapped California film and television tax credit that includes more types of productions, along with passing into law our nation’s first federal film and television tax credit. My administration will continue cutting red tape, lowering filming costs, and fighting to bring back productions that create good-paying union jobs for Angelenos, and support the thousands of small businesses that power our local entertainment industry.”
Commercials
The Commercials category logged 562 Shoot Days during the third quarter, 15.9 percent below the same period last year (668 days) but up 3.5 percent from the second quarter (543 days). Commercials are not eligible for incentive support from the state of California. Advertisers filming on location in the region last quarter included Allstate, AT&T, Kay Jewelers, Progressive, Skechers, TikTok, Verizon, and Wayfair, as well as automakers BMW, Honda, Infiniti, Jeep, Toyota, and Volkswagen.
Other Production
FilmLA’s “Other” category, which includes still photo shoots, student films, documentaries, short films, online content, and music and industrial videos, finished the quarter with 1,676 Shoot Days, 4.2 percent below the same period last year (1,749 days). Within the category, Online Content logged 556 Shoot Days, up 16.3 percent from the same period last year (478 days). Growth in this category reflects a broader diversification of production into new formats, including vertical-format and micro-drama series. The Low-Impact Permit Pilot Program, which FilmLA and the City of Los Angeles launched in April, offers these smaller productions a lower-cost path to permitted filming in the city.
Notes on This Report
*On-location production figures are based on days of permitted production within the jurisdictions served by FilmLA. One “Shoot Day” is defined as one crew’s permission to film at one or more defined locations during a 24-hour period. FilmLA data does not include production that occurs on certified sound stages or on location in jurisdictions not served by FilmLA.
