FilmL.A., the not-for-profit film office serving the Greater Los Angeles region, today announced the release of a new report from its research division. “On-Location Filming in Los Angeles: 2010-2014,” is the first report from FilmL.A. to feature a Shoot Day (SD)* based system for film production tracking and measurement. The report reveals a 9.6 percent increase in area filming for 2014, as measured in total annual Shoot Days.
Similar to past reports, FilmL.A.’s latest study includes an examination of five-year filming trends across nine distinct project categories, including Feature, Television and Commercial production. The report also includes a discussion of FilmL.A.’s two distinct production tracking methods – Permitted Production Days (PPD) and Shoot Days (SD) – – and explains how they differ. The report is the last planned update from FilmL.A. that will reference PPD data.
“Over the past six months, FilmL.A. has devoted considerable resources to build a new system for film production tracking,” noted FilmL.A. President Paul Audley. “The new system – which we built in consultation with our board’s research advisory group – will make it easier to compare data from FilmL.A. and other jurisdictions.”
Some of the report’s main findings include:
- On-location Feature Film production slipped 3.2 percent for 2014, after that category experienced a disappointing 28 percent drop in the fourth quarter alone.
- On-location Television production increased 12.2 percent for 2014, boosted by increases in Television Drama and Television Reality production.
- Commercial production increased 9.0 percent for 2014. Projects classified as internet commercials are powering much of the category’s growth.
FilmL.A. updates its on-location production reports on a quarterly basis, and issues television pilot and feature film production reports annually. Also underway at FilmL.A. Research is an investigation into local soundstage-based production.
“This is big news for our city given the critical role the entertainment industry plays in creating tens of thousands of good middle class jobs and showing the world what it means to be an Angeleno,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Our work to make L.A. more film-friendly is already paying off, and we’re excited to see even bigger numbers when the new film tax credit we got passed goes into effect.”
* FilmL.A.’s on-location production figures are based on days of permitted filming within the jurisdictions served by FilmL.A. FilmL.A. data does not include production that occurs on certified sound stages or on-location in jurisdictions not served by FilmL.A. Overall figures include production of feature films, television programs, commercials, documentaries, industrial videos, infomercials, music videos, still photography, student films and miscellaneous production.
One Shoot Day (SD) is defined as a single crew’s permission to film using a single government film permit at one or more locations during any given 24-hour period. Please note that this unit of measure is separate and distinct from the Permitted Production Day (PPD), which FilmL.A. also uses to measure on-location production. For a detailed explanation of the difference between these two systems of measurement, please see page 2 in the attached report.