Television production in Los Angeles posted its busiest quarter since 2010, with the third-quarter growth driven primarily by a 54.5 percent jump in scripted television activity over the same quarter last year, according to figures released today.
Film and television production from July to September saw a 3.8 percent increase over the third quarter of 2014 to reach 9,510 shoot days in the Greater Los Angeles region, officials of the local film permitting office, FilmL.A., reported in the latest quarterly filming update.
Television production represented 4,308 shoot days, or SDs, out of the total activity during the quarter, the highest number for television in five years, despite a 20.2 percent drop in reality television activity to 1,259 SDs, according to FilmL.A.
Growth in the scripted television categories offset the loss in reality television production, with drama production leaping 23.9 percent year-over- year to 1,187 SDs, sitcom activity rising 168 percent to 745 SDs, digital web- based television production climbing 25.6 percent to 378 and TV pilot production posting 125 SDs, a 31.56 percent growth.
FilmL.A. officials attributed the increase to an expanded state tax credit program for local movie and television projects.
“We were predicting increases in the scripted television segment, and it appears those predictions are coming true,” FilmL.A. President Paul Audley said. “Undeniable is the influence and importance of the California Film & Television Tax Credit, which in both its old and new iteration has returned a considerable amount of work to Los Angeles.”
FilmL.A. officials pointed to a total of 353 shoot days in the recent quarter that were the result of projects that received tax credits. That included 20.8 percent or 247 SDs in the television drama category, 8.6 percent or 64 SDs in for sitcoms and 33.6 percent or 42 SDs for pilots.
In other filming categories, commercial activity rose 11 percent to 1,278 SDs, while feature film production fell 11 percent to 1,146 SDs.
Despite the drop in feature film production in the third quarter, FilmL.A. officials said they are anticipating an increase in activity in the final quarter of 2015 due to projects that received incentives and are starting production late in the year.
