FilmLA reported a strong first quarter as on-site film production in the Los Angeles area recorded 9,832 filming days. The last time filming numbers were this high was in 2016, which recorded 9,725 shooting days.
“The prospect of another COVID-related cut has us looking anxiously into the first quarter,” FilmLA President Paul Audley said. “But with strong precautionary protocols in place, the industry was well positioned to weather Omicron’s surge that followed the holiday.”
Filming activity in the first quarter of 2022 increased 40.2 percent compared to the same period in 2021. Although the pace of production slowed somewhat compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, industry production was much higher in early 2022 than in the year Previously, when the spread of a delta variant led to a voluntary shutdown of filming it slowed production to just 7,011 shooting days.
The TV category also saw an 18.7% increase over the same period last year to 4,470 shooting days, mainly in the Drama and Reality categories.
Episodic dramas are down 12.3% year over year compared to 2021 (1,279 vs 1,459 filming days) but are still 8.6% above the five-year category average. Domestically shot TV dramas included “American Horror Stories” (FX), “Little America” (Apple TV+), “Perry Mason” (HBO), “Promised Land” (ABC/Hulu), and “SWAT”. (CBS) and “The Host” (HBO Max).
The California Film and Television Tax Credit Program, which is overseen by the California Film Commission, is an important driver of domestic television drama activity. Episodic TV dramas participating in this program achieved 499 filming days for the quarter – representing 39 percent of all activities in this category.
Reality TV also saw an increase, with a quarterly increase of 71.7% (2,600 vs 1,514 shooting days) and 139% over the five-year category average. Locally filmed reality TV projects include “Basketball Wives”, “Celebrity IOU”, “Family or Fiancé” and “People Magazine Investigates”.
Similarly, TV comedies saw an 8.4 percent increase (259 vs 239 shooting days) compared to the same period last year, but the category lags behind the five-year average by 45.5 percent. Series in this category included “Hacks” (HBO Max), “Home Economics” (ABC), “Made for Love” (HBO Max), and “Rutherford Falls” (Peacock).
The TV pilots category experienced a steeper decline of 38.1 percent (60 versus 97 shooting days), and a greater loss of 68.9 percent compared to the five-year average. With Los Angeles remaining the preferred destination for TV producers, analysts believe the decline is due to changes in the way live TV projects are allowed.
FilmLA’s “Other” production category — which primarily consists of still photography and student films, but also includes music, industrial video, documentaries, and miscellaneous production categories — posted a 115.1 percent year-over-year increase (3608 vs. 1677)
shooting days), and a 17.7 percent increase over the five-year average.
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