Film entertainment production in the Los Angeles area declined
one percent in 2007, according to a report released Friday by Film
L.A. Inc.
Film production in the region was down for the ninth time in the
last 11 years, said Film L.A., a nonprofit corporation that acts as
a link between producers and local government agencies in issuing
permits for film shoots.
"The 2007 data is in line with the decade-long downward trend in
local feature film production that has occurred as other locales
lure production with attractive economic incentives," said Steve
MacDonald, president of Film L.A. Inc.
The film office said it arranged for 54,871 on-location
production days last year, compared to 55,399 in 2006. A production
day is defined as one crew member working at one location during a
24-hour period.
Feature film production in the Greater Los Angeles area
continued its downward trend last year, dropping 6.4 percent to
8,247 permit days, compared to 8,813 in 2006, according to Film
L.A.
Commercial production also dropped last year -- by 0.2 percent
-- following a slide of 3.4 percent in 2006.
But on-location television production increased 12.9 percent for
a total of 23,315 permit days. Most of those permits were issued
during the first two quarters of the year in anticipation of the
writers' strike, which began in November and caused studios to shut
down production on most television programs.
Production on reality TV programs also increased, accounting for
43.7 percent of the permits issued for television.
"The surge we saw in TV production during the early part of 2007
was consistent with other periods preceding labor contract
negotiations," MacDonald said.
"When the Writers Guild strike began on Nov. 5, completed
scripts for many series were already in the production pipeline,
and the holiday hiatus was not far off. Therefore, the strike
actually had a limited downside impact on the year-end production
numbers for 2007."
The downward trend will likely continue this year because of the
writers' strike, according to MacDonald.
(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2008)