Despite tax credits, filming in L.A. is still sluggish

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Set us as preferred Tax incentives for film and television productions have not been enough to counter a still-sluggish environment for filming in the greater Los Angeles region, according to a new report.For the three-month period that ended June 30, there were a total of 4,711 shoot days in the greater L.A.area, a nearly 13% decline from the same time last year, according to second-quarter data from FilmLA, a nonprofit that tracks local filming.Compared to the five-year average, that second-quarter figure is a drop of about 36%.Feature film shoots were down 20% in the second quarter compared to last year, while TV production decreased by 30%.Incentivized productions are, however, making up a growing number of shoot days.

For instance, 33% of the 443 total shoot days for feature films in the second quarter came from productions that received a tax credit.For the TV category, roughly 28% of the 1,607 shoot days last quarter were for projects that benefited from the tax incentive, particularly for dramas and comedies.“While there is still much work to do, FilmLA’s quarterly report is proof that incentives are working: local incentivized productions are on the rise,” said L.A.

Mayor Karen Bass in a statement.Shoot days for TV dramas were down 6.4% to 732 days this past quarter, with just over 38% of those days coming from incentivized projects.TV comedy production saw a 43% decline to 57 days, with 21 of them coming from projects that received a tax credit.

FilmLA noted that many local comedy productions are based on stage and not accounted for in the latest research.“Because scripted television production supports more industry jobs than any other production category, helping to attract these types of productions is an important step towards bringing filming back to the region, restoring jobs and strengthening our loc...