Los Angeles’ On-Location TV Production Dropped 36% After WGA Strike, Film LA Says

Reality TV helped stave off a complete collapse as shoot days for drama and comedy shows fell 64% and 73% compared to the same period last year

Kim Raver and Chandra Wilson on the set of “Grey’s Anatomy.”

On-location television production in Los Angeles declined 36.4% year over year during the second quarter of 2023 as the Writers Guild of America put pencils down and went on strike after contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers fell apart.

Television production had an aggregate total of 2,630 shoot days, according to FilmLA, a partner film office for the city and county and other local jurisdictions. One “shoot day” is defined as one crew’s permission to film at one or more defined locations during all or part of any given 24-hour period.

TV drama and comedy shoot days totaled 360 and 84, respectively, down 36.4% and 72.8% compared to the same period in 2022 and 52.8% and 72.8% compared to the previous quarter. Scripted TV productions that filmed during the quarter prior to the strike included “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC), “S.W.A.T.” (CBS), “The Old Man” (FX), “Good Trouble” (Freeform), “Interior Chinatown” (Hulu), and “How to be a Bookie” (Max). A total of 89 TV drama shoot days – or 24.7% of the total output – came from projects associated with the state’s film tax credit.

Reality TV production dropped 22.9% year over year to 2,013 shoot days during the quarter. However, the category’s production is up 24.5% from the previous quarter and is up 26.5% over its five-year quarterly average. Local reality TV productions that filmed during the quarter included “American Idol” (ABC), “Basketball Wives” (VH1), “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” (Bravo!), “Buying Beverly Hills” (Netflix) and “Selling Sunset” (Netflix).

Meanwhile, on-location film production during the quarter fell 28.8% year over year to 6,566 shoot days, the sixth consecutive quarterly production drop reported by FilmLA. Feature film production fell 18.9% to 728 shoot days, down 26.6% from the category’s five year average.

Nearly all feature projects in production from April through June were smaller, independent productions. Titles included “All That We Love,” “Father & Son,” “Goodrich,” “The Puritan II” and “Unicorn.”

A total of 23 of the 728 shoot days – or 8.3% of total feature production – came from projects associated with the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program.

The latest data was captured prior to SAG-AFTRA members joining the WGA on the picket line after their own negotiations with the AMPTP did not result in an agreement.

“Greater Los Angeles is the North American epicenter of scripted television production. Before long, this sector’s shutdown will be felt in every corner of the regional economy,” FilmLA president Paul Audley warned. “Like all others watching with hope from the sidelines, we are eager to see the studios and unions reopen their contract negotiations. Much is at stake for WGA and SAG-AFTRA members, and also for the small business supply chain on which future filming depends.”

Though commercial production is not directly affected by the double strike, loss of production to rival jurisdictions remains an ongoing concern. The category saw a 22.4% year over year drop during the quarter to 861 shoot days, with production output down 37.8% compared to its five year quarterly average. Automobile commercials that shot locally during the second quarter included spots for Acura, BMW, Ford, Mini Cooper, Subaru and Toyota, in addition to companies like AT&T, Delta Airlines, Paycom and Verizon.

FilmLA’s “Other” category, which aggregates smaller shoots such as still photography, student films, documentaries, music and industrial videos and other projects, declined 23.7% year over year to 2,347 shoot days.