Historical Analysis Highlights Areas Where Filming Levels Lag
FilmL.A.–the official film office of the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles and other area jurisdictions–today announced that L.A. area on-location filming increased 8.6 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period last year (12,173 permitted production days in 2013 vs. 11,209 PPD in 2012). FilmL.A. characterized the quarter as one of recovery; a new, five-year historical analysis reveals consistent underperformance in key television subcategories.
While high-value productions like TV dramas are filming less in L.A. than they once did, on-location television production helped generate most of L.A.’s recent filming bounce. FilmL.A.’s TV category grew 26.6 percent last quarter to 4,310 PPD. Including all TV subtypes, the category outperformed its five-year average by 8.9 percent.
Within key TV subcategories, however, the data reveal a different picture. The TV drama subcategory underperformed its five-year average by 12 percent this quarter, even after logging year-over-year gains of 29.3 percent. Web-based TV (up 63.1 percent year-over-year to 499 PPD), TV pilots (up 51.8 percent year-over-year to 384 PPD) and TV sitcoms (up 39.1 percent year-over-year to 381 PPD) recently delivered solid performances, building on momentum gained in the first quarter.
Reality TV (up 6.4 percent year-over-year to 1,554 PPD) remains the largest contributor to L.A.’s television totals, but as with TV dramas the subcategory isn’t measuring up to past yields. Reality TV finished the quarter 4.7 percent below its five-year average.
“The more we study these numbers, the more obvious is the need for historical context,” noted FilmL.A. president Paul Audley. “For production to increase twenty, forty or even sixty percent in a category during a single quarter is positive and significant, but it also demands we look at the record and see what’s been happening in those categories seasonally and over time.”
California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program did its part to bring new projects to the Los Angeles region this past quarter. State-qualified Television projects generated 171 PPD from March through June–comprising 22.7 percent of all TV drama activity. State-qualified television projects in L.A. included Franklin & Bash, Lost Angels, Major Crimes, Perception, Pretty Little Liars, Rizzoli and Isles, Teen Wolf and Switched at Birth.
Production in the commercials category increased 4.5 percent last quarter to 1,986 PPD. The beneficiary of several years of growth, the commercials category may be hard pressed to repeat the record-shattering return of prior years. For the quarter, the commercials category finished 21.5 percent stronger than its five-year average.
On-location feature production squeaked ahead just one-half percent for the quarter to 1,758 PPD. Nonetheless, the category’s latest results were 9.4 percent better than their five-year average. The California Film and Television Tax Credit Program has helped support local feature production since 2009. Before that, local feature production declined steeply due to incentive-fueled runaway production. State-qualified feature projects generated 110 PPD this March through June–comprising 6.3 percent of the category’s quarterly total. State-qualified feature projects in L.A. included Insidious, Lowdown, OT Beach and Ride.
“The latest report underscores the importance of two recent developments,” Audley noted. “The first thing to note is an incremental increase in filming driven by new production categories like Web-based TV. The second is that unfortunately, we’ve also seen considerable erosion in the most economically significant production categories. On-location feature production in L.A. is nowhere near as common as it was in the mid- 90’s, and despite a good run, we’re still logging fewer days for TV dramas and TV reality series than we used to.”
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer โ but not the trigger โ and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More