LOS ANGELES—Spot location production in Greater Los Angeles is off to a promising—if not rousing—start this new year. January 2004 registered 540 shoot days, nearly five percent more than what was registered in January ’03. This marks the fourth consecutive month that commercial location filming in Los Angeles has outpaced its counterpart month of the previous year.
At the same time, the 540 days in January represented a 14 percent decline as compared to the total for the previous month. There were 620 spot location lensing days reported in December ’03.
Based on the number of filming permits issued, the location day figures were compiled by the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. (EIDC), which oversees the joint Los Angeles City/County Film Office.
Although a five percent increase is hardly overwhelming in a comparison of the last two Januarys, at least it represents continued movement in a positive direction—particularly since the outlook for ’04 is guardedly optimistic. Several media studies predict an upswing in the commercial market this year, spurred in large part by the Olympics and the presidential primaries and election.
Also of potential significance to the ad industry is the major rise in feature film and TV program location filming in Los Angeles last month. The 701 days of on-location feature film work marked a more than 20 percent hike over the tally in January ’03. The TV program lensing total of 998 days in January ’04 outpaced its counterpart month in ’03 by almost 12 percent.
There’s speculation that the increase in film and TV activity is being spurred on at least in part by the fact that actors’ and writers’ labor contracts for feature and TV expire in the coming months. Talks between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have not yet begun; the WGA pact is set to expire on May 2. Negotiations on the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists contract, which is scheduled to expire on June 30, got underway last week.
Though hopes are that settlements will be reached on both labor fronts, the commercialmaking industry is keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings. If negotiations fail, a WGA and/or actors’ strike against feature/TV studios would at the very least compromise the fall TV season, possibly causing advertisers to curtail their original spot production.
A similar situation existed in ’01, at which time media buyers at major ad agencies expressed concern that a strike or strikes could prompt an overload of reality and news shows, creating a programming mix not as inviting to sponsors as the perennial menu of first-run sitcoms and drama series. Strikes were averted in ’01, but the threat of labor walkouts was enough for feature and TV producers to stockpile content, pushing through filming schedules as a contingency measure.
