FilmL.A.–the nonprofit organization that coordinates permits for filmed entertainment shot on location in the City of Los Angeles, unincorporated parts of L.A. County and other local jurisdictions–reports that on-location lensing across short and long-form categories declined 24.5 percent in the first half of 2009 as compared to the same six-month period in ’08. Per film permit data, there were 19,015 permitted production days in January through June ’09 while the first half of ’08 had a tally of 25,196 permitted production days.
On-location feature film production posted the largest year-to-date decline of any category, down 52.5 percent compared to ’08 (2,314 vs. 4,868 production days). The category has posted four straight quarters of double-digit losses and has seen annual declines in ten of the last dozen years, as feature productions have left L.A. for other incentive-rich jurisdictions.
Permitted production days for commercials are down 31.1 percent (2,459 vs. 3,570 production days) year to date. The commercials category–which as experienced year-over-year annual losses in ’06, ’07 and ’08–has also posted four straight quarters of double-digit losses.
Television has performed better as a category, decreasing only 4.2 percent (8,277 vs. 8,636 production days) year to date compared to ’08. The WGA labor action introduced rollercoaster-like production swings in ’08 that led to illusory 49 percent year-over-year gains for TV in the first quarter of ’09 and 30.7 percent losses in the second.
Year-to-date figures for the major TV subcategories reveal a mixed picture. TV dramas are up 9.5 percent year to date (2,777 vs 2,537 production days). TV sitcoms are down 37.5 percent year to date (409 vs. 654 production days). TV reality dropped 12 percent year to date (2,863 vs. 3,255 production days), after a significant second quarter drop of 33.2 percent. TV pilots are up 10.8 percent year to date (563 to 508 production days) buoyed by first quarter gains.
“Our recent television production figures have been all over the map due to last year’s work stoppage,” said FilmL.A. president Paul Audley. “But, we are deeply concerned by our long-term loss of commercial and feature film production. The advertising sector has been hard hit by the economy, and feature films are consistently shot in incentive-generous locales outside California.”
Oscar Winners “I’m Still Here” and “Emilia Pérez” Shed Light On Latin America’s Thousands of People Who’ve Disappeared
If there is a still open wound in Latin America, it is that of the tens of thousands of disappeared people and decadeslong pain that has accumulated in parts of the region such as Mexico and Colombia.
Two visions of the trauma had a central role at the 97th Academy Awards: the Brazilian film "Ainda Estou Aqui" ("I'm Still Here"), which tells the drama of the family of a leftist former congressman who disappeared in 1971 at the height of the military dictatorship; and the musical "Emilia Pérez," about a fictional Mexican drug lord who leaves a life of crime to become a transgender woman and searcher for the disappeared in Mexico.
"We hope that in this way the society will be sensitized," said activist Indira Navarro, who directs the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco collective in Mexico and has been searching for her brother, who disappeared in the northern state of Sonora nine years ago.
The Academy Awards' recognition of the films, both of which were nominated in multiple categories, was an unparalleled opportunity to make the problem visible, Navarro said.
"I'm Still Here," by Brazilian Walter Salles, won the Oscar in the category of best international film. "Emilia Pérez," by renowned French director Jacques Audiard, was this year's most-nominated film and won in the categories of best original song and best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña.
Salles and Audiard's films also had a common denominator of disappearances in Latin America: impunity.
The story behind "I'm Still Here"
"I'm Still Here" was inspired by the book "Ainda Estou Aqui" by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, son of the disappeared former congressman Rubens Paiva. More than five decades after he was taken from his Rio de Janeiro home and... Read More