Overall location shoot days in Los Angeles for ’99 increased slightly from the previous year, due in part to commercial production activity. That was a bottom line finding culled from figures released by the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. (EIDC), the private/ public sector partnership that oversees the joint Los Angeles City/County Film Office.
Spot production days on location totaled 6,569 last year, as compared to 6,152 in ’98. The biggest gain was realized in March ’99, with 798 days, a hike of 319 days over March ’98.
While it’s too early to assess prospects for 2000, the EIDC has expressed concern that commercial production could be adversely affected if problems arise in negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the ad industry’s Joint Policy Committee (JPC) for a new spot actors’ contract. The JPC consists of representatives from the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers.
Based on its ’99 performance, spots exceeded their TV program and feature film counterparts. While commercials shoot days increased by 6.7 percent, features declined 8.8 percent in ’99 (10,526 shoot days) as compared to ’98 (11,542), and TV programs dipped 8.1 percent (10,279 shoot days in ’99 vs. 11,185 in ’98).
But thanks to gains in spots, music videos, student projects and still photo shoots, total production days went up to 46,410 last year in Los Angeles, a modest 1.65 percent increase from ’98’s tally of 45,658.
Some view the runaway production battle as key if Los Angeles is to improve its performance across the board. Measures to make the U.S. more competitive with Canada and other foreign countries are under consideration. Proposals range from federal and state legislation to different segments of the filmmaking community doing their share to make production easier and more affordable in the U.S.
