Location Shoots Closer to Home Jump Sharply

L.A. was filled with lights, camera and action last year.

More movies, television shows, music videos and commercials were shot in public spaces across Los Angeles County in 2004 than ever before.

The Entertainment Industry Development Corp. issued permits for 52,707 location production days -- one day representing a single day of work on a single project -- for a 19% increase over 2003.

Production days for TV shows alone jumped 27% -- nearly half of that for reality programming.

“It was definitely a good year in productions, particularly in TV, and we need to do what we can to keep the business here,” said Steve MacDonald, the president of the agency, which issues permits for Los Angeles and much of the county, though not some cities, including Burbank and Long Beach.

MacDonald added, however: “We must not let today’s positive figures blind us to the reality that Los Angeles is the target of an all- out campaign to seize our signature industry.”

In recent years, Canada, Australia, Ireland and other countries have succeeded in luring movie work, capitalizing on the strength of the U.S. dollar, which made their currencies attractive, and on government-offered incentives.

Now, “with the decline in the value of the dollar it makes more sense to stay home,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “The cost savings is no longer there.”

But because many major productions are planned years in advance of actual filming, the effect of the weak dollar might not have played the starring role.

Figuring out whether Los Angeles is actually benefiting from the weaker dollar also is hard because Hollywood films are increasingly produced in multiple locales. “The Aviator,” for example, was shot in both Montreal and Los Angeles.

In any event, some Hollywood watchers said it was unclear whether foreign countries’ losses were necessarily Los Angeles’ gain. After all, California has ample competition at home, with other states, including New Mexico, Louisiana and New York, working aggressively to tempt producers with tax incentives.

Beyond that, many observers noted that feature film production, either on the streets of L.A. or on studio lots, is much less than it was in the late 1990s.

The numbers released Wednesday “are encouraging and there’s no question the more production there is in Los Angeles, the better it is for L.A.,” said Kathleen Milnes, chief executive of the Entertainment Economy Institute. “But it’s unclear as to whether this indicates a major shift in location of feature film production.”

In 2004, production days for feature films, such as “Million Dollar Baby,” “Collateral” and “Fat Albert,” were up 19%, reversing an eight-year decline. Feature film permits totaled 8,707 days. But the biggest increase was for TV shows, including “24” and “Fear Factor.”

Television is less vulnerable to poaching because producers prefer to be closer to where the talent lives, which is, for the most part, Southern California.

The gain in television production days, to 18,257, continued the industry’s rapid growth over the last few years.

Networks are increasingly reluctant to rely on repeats, agency officials said, and an explosion in cable TV shows has sparked a need to develop new shows.

The rise in TV shoots was driven by reality shows and scripted dramas. EIDC officials noted that reality television production days slowed at the end of 2004, suggesting that there may be renewed interest in scripted shows, thanks to such hits as “Desperate Housewives.”

Among the other trends noted by the EIDC: TV producers are increasingly shooting during the usually slow summer months, and summer production in 2004 was up 32% over 2003.

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All the city’ a stage

Production days* in Los Angeles

Television

2004: 18,257

2003: 14,395

Commercials

2004: 6,703

2003: 5,701

Feature films

2004: 8,707

2003: 7,329

*One production filming one day on location

Source: Entertainment Industry Development Corp.

Los Angeles Times