L.A. Streets Playing Smaller Role on Film

Major production activity outside of studio lots in Los Angeles continued to dip in the first six months of the year, falling 6.6% from a year earlier as studios continued a yearlong trend of cutting back on activity, according to statistics released Friday.

The number of overall production days, or days shooting in areas of Los Angeles outside of sound stages, for films, TV shows, commercials and music videos dropped 6.6% to 14,076 through June 30 compared to 15,074 a year earlier, the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. reported.

Except for March, every month has been down from 1998 so far this year, according to the EIDC, which issues permits for shooting in most of Los Angeles County.

Feature film work took the sharpest dip, 13.7%, while the number of production days for TV fell 8.5%. Commercial days were up 2%, while days shooting music videos rose 14.5%.

Production days on the streets of Los Angeles are considered a barometer of overall entertainment industry activity, even though they don’t include activity on studio lots. The numbers are in line with overall trends that have seen studios cutting back to save money, especially on feature film work.

EIDC President Cody Cluff said that he expects television production to pick up, in part because a large amount of TV series work will be shot in Los Angeles.