Filming in L.A. Streets Declines 10% in May

Production of movies, TV shows, commercials and music videos shot on the streets of Los Angeles dropped 10% in May from a year earlier, when studios were scurrying to wrap scores of projects in anticipation of possible strikes by writers and actors.

The number of production days in May totaled 2,236, according to the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., which issues permits for projects shot away from studio lots.

The biggest drop came in work on feature films; those production days fell 36% to 824. Shooting of TV shows continued to climb in May, by 37% to 887. One production day equals a day of shooting on a specific project. The longtime slide in commercial production appears to have bottomed out, with production days rising for the second straight month, by 7% to 386. The numbers do not account for shooting on studio lots. Through May, production days are off by nearly 20% this year.