New York City crows about record year for TV production

As California lawmakers mull whether to extend funding for the state’s film tax credit program, rival New York City is crowing about having another record year for TV production.

New York City Film Commissioner Katherine Oliver said the city was on track to have its busiest year yet for television production, touting a half a dozen new TV series whose pilots were filmed in New York.

The pilot pickups, announced in the annual spring television ad sales event known as the upfront market in New York City, include the ABC shows “Gotham” and “666 Park Avenue” and the CBS dramas “Golden Boy” and “Elementary.”

With the addition of the new series, most of which are expected to be shot in New York, an estimated 25 or more episodic TV shows are scheduled to be filmed in the city this year, topping last year’s record of 23 shows.

“As television and cable networks present their schedules for the fall 2012 season, more and more producers and writers around the country have realized that New York City is the best place in the world to make television,” Oliver said in a statement. “Mayor Bloomberg and I congratulate the shows and everyone who will be working on them.”

The statements are certain to irritate local film industry officials who’ve been urging lawmakers to extend funding for California’s film tax credit, which is scheduled to expire next year, through 2018. A state Assembly committee this week approved a bill that would do just that, but its prospects are uncertain as the Legislature grapples with a $16-billion deficit.

RELATED:

Hollywood lobbies to extend film tax credit through 2018

On Location: Virgin flies high with ‘Departure Date’ film

On Location: ‘Think Like a Man’ brings romance to Culver City