Strike Concerns Lead to 24% Drop in Los Angeles On-Location Shoots, FilmLA Reports
thewrap.comwriters’ strike in Hollywood next month has taken its toll on production in Los Angeles, as the new quarterly report from FilmLA shows a 24% drop in the number of on-location shoot days recorded in the county.
In Q1 of 2022, FilmLA recorded 9,832 shoot days as Hollywood pushed to make up for the time lost by the COVID-19 shutdown. But with the possibility that the Writers Guild of America could order a strike if a new contract with studios isn’t agreed upon by the May 1 deadline, studios are significantly drawing down the number of new productions while hastily completing ones that began early this year.
In Q1 of 2023, 7,476 shoot days were recorded, down 24% year-over-year and 16.8% below the five-year average for the first quarter.
Television in particular took a huge hit with 2,862 shoot days, down 35.8% from last quarter and 24.2% from the quarterly average. “Over three consecutive quarters, we’ve seen a significant slowdown across all of the most economically important categories of on-location production,” noted FilmLA President Paul Audley. “Particularly in the television world, decisions about future content direction are on hold, pending the outcome of corporate restructuring actions and industry labor negotiations.”Breaking down the TV decrease further, drastic drops in shoots for reality and drama shows were seen.
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