Film and television production activity in the Los Angeles area remains noticeably low in the immediate aftermath of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes, which virtually shut down filming for much of 2023.
Fourth-quarter production levels (following Oct. 1 through Dec. 31) were down 36.4% compared to a year earlier, according to FilmLA, which attributed the decline to the lingering effects of overlapping WGA and SAG strikes. -AFTRA. FilmLA is a nonprofit group that handles film permits for the city and county.
The Writers Guild of America strike lasted 148 days before ending in September, while the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strike lasted for 118 days before ending in November.
Excluding 2020 data (an anomaly that caused filming to come to an abrupt halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic), production activity in Los Angeles during the fourth quarter was 33.9% below average.
“History offers no point of comparison with the present,” FilmLA president Paul Audley said in a statement. “Putting aside the pandemic year, we have to look far back, further back than permit records allow, to find a time when production levels remained so low for so long.”
In part because work stoppages ended just as the holiday season began, the return to production has been slow and gradual.
The lack of scripted television filming has been particularly stark, with TV drama production 91.3% behind 2022 and TV comedy production 85.6% behind 2022. However, the report found that dozens of scripted shows — including Apple TV+'s “Loot,” BET+'s “The Family Business,” NBC's “Quantum Leap,” ABC's “The Rookie” and CBS' “SWAT” — were expected to resume filming this month.
Filling the void were reality TV productions, which were responsible for 76.5% of all Los Angeles television shoots in 2023. Still, reality TV production was down 29.2% in the fourth quarter.
It's worth noting that TV pilot filming was up 66.7% in the quarter compared to 2022. Late-night talk and variety shows were also among the fastest to return to production after the strikes.
In total, small screen production levels during the quarter were 54.3% lower than the previous year. In the case of feature films, production levels plummeted by 57.5% compared to 2022.
“Everyone we spoke to is eager for production to resume,” Audley said. “Even so, we will remain in uncharted territory. “We have months left before we can describe what the new normal looks like for filming in Los Angeles.”
