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Filming Hits High Record: L.A. Shoots in Q2 Surge After Writers Strike.

Posted on: Saturday, 19 July 2008, 00:00 CDT

By Troy Anderson

After a lull caused by the 100-day screenwriters strike -- and amid new uncertainties about an actors contract -- filming in Los Angeles surged 26 percent last quarter to a record high for the period, officials said Thursday.

From April through June, 17,375 days of on-location production were recorded, according to FilmL.A., the nonprofit organization that coordinates film permits in the Los Angeles region.

FilmL.A. officials said the increase came as production companies responded to strike activity and skipped, shortened or shifted their traditional breaks.

"It's definitely those factors that are the cause of this real anomaly in the second quarter," said Todd Lindgren, vice president of communications for FilmL.A.

"The writers strike concluded Feb. 17 and some television shows did come back and film additional episodes.

"We saw some shows that didn't begin filming immediately after the strike concluded, but have come back and got a jump on production to get some episodes in the can. The shifting of the traditional television schedule has benefited the second-quarter production numbers."

The findings come as studios negotiate a new contract with the Screen Actors Guild.

In anticipation of another strike, the studios changed their schedules and tried to finish most projects by June 30 -- when the SAG contract expired.

The guild and the studios met Wednesday and agreed to keep the discussions confidential.

"For a number of weeks, we have been hearing that production is at a standstill," said Pamm Fair, deputy national executive director for SAG.

"The FilmL.A. statistics released (Thursday) -- along with reports that shooting of television shows and big-budget films are continuing -- reinforces our belief that our industry is working."

One of the more dramatic trends observed by FilmL.A. was an increase in television production in the second quarter.

From April to June, on-location filming for television dramas shot up 85 percent, reality series increased 72 percent, pilots were up 24 percent and sitcoms grew 7 percent.

Compared with the second quarter of 2007, on-location television production surged 57 percent. In a normal year, the second quarter is slow for television because many productions are out on hiatus, Lindgren said.

But evidence of the industry's persistent challenges can be seen in the year-to-date production figures for television.

After a disappointing first quarter and a second-quarter activity burst, permitted production days for television dramas are still down 4 percent year-to-date compared with last year.

Meanwhile, television sitcoms are down 36 percent and television pilots are down 47 percent.

Reality programming, which for two months was just about the only prime-time content being produced, is up 18 percent year-to-date, and now totals more than half of all on-location television production coordinated by FilmL.A.

Meanwhile, permitted days of on-location feature-film production increased 9 percent year-to-date, the strongest performance since 2001.

troy.anderson@dailynews.com

213-974-8985

(c) 2008 Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.

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