LA Soundstage Occupancy Fell to Record Low 63% in 2024 as FilmLA Sounds Alarm on Need for Incentives

Los Angeles production hit record lows over the last two years, according to a new report from FilmLA. Regional sound stage occupancy levels, which had previously held steady in the 90th percentile from 2016 to 2022, declined sharply to 69% in 2023 and further to 63% last year. 

The film organization noted that the state’s film and TV production tax incentives are a major culprit in addition to a post-actors and writers’ strikes fallout, and said it supported reform to keep up with competing markets.

“The jurisdictions that perform well from here on out – the ones with sustainably high levels of sound stage occupancy and job creation – will be those invested in film project attraction at the country, state and regional level,” spokesperson Philip Sokoloski predicted. “We’re supportive of state leaders’ interest in expanding California’s film incentive program, and we’re engaged in ongoing conversation with City and County partners about ways to improve the local filming environment.”

FilmLA combines data from 17 participating studios, including Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and Fox, among others. Participating studios own or operate around 82% of L.A.’s production stage market. 

Local production in 2023 was largely disrupted by the double industry strikes of 2023, but better tax incentives have pushed production outside of the Golden State and even out of the nation. In 2023, a total of 1,225 projects filmed on the 477 stages included in FilmLA’s analysis. These projects generated 8,671 stage shoot days – fewer than were recorded in any studied period except 2020, when the COVID pandemic halted all production for a time. Pre-pandemic, just 13 studio participants in FilmLA’s analysis generated 12,308 shoot days.

L.A. production peaked in 2016 with 96% occupancy and has since decreased to a record low in 2024 with 63%.

“It’s important to note that stage occupancy and stage utilization are not exactly the same,” Sokoloski said. “A set on a stage can only create jobs when it is under construction or in use. Television budgets have increased, but episode counts have declined and there can be long delays between seasons. To see the real loss of work opportunity in this data, you have to focus on Stage Shoot Days.”

Competing markets, like the United Kingdom, New York, Georgia and Canada, have all more than doubled their sound stage production capacity over the last five years, according to FilmLA. Hollywood, with an estimated 8 million square feet of production space, greater than that of all its competitors, has an infrastructure advantage but fewer projects filling the vacancies.

Episodic television series account for only 20% of all production happening on certified stages and backlots in L.A. in 2023, while in previous years these job producing formats accounted for 30% of all stage-based filming in previous years. Over the past five years, episodic television has accounted for 55% of shoot days in L.A.

Two bills have been introduced in the California legislature to bring more local production to the state. Senate Bill 630, introduced changes to the tax credit program, including reducing the runtime required for a TV show to be eligible for incentives from 40 minutes to 20 minutes. The 20-minute threshold would allow sitcoms to apply for the incentives.

The bill also proposes expanding the eligibility list for the credit to include “animation films, series, shorts and large-scale competition shows” with a minimum budget of $1 million. Such a proposal comes as much of Hollywood animation has been outsourced to other countries like Canada, England and France.

Last October, Newsom announced his support to raise the cap for the California Film and TV Tax Credit program from $330 million to $750 million, a change that would allow the program to expand the types of productions eligible for tax credits. If the change passed, it would make L.A. the second largest tax credit program in the country behind only Georgia, which has no cap on its program.

The post LA Soundstage Occupancy Fell to Record Low 63% in 2024 as FilmLA Sounds Alarm on Need for Incentives appeared first on TheWrap.