Movie, commercial shoots see big drop in Los Angeles as post-pandemic production surge recedes
The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the United States’ entertainment industry, sending the total number of filming days in LA to its lowest level in decades, the city’s film office said last week.
The number of days on and off the set of movies in Los Angeles, a city renowned for its rich diversity, dropped from 3,821 on February 29 to 3,651 on May 5, according to the L.A. Film Office.
In just the first three months of 2020, the office said 5,388 days off the set of films were recorded. There were 1,400 days off the set of TV series and 1,800 days off the sets of commercials.
In all, 4,913 days of shooting were recorded in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 42% from the previous quarter.
“We could really use the boost because there are just not enough actors and crews here to fill the void,” said L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.
He said the city’s film office is working with agencies in Hollywood to encourage “creative people” to relocate from other areas.
“There’s not many actors or technicians that want to be here, and there are not many movie producers here that want to live here,” Garcetti said.
The city’s Film Office, which tracks the number of days on and off movie sets and the number of employees to meet production schedules, said a total of 3,501 days of shooting were tracked by the offices in L.A. as of the first quarter of the year.
That compares to 21,819 days in the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of 13.5%.
In all, more than 19,000 people were employed to meet production schedules in the first quarter. That’s up from 13,000 in the first quarter of 2019.
The total number of days that crews were off the set of movies and TV shows was 1,100, a decrease of 12.5% from the previous quarter.
It includes days were filming was cancelled or relocated.
The number of days filming was down more than 50% from the first quarter of 2019, when more than 19,000 days were filmed off the L.