Hollywood’s production slowdown worsens as LA soundstage use hits low

Hollywood may have the infrastructure, but more and more productions are packing up and heading out

A new report shows filming in California has been on a steady decline

hitting a historic low last year with no signs of improving. Sound stages, the soundproof buildings where movies, shows, and commercials are filmed

were nearly full from 2016 to 2022 with occupancy in the 90% range

But in 2024, that number dropped to just 63%, according to Film LA's latest soundstage production report

One of the big reasons is California's film and TV tax incentives

Yes, productions can get back 20-25% of their costs sometimes, especially if they're hiring locally or filming outside the usual LA zones

Though a new bill could bump that number up to 35% for some LA-based productions, part of a bigger push to keep filming in California

Bonuses also exist for things like post-production work done in the state

But other locations, like Georgia or Canada, offer bigger, sometimes uncapped incentives

And productions are following the money. It's cheaper to bring 100 American people to Ireland than to walk across the lot by Fox, past the sound sages and do it there

Actor Rob Lowe talked about the issue on his podcast featuring former co Adam Scott explaining why his game show The Floor is being filmed in Ireland and not Hollywood It criminal what California

and LA have let happen. It's criminal. Everybody should be fired. Even with more than 8 million

square feet of production space, LA is losing ground. Film LA says competing markets like the

United Kingdom, New York, Georgia and Ontario, Canada have doubled their stage capacity in the

last five years. A Film L.A. spokesperson predicts the jurisdictions that perform well from here on

out, the ones with sustainably high levels of soundstage occupancy and job creation

will be those invested in film project attraction at the country, state and regional level

Film L.A. notes there's a difference between occupancy and utilization. A stage only creates

jobs when it's in use, not just sitting. The report also says TV episode counts are dropping

while budgets go up, meaning longer gaps between seasons. But the stakes are high. As recently as

last fall, the film and TV industry supported roughly 130,000 jobs in the state, according to

a recent Otis College report on the creative economy. So losing productions isn't just a

Hollywood headline, it's an economic one. With Straight Arrow News, I'm Kennedy Felton

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