L.A. TV Production Drops Sharply Amid Strike Fears

TV production in Los Angeles dropped sharply in the first three months of 2023, amid industry retrenchment and general concern about a strike, according to a new report from FilmLA.

Overall, on-location production days fell by 24%, compared to the first quarter of 2022. Most of the decline was in TV, which fell 35.8% over the same period.

“The numbers are more dire than we thought they would be,” said Paul Audley, president of FilmLA.

FilmLA has been reporting year-over-year declines for the last three quarters, as the post-COVID production surge has wound down. But Audley noted that studios are also reassessing their content strategy, and there is now the fear of a WGA strike, which has put some decisions about future production on pause.

“It’s not just the Writers Guild,” Audley said, noting that both the DGA and SAG-AFTRA are set to negotiate in the next two months. “The looming question around labor action seems to have delayed the start of some programming…There’s a series of things that need to get settled before the industry resettles on a production schedule.”

TV production was down sharply compared to the same quarter in 2022, but was also 24.2% below the five-year average.

Audley said that production could rebound somewhat if the labor issues are resolved, but he does not expect a return to the peak years of 2016 and 2017.

FilmLA uses permit data to keep track of on-location shoots in the L.A. region. That data does not include production on studio lots, but is generally seen as a bellwether for broader industry activity.

Reality TV — which is not covered by the WGA — also saw a sharp decline of 37.8% compared to the first quarter of 2022. But that figure remained above the five-year average. The other large declines came in TV dramas (a 40.4% drop) and TV pilots (88.3%).

Pilots have been dwindling as the industry moves to straight-to-series orders. Audley said much of the year-over-year decline can be explained by TV productions no longer classifying their first episode as a “pilot” if the show has already been ordered to series.

The WGA voted 97.9% in support of a strike authorization, giving leadership the power to call a strike after the current contract expires on May 1. The guild has been negotiating since March 20 on a new agreement with the AMPTP, which represents the major studios.

The guild is seeking better terms on streaming residuals, a guaranteed staffing minimum for writers rooms, a substantial increase in minimums, and higher “overscale” compensation for showrunners making more than $400,000 per year.

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