L.A. sees 16% drop in film and TV shoot days compared to 2024
It was another tough year for film and television production in Los Angeles as the total shoot days for 2025 dropped 16.1% compared to the previous year, according to a new report.Last year’s 19,694 shoot days was the lowest total since 2020, according to the nonprofit FilmLA, which tracks filming in the greater L.A. area. In 2024, that total was 23,480 shoot days.Though California lawmakers bolstered the state’s film and TV production incentive program last year, it will likely take some time for those awarded projects to show up in filming data, said Philip Sokoloski, FilmLA vice president of integrated communications.“While the year-end numbers are disappointing, they are not unexpected,” he said in a statement. “Although our overall numbers remain low, there are dozens of incentivized projects that have yet to begin filming.”So far, more than 100 film and TV projects are among those awarded production incentives for filming in California under the revamped program. In the fourth quarter of 2025, incentivized projects under the previous program made up about 13% of all shoot days in the L.A. area.For the fourth quarter, on-location production totaled 4,625 shoot days, down 21.1% compared to the same time period in 2024.The steepest filming declines that quarter were in commercials, which saw a decline of 23.2% compared to 2024, followed by television, which dropped 21.9%. Feature film shoot days were down 19.7% from the fourth quarter in 2024, and FilmLA’s “other” category, which includes student films, documentaries and music videos, was down 20.4%.Within the TV category, filming for pilots saw a 62.5% decline that quarter compared to 2024, while dramas fell 36.4%. Reality TV shoot days were down 9.8% and TV comedy filming was down 6% for the fourth quarter.
