The Production Collapse
According to FilmLA, Greater Los Angeles recorded just 23,480 on-location shoot days in 2024 — a staggering 36% fewer than 2019's benchmark of 36,540 days.
This makes 2024 the second-slowest year on record, surpassed only by 2020's pandemic shutdown. Even more concerning: 2024 was actually slightly worse than 2023's strike-affected total.
- 2024 shoot days: 23,480 (–35% vs 2019)
- 2023 shoot days: 24,873 (–32% vs 2022)
- 2022 shoot days: 36,792 (matched 2019)
- 2019 shoot days: 36,540 (pre-pandemic peak)
2024 On-Location Shoot Days
That's 13,060 fewer shoot days than 2019 — roughly 36 fewer productions worth of work.
Shoot Days by Year
The chart below shows the dramatic swing from recovery in 2022 to collapse in 2023-2024.
Category Breakdown
The malaise wasn't uniform across genres. Different categories experienced vastly different impacts:
(YoY decline)
(vs 5-year avg)
(YoY growth)
Reality TV has been in free-fall, while feature films saw growth thanks to indie productions and California's tax credit. But even feature filming remained 27.6% below its 5-year average.
Q4 2023 TV Drama Collapse
Shoot days in Q4 2023, down from 1,155 in Q4 2022 — a 91% drop during the strikes.
Soundstage Paradox
Despite lower filming days, soundstage space in Los Angeles remains in high demand. In 2019, stage occupancy averaged 93% (median 98%).
This paradox is explained by streaming-era production patterns: producers book stages year-round for shorter seasons, leading to idle sets between shoots. Stage facilities were expanding even into early 2023, with projects like Television City's $1.25B expansion.
However, the strikes brought temporary quiet, and by mid-2024, some operators were offering discounts — a rare reversal from the waitlists of 2018-2019.
New Stage Space Under Construction
Square feet of new soundstage space being built in greater LA, betting on a production rebound.
"History offers no point of comparison... we have to look very far back to find a time when production levels stayed so low, for so long."
— Paul Audley, President of FilmLA, January 2024Fewer Projects Overall
Beyond shoot days, the total number of scripted projects has also declined significantly.
The drop in LA filming was sharper than the national average — the city is losing ground even as the overall pie shrinks.