Television Production In Los Angeles Up 31.1 Percent

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Television production in the Los Angeles area has gone up, but feature film production is down, according to FilmL.A. figures released Tuesday.

FilmL.A., the city-county permit office, logged 5,363 production days for TV projects from July to September in 2014, up from last year's 4,310 production days. Increased activity was seen in nearly all television categories, except for sitcoms, which fell 29 percent from 517 permitted production days to 367.

Television dramas, which are eligible for the state's incentive program, jumped 43.2 percent, shooting 425 more permitted days than the 983 days of drama shoots in last year's third quarter, according to FilmL.A.

"Rizzoli & Isles," "Pretty Little Liars," "Major Crimes," "Perception" and "Legends" were among the locally shot dramas that qualified for state tax geared to the film industry.

Reality shows, web-based productions and pilot shoots also helped contribute to the rise in production from last year.

Local feature film production, however, did not fare as well, declining 4 percent, with shoots over 1,881 days compared with 1,959 days in the same quarter in 2013.

"While we are still trying to reclaim our share of television production, we're encouraged by dramatic television producers' interest in filming in Los Angeles," FilmL.A. President Paul Audley said. "With the new tax credit taking effect next July, we see strong potential for growth in local TV work ahead."

Gov. Jerry Brown recently approved a five-year, $330 million incentive program. It uses a competitive process, rather than a lottery system, for granting tax breaks. While tax incentives to keep shooting companies in the Golden State were increased from $100 million, the pot of money is still less than the $420 million offered by New York City.

The revamped program is set to begin in 2015 and is aimed at keeping film and television productions from getting lured away by incentives offered by other states and countries.

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