Is Film and TV Production in L.A. Starting to Turn the Corner?

Key Points:

• Los Angeles has experienced a roughly 10 percent increase in film shoot days at the start of 2026 compared to the previous quarter, driven largely by a 52 percent year-over-year rise in feature film production, with nearly a quarter of these projects benefiting from California's expanded tax credit program.
• Despite this uptick, overall production remains about 30 percent below the five-year average, continuing a decade-long decline exacerbated by the 2023 Hollywood strikes and shifts in studio strategies toward streaming profitability.
• California's revised film and TV tax credit program, enacted last year, is showing early positive effects, with incentivized projects now accounting for 7 percent of all shoot days in L.A., including 22 percent of feature films and 17 percent of TV productions.
• TV production in L.A. has declined significantly, with a 28 percent decrease quarter-over-quarter and shoot days down more than 60 percent from the five-year average, largely due to a slump in reality TV filming and a general reduction in unscripted content premieres nationwide.
• Industry leaders, including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and FilmLA CEO Denise Gutches, express cautious optimism that the tax incentives are beginning to reverse the production downturn and support local job growth in Hollywood.