On-location filming in Los Angeles set an all-time quarterly record in the fourth quarter of 2021, was double the annual output from 2020 and was up 3.2% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to the latest report from FilmLA, the city and county film permit office.
Even so, production is off to a slow start again in 2022 because of the ongoing Omicron surge.“This is an encouraging report by most indicators, but how production will fare in 2022 remains uncertain at this time,” said FilmLA president Paul Audley. “With the highly contagious Omicron variant driving record Covid-19 cases in Los Angeles County, industry output is also affected.
Just as 2021 got off to a slow start, the New Year has filmmakers feeling cautious, with many studios and production companies delaying their return to filming.
Our hope is that 2022 follows a similar trajectory as last year – with a slow, responsible start and strong end-of-year finish.”Read the full report here.In 2021, on-location filming in and around the city rebounded to 37,709 shoot days – up nearly 100% over the 18,993 shoot-days the year before, when production was devastated by the coronavirus-related production shutdown.Last year’s fourth quarter saw a record 10,359 shoot days, which was 4% higher than the previous three-month high of 10,359 shoot days set in the fourth quarter of 2018.
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