Summary
- FilmLA data shows a steady decline in Hollywood production since 2023, with noticeable drops in TV, reality, and feature films.
- The decline started before the Writers’ Strike due to factors like WGA and SAG-AFTRA activities contributing to overall industry slowdown.
- Despite the decline, steps are being taken to revitalize the industry, with major franchises like Marvel, DC, and Star Wars leading the charge.
The official data from FilmLA, the permitting nonprofit organization of the City and County of Los Angeles, states that Hollywood has been steadily declining since 2023. The production report was issued in July 2024, which compared both initial quarters of 2023 and 2024 in various categories, including feature films, reality TV, scripted and unscripted television, and TV series.
The WGA and SAG-AFTRA activities have had a significant impact on the industry beginning in July 2023 when actors walked off work; nevertheless, when compared to the previous year, the production decline started ahead of the Writers Strike. The chart shared by FilmLA shows the difference in shoot days in the first two quarters of 2024 compared to the previous year, which in turn started to wane in terms of production volume.
As the tweet above reveals, the first and second quarters of 2023 had 7476 and 6566 Shoot Days, respectively. When compared to the first and second quarters of 2024 (6823 and 5749 Shoot Days, respectively), there has been a noticeable decrease in production, which adds to the fact that this is a combined report of features, television, reality, and more.
While the numbers do not seem to be that far off on paper, when it comes to actual analysis, the drop is significant, especially because the majority of the categories contribute to it, while only a handful have shown a slight increase in production. To be more specific, feature film production fell by 3.3 percent and commercial production by 5.1 percent, but these figures pale in comparison to the exorbitant drop in the television category.
As per reports, the filming in the broader television category decreased by 27.7 percent, with Reality TV topping overall with a 56.9 percent decline, although other sub-categories balanced the scale. Scripted, TV Drama, and TV Pilots have all seen a substantial rise in content production, varying from 54% to 103%, but it doesn’t help in front of the apparent fact that the employment impact of reality production is lower than scripted television.
Furthermore, FilmLA’s chart shows that on-location filming levels are down by 33.4 percent over the last five years, which further backs the seasonal average statistics, since a one-third fall over the course of years is nothing to scoff at. In any case, lower volumes are here to stay, especially with fewer opportunities in Hollywood, which is still reeling from the aftermath of the strike.
How Can Hollywood Address Production Decline?
Although the reports emphasized an indisputable reality, it was obvious that Hollywood had been on a gradual decline for years, with a tectonic shift in audiences to a larger television category. Nonetheless, the emergence of streaming services has drawn viewers back to films and cinema in general.
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While it is difficult to come up with an immediate solution, since even cine-experts are having a hard time, we are entering a new era of cinema, with major franchises like Marvel, DC, and Star Wars regaining momentum via experimentation. While James Gunn and Peter Safran are rebooting DC, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is heading into a new phase.
On the other hand, several Star Wars projects are currently in the works, with fan-favorite writers like Dave Filoni overseeing them. Adding in other prominent franchises like Alien, MonsterVerse, and Mission: Impossible, which have several projects lined up in the coming years, the future looks promising for a comeback from the world’s top industry.