California leads list of states for film production, but loses market share

For the second year in a row, California is the
top state in the nation for film production. But
the share of movies being shot in the Golden
State fell from 21 percent in 2014 to 17 percent
last year, a new study found.
Nineteen out of 109 movies released by major
U.S. film companies in 2015 were produced
primarily in California, according to FilmL.A.,
the film office for the greater Los Angeles
region.
Among the 19 films were “Straight Outta
Compton,” “Entourage” and “The Wedding
Ringer.”
But California faced competition from the
United Kingdom with 15 projects. Georgia and
Louisiana were next with 12 projects each and
Canada followed with 11.
Georgia and Louisiana, like the U.K. offer
generous government production incentive
programs that California just began to catch up
with in mid-2015.
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first year
British shoots generated a whopping $1.63 
billion in production spending compared to
California’s in-state take of $720 million, due to
bigger-budgeted productions in the U.K.
Of the 19 movies made in California in 2015,
only three animated features had budgets over
$100 million.
“While the credit is returning extraordinary
value and jobs, it is unable to attract the biggest
live-action films,” FilmL.A. president Paul
Audley observed.
If you just look at the amount of money spent
where the films were shot, compared to the
overall budgets of the movies, California had the
highest rate of return at 92 percent, compared
to 83 percent in Britain and only 56 percent in
Georgia. That’s because the best equipment and
people don’t need to be imported here.
“While it’s not going to be perfect for every
scenario for every project, we think that it’s
going to be quite competitive,” Amy Lemisch,
executive director of the California Film
Commission, which administers the state’s
incentives, said about the program. She also
noted that the second fiscal year of the program
known as 2.0, which begins July 1, will have
$330 million worth of tax credits to offer, $100 
million more than the program’s just-completed
first year.
And that’ll mean more movies. Although they’re
not counted in the study, films that took
advantage of 2.0’s first year credits have been
making a noticeable impact on the local
community of vendors and below-the-line
workers.
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Last weekend’s box-office champ “The
Conjuring 2,” is a prime example.
Anthony Syracuse, who heads construction
crews for movies, is a Southland native who
moved to Valencia last year after living out-of-
state and traveling the country for work since
2010. He was soon hired onto horror hit “The
Conjuring 2” — which, though set in England,
was mostly shot on Warner Bros.’ Burbank lot.
“I’ve spent the last year here in L.A. working
from project to project to project,” said
Syracuse, who’s now prepping another 2.0 
recipient, the “Conjuring” spinoff “Annabelle 2,”
at Warners. “I’ve had one week off since July of
last year, and that goes down to my guys as
well. My guys have been working on multiple
projects, show after show, and [2.0] has just
been a blessing.”