The latest report from the Los Angeles region’s film permitting office FilmLA suggests that film production in the area may finally be recovering after several years of steep decline. On-location filming in the greater Los Angeles area reached 5,121 shoot days in Q1 2026, a 10.7% increase over the prior quarter. However, production still trails the five-year average of shooting in a quarter, indicating that the local market has not yet fully recovered.
The most encouraging data point came from the feature film category, which surged 45.2% from the previous quarter and 52.3% year-over-year to 687 shoot days, signaling increased activity in studio and independent production. Television categories also showed pockets of growth, particularly in TV drama and comedy. Crucially, much of this rebound is attributed to the effect of California’s expansion of the state-wide Film & TV Tax Credit program. Projects qualifying for the state tax credit accounted for 7% of total shoot days, including 22% of all feature film production and 17% of TV production. The increase in approved projects represents a meaningful pipeline of new projects that that are only now beginning to enter active filming windows.
While still early, these gains are significant in the wake of a market defined by flight of production out of Los Angelese to production centers in other states and countries. The initial impact of enhanced tax incentives, combined with local efforts to streamline permitting and reduce costs, suggests that California may be getting some of its competitive groove back. This could also help explain Netflix’s reported move to acquire the historic Radford Studio Center, a deal valued between $330 million and $400 million. While the property’s distressed pricing reflects the recent downturn in production, Netflix’s interest signals a longer-term bet that demand for soundstages in Los Angeles will rebound.
