Filming on studio soundstages and backlots took a tumble last year, according to FilmLA.

The Studio City nonprofit that is the film office for the city and county of Los Angeles and other jurisdictions found that soundstage occupancy declined to 63% last year, down from 69% of the year before.

Regional soundstage occupancy levels had seen occupancy rates of more than 90% from 2016 to 2022, FilmLA said.

“Disrupted by a reduction in global content production and the double industry strikes of 2023, the past two years have been challenging for L.A. area sound stage operators,” the agency said.

FilmLA spokesperson Philip Sokoloski said that it was important to not confuse stage occupancy with stage utilization as they are not the same thing.

“A set on a stage can only create jobs when it is under construction or in use,” Sokoloski said in a statement. “Television budgets have increased, but episode counts have declined and there can be long delays between seasons. To see the real loss of work opportunity in this data, you have to focus on stage shoot days.”

In 2023, a total of 1,225 projects filmed in the 477 stages included in FilmLA’s analysis. These projects generated 8,671 stage shoot days – fewer than were recorded in any studied period except 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic halted all production for a time and resulting in 6,191 shoot days, FilmLA said.

Studio backlot shoot days dropped by almost 52% in 2023 to 890 days compared to the high number of 1,839 in 2021 found by FilmLA in its study periods.

The nonprofit did note that the Writers Guild of America strike ran from May 2 to Sept. 27, 2023, followed by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which started July 14 and ended on Nov. 9. Both strikes shut down scripted content production.

New projects to be built

Lower than average sound stage occupancy is a concern shared outside California.

Competing jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, New York, Georgia and Ontario, Canada, have all more than doubled their stage-based production capacity over the last five years.

Los Angeles, with an estimated 8 million square feet of stage production space and 13 planned and proposed studio projects in the pipeline, maintains an important infrastructure advantage.

“Unfortunately for all involved, fewer film, television and commercial projects in production makes it harder to fill studio vacancies,” FilmLA said.

Among the studio projects under development are East End Studios Arts District Downtown Los Angeles campus with 16 soundstages across 309,000 square feet and another 400,000 for support and office space; and East End Studios Griffith Park campus in Glendale with 11 soundstages totaling 189,000 square feet of space. Construction is expected to start on both projects next year.

“The jurisdictions that perform well from here on out – the ones with sustainably high levels of sound stage occupancy and job creation – will be those invested in film project attraction at the country, state and regional level,” Sokoloski said in his statement. “We’re supportive of state leaders’ interest in expanding California’s film incentive program, and we’re engaged in ongoing conversation with city and county partners about ways to improve the local filming environment.”

The seventh edition of FilmLA’s Sound Stage Production Report is based on aggregated data sourced from 17 participating legacy and independent studios in greater Los Angeles. Combined, these studios own and/or operate approximately 82% of L.A. County’s certified soundstage market.