If 2008 was said to be a bad year in filming, the statistics for 2009 are even worse, 19 percent worse. Film L.A., the non profit contracted by the city of Los Angeles to handle permits, reported 37,979 permitted production days in 2009, according to The Wrap. To compare, 2008 had 47,117 film days (to explain, each on-location shoot that is not on studio property is a film day. If in one day, NCIS is filming in downtown, a commercial is being shot at the harbor and out in the Valley, CSI is filming, that would be three film days). more ›

Compared to last year's first quarter, film production shoots are down 56.3%, but thanks to last year's writers strike, TV shoots was given a boost with a 76.4% increase. However, the Hollywood Reporter has sobering news about all of this: "after factoring in a 34.2% drop in recession-battered commercial shoots -- first-quarter location filming in L.A. was virtually stagnant, increasing by 0.7% year-over-year." Feature Film production in Los Angeles also drastically went down to its lowest levels since at least 1993 when film days were first tracked. Tomorrow, a City Council committee will look at the filming services contract. Of note, a new draft of the contract "removes most of the specific language regarding how far in advance surveying and notification requests must be done," reports blogdowntown. more ›

Careful Los Angeles, New York is watching. "A closely watched count of film permits for outdoor shoots in the Los Angeles area shows that feature film shooting days totaled just 1,181 in the third quarter of 2008, down 38 percent from the year before, according to FilmLA, the nonprofit organization that coordinates permits for location shooting in the area," says the New York Times. more ›