Downtown residents and visitors know the tell-tale signs: motorcycle cops standing next to their bikes at key locations, cones blocking streets, fake police cars for a city we don't live in whizzing by, star wagons clustered a parking lot away, detours a-plenty and no parking for blocks means there's yet another film shoot taking place. Filming in DTLA is up 20% and old frustrations are cropping up right along with it, according to Downtown News. more ›

The Hollywood Reporter is thanking California's Film and Television Tax Credit for the 15 percent production increase in the Los Angeles area. In 2010, commercials posted a rise of 28.1 percent, TV production was up 11.9 percent and on-location features gained 8.1 percent in year over year comparisons. more ›

Good news for the local economy in regards to the film industry. "On-location shoots for feature films, television and commercials jumped 25 percent during the first three months of 2010 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that handles film permits for Los Angeles and unincorporated county areas," says the Daily News. Although shoots remain below 2007 levels, the recent results are exceeding expectations. more ›

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 ›

With filming down, thus affecting the local economy, L.A. Councilmember Richard Alarcon this morning introduced a motion to explore the creation of a film commission. “Los Angeles needs an entity that can promote our city as a premiere filming destination and a Film Commission could do this as well promote the positive impacts of the industry to our communities," he said in a statement. more ›

Although there were some gains in features and commercial shoots, overall film-production dropped in the third quarter of 2009 compared to 2008, according to statistics released yesterday. In all, there were 9,680 permitted production days from July to September compared to 11,300 recorded in the same time period last year--that's a 14.3 percent drop. 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 ›