The Brief

Summer feels inextricably linked with the movies, with bigger budget movies in theaters — many of them aiming to reach “blockbuster” status — and likely some more trips to the cinema to beat the heat on hot days.

But how many of the movies coming out this summer were filmed in Los Angeles?

It’s a question we’re asking because the decline in local film and TV production is an ongoing issue that matters a lot — because of the impact on jobs, the broader economy, and the culture of the Los Angeles area — and there’s been some encouraging news of late.

The latest quarterly report from FilmLA, the official film office for the L.A. region, showed some signs that the expansion of California’s Film & TV Tax Credit Program last year may be beginning to have some positive effects, particularly for feature films, TV dramas and comedies.

There’s also a pilot program that the city of Los Angeles and FilmLA launched last month that reduces costs and streamlines the process for getting permits for productions that meet certain criteria to be considered “low impact.”

While the effects of that are still to be determined, if you want to support movies (and TV shows!) that have filmed locally in the meantime, we put together this non-exhaustive list of upcoming shows and movies:

Summer TV filmed in LA

Spider-Noir (May 27, MGM+ and Prime Video)

A live-action series based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Noir is about a private investigator in 1930s New York City, played by Nicolas Cage, grappling with his superhero past.

While set in New York, the series was filmed in Los Angeles — in various locations downtown (including The Orpheum Theatre) and at several studio lots. In a recent interview, Cage’s co-star, Lamorne Morris, told LAist that  ”Downtown L.A. looks probably more like 1930s New York than New York does,” and also confirmed that one of the Spider-Noir filming locations — the bar called The Prince in Koreatown — is one that many may recognize from another series that Morris starred in, the L.A.-set show New Girl.

Sugar (June 19, Apple TV)

This neo-noir Apple TV series starring Colin Farrell is set in modern-day Los Angeles and filmed here too. Season two premieres on June 19.

Elle (July 1, Prime Video)

Elle, the prequel series about the Legally Blonde character Elle Woods’ early life filmed primarily in Vancouver, but we’ll give it a pass since it’s largely set in Seattle and because we know that the series did include at least some filming in the Los Angeles area (specifically on Rodeo Drive).

Lucky (July 15, Apple TV)

According to Deadline, this Apple TV limited series, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Annette Benning and Timothy Olyphant was a recipient of a $10.682 million state tax credit and filmed mostly in the Los Angeles area, with some shooting in Las Vegas as well. The local filming locations also included some spots in downtown Long Beach. Taylor-Joy plays a con artist in the action/thriller.

The Hawk (July 16, Netflix)

This comedy series starring Will Ferrell as a golf legend named Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins who’s looking to make a comeback — alongside Molly Shannon, Fortune Feimster and Luke Wilson — was reportedly awarded a $17.2 million state tax credit. It filmed in Newport Beach and Los Angeles, in addition to some locations in Florida.

Lanterns (August 16, HBO Max)

The DC Studios series Lanterns — created by Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, Lost), Tom King (Supergirl) and Chris Mundy (Ozark, True Detective) — stars Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as “intergalactic cops” drawn into an “earth-based mystery.”

While it was initially set to film in Atlanta, DC Studios’ Peter Safran said tax credits made it possible to film in Los Angeles instead, largely on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank.

Summer movies filmed in LA

The Mandalorian and Grogu (May 22)

The film’s director and co-writer Jon Favreau has said that The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first Star Wars movie to be shot entirely in Los Angeles. Ahead of the movie’s premiere at the TCL Chinese theater, he credited the California Film Commission for making that possible.

Maddie's Secret (June 19)

Filmed and set in Los Angeles, Maddie’s Secret is the directorial debut of actor and comedian John Early. Early also stars in the film as Maddie, a food influencer with bulimia. Early described the film to the LA Times as a “very Echo Park, Silver Lake, Eagle Rock, Frogtown, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Los Feliz movie.” Filming locations included Early’s own L.A. home.

The Invite (June 26)

Set in San Francisco, and starring Olivia Wilde (who also directed the film), Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, The Invite actually filmed primarily on a Los Angeles soundstage, according to The San Francisco Examiner, with two days of on-location shooting in San Francisco.

Jackass: Best and Last (June 26)

The final installment in the Jackass movie franchise filmed in Los Angeles and Simi Valley. It’s helmed by Johnny Knoxville, who co-created and starred in every film and TV iteration of the series, which began as an MTV reality TV show in 2000.

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (July 10)

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is set in Los Angeles and was filmed entirely on location here. The film is directed by David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models), written by Wain and Ken Marino (Party Down, Wet Hot American Summer), and stars Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm (playing himself), and John Slattery.

The Odyssey (July 17)

Director Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey filmed in Italy, Greece, Morocco, Scotland and Iceland — but some key scenes were also shot in Los Angeles.

Southern California was built on radio.

"I can still hear the jingle KFWB News 98,” wrote  Taline in Los Feliz, during a recent conversation on LAist's daily news show, AirTalk, which airs on 89.3 FM. “I grew up hearing that in my dad's minivan on the way to and from school. It has a special place in my heart.”

Back in April, broadcast company Audacy announced KNX News — one of the last-remaining all-news FM stations — was leaving the FM dial where it had simulcast on 97.1 FM since 2021. The station, which is also one of the oldest in L.A., is not budging from 1070 AM where it has been on the air for more than 100 years. The move away from FM officially happened in May to make way for a new sports talk station, which Audacy officials called an area of growth for advertisers in today’s media landscape.

The move is one in a long line of changes for radio and a reminder that before podcasts, playlists and algorithms, many Southern Californians built their days around radio broadcasts.

Radio, a daily ritual

The construction of KNX

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Herman J. Schultheis

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Los Angeles Public Library

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Michael Jackson, a well-known KNX, personality

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Los Angeles Public Library

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Larry Mantle, now in his 41st year hosting AirTalk, remembers being a kid and dreaming of what it might be like to be behind the mic at one of these radio stations.

“ I grew up with KNX," he said. “My dream job as a kid was to be an anchor on KNX or KFWB, the two local all-news radio stations, 'cause there was nothing like hosting AirTalk that even existed at that point.”

Mantle opened up the phone lines on a recent show to hear from his fellow SoCal radio lovers about the shows they miss and the memories they have. Here's what they had to say:

A love for radio, then and now  

A pilot of KMPC's traffic alert helicopter pictured with his daughter and grandson.

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Los Angeles Public Library

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A 1963 picture of Valley State College (now Los Angeles Valley College) preparing to launch KVCM

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Larry Leach

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Los Angeles Public Library

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“When you'd walk down Hollywood Boulevard where the station was, you could hear it playing as you went down the street,” said  Olivia in Glendale about KLAC 570 with Al Jarvis.

 Larry in Yorba Linda shouted out KBCA Jazz for its 24-hour jazz, saying “When I first moved out here in '68 from Phoenix, which had like an hour a week, it was a real wonder.”

 Mark in Glassell Park emailed that he loves KCRW’s Henry Rollins, writing, “I used to bristle at his unique DJ persona, but over time, I came to love him and his crazy eclectic playlists. I find his knowledge in history and punk rock fascinating. He's a gem and a legend."

"I'd like to give a shout-out to all the DJs working at KXLU, the college station at Loyola Marymount University, said  Jeremy in Culver City in an email. “That station's been on the air for nearly 60 years. I believe it's one of the best examples of what's possible with radio."

"KFWB and KRLA back in the day when they were rock music stations —  Dr. Demento, one of my favorite on-air personalities, also had eclectic music taste," said  Carrie in Desert Edge.

“ Dr. Demento was must listening when I was a kid in junior high school at Le Conte Junior High in Hollywood,” Mantle added. “Every Sunday night on KMET, we would make sure we were listening to Dr. Demento and his funny records.”

The question remains…

An 11-year-old winning a car in a KMPC contest in 1963.

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Los Angeles Public Library

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Listener support is vital to any radio station, and it’s clear KNX has many lifelong fans. AirTalk listeners highlighted their support for household KNX names over the decades like Bill Keene, Melinda Lee, Mike Roy and Jackie Olden.

As KNX makes changes, many are watching closely and thinking about the future of radio.

Listeners like Tommy in La Quinta are left wondering if the radio dial will be the same…

“I’m a hardcore listener, but I don't know about casual listeners [and] if they'll tune to AM,” he said.

After months of hand-wringing, Los Angeles and LA28 have come to a tentative agreement on how Olympics organizers will reimburse the city for its expenses for the 2028 Summer Games.

According to the deal, the private Olympic organizing committee will pay upfront for the estimated cost of services that are not eligible for federal reimbursement, like trash pick-up and traffic control. Under another proposal, the city would also be able to tap an LA28 contingency fund if it isn't fully repaid by the federal government for policing costs at Olympic venues.

The agreement is nearly nine months overdue and still needs approval by Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council.

The 2028 Olympics are intended to be privately financed, and an existing city agreement with LA28 states that the Olympics organizers, not L.A., will pay for extra costs for public services in support of the Games. But L.A. is the financial back-stop for the Olympics, meaning if LA28 goes in the red, taxpayers will pick up the bill.

Beyond that, the city services agreement presents another area where L.A. could incur additional unexpected expenses for hosting the Games. L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez warned LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover earlier this year that a bad deal could "bankrupt" the city.

Jacie Prieto Lopez, an LA28 spokesperson, and Paul Krekorian, who leads the city's office of major events, said in statements that the freshly inked agreement would help deliver a fiscally responsible Games.

"Mayor Bass’ priority is that the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games be fiscally responsible, protect taxpayers, and benefit Angelenos for decades to come. This agreement helps deliver that commitment," Krekorian said.

But the contract between the two parties doesn't fully resolve one of the biggest areas of financial risk for the city: the enormous cost of security for an event as extensive and high-profile as the summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Organizers are counting on the federal government to pay for public safety at Olympic venues that are considered part of a "national special security event." That includes costs for LAPD staffing. LA28 has not included security costs in its $7.1 billion budget — a fact that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto criticized earlier this year.

The federal government has so far allocated $1 billion for security costs for the Olympics. Exactly where those federal funds will go has not yet been determined, and there's no guarantee they will cover all of L.A.'s policing costs.

To address this, city officials have also proposed an amendment to a 2021 agreement between the city and LA28. That amendment would establish that if L.A. is not reimbursed by the federal government for all its eligible expenses, it could dip into LA28's contingency fund of $270 million before the private organizing committee could use those funds for any legacy projects.

But that bucket of money will first be used for any costs that Olympics organizers still owe if they run out of revenue — meaning if the Olympics don't turn a profit, the city's access to that money will depend on how much is left for the taking.

Civil rights attorney Connie Rice, who has been tracking the city's negotiations with LA28, told LAist the agreement was a "PR document" not a deal. She pointed out that if the federal government does not pay up for security spending as expected, L.A. could be in trouble.

" It leaves the taxpayers with a GoFundMe strategy," she said.

The city services agreement lays the groundwork for more negotiations between LA28 and the city. Each venue will require its own agreement, to be negotiated by July 1, 2027. Venues in the city of L.A. include Dodger Stadium, the L.A. Convention Center, L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the Venice Beach Boardwalk.

The City Council's ad-hoc committee on the 2028 Games will meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on the agreement.