2014 TV Pilot Study.pdf

8/12/2019 2014 TV Pilot Study.pdf

1/15

201 Production Report

2014, FilmL.A. Research

6255 W. Sunset Blvd., 12th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028 213.977.8600 www.filmla.com

EMBARGO: Hold until 12:00 p.m. PDT on

Tuesday, 6/24/14


2/15

About this Report

ThisreportistheproductofindependentresearchconductedbyFilmL.A,Inc.FilmL.A.isLosAngeles

regionalfilmoffice,servingtheCityandCountyofLosAngelesandaneverincreasingrosteroflocal

municipalities.Providingstreamlinedpermitprocessing,comprehensivecommunityrelations,marketing

services,filmpolicyanalysisandmoretothesejurisdictions,FilmL.A.workstoattractandretainfilm

productioninGreaterLosAngeles.

IntegraltoFilmL.A.sworkisongoingresearchintothebenefitsthatlocalfilmingbringstotheLos

Angelesregion.

To

that

end,

the

company

maintains

an

internal

research

division

devoted

to

the

production,collectionanddisseminationofinformationregardingtheU.S.filmproductioneconomy.

OnbehalfofeveryoneatFilmL.A.andthosewhodependonlocalentertainmentproductionfortheir

livelihoods,wethankyouforyourinterestinthisreport.Ifyouhaveanyquestionsaboutthecontent

herein,theauthorswelcomeyourinquiries.

AdrianMcDonald,LeadResearchAnalyst

CorinaSandru,ResearchAnalyst

FilmL.A.Research

6255W.SunsetBlvd.,12thFloor

Hollywood,CA90028

213.977.8636

www.filmla.com


3/15

1

EachyearbetweenJanuaryandApril,LosAngelesresidentsobserveamarkedincreaseinlocalon

locationfilming. Newtelevisionpilots,producedinanticipationofMayscreeningsfortelevisionadvertisers,join

continuingTVseries,featurefilmsandcommercialprojectsincompetitionfortalent,crews,stagespaceand

soughtafterlocations.

However,LosAngelesisn'ttheonlyplaceinNorthAmericahostingpilotproduction. Otherjurisdictions,

mostnotably

the

City

of

New

York,

the

Vancouver

area

and

the

City

of

Toronto,

have

established

themselves

as

strongcompetitorsforthislucrativepartofHollywoodsbusinesstradition. Morerecently,Atlanta,Georgiahas

emergedasastrongcontenderforpilotproductions,surpassingevenTorontointotalnumberofpilotsproduced

for2014.

FilmL.A.thenotforprofitorganizationthatcoordinatespermitsforfilmedentertainmentshoton

locationintheCityofLosAngeles,unincorporatedpartsofLosAngelesCountyandotherlocaljurisdictions

recentlyupdateditsongoingannualstudyoftelevisionpilotsinproduction.

FilmL.A.sofficialcountshowsthat203broadcast,cableandnewmediatelevisionpilotswereproduced

duringthe13/14developmentcycle,makingthepastyearthemostproductiveonrecordbyalargemargin.Out

ofthose203televisionpilots,atotalof90projectswerefilmedintheLosAngelesregion.

Whilethis

is

the

fourth

largest

annual

pilot

tally

in

Los

Angeles

history,

it

is

still

11

fewer

than

L.A.

handledduringitspeakyearof'04/'05. Intermsofoverallmarketshare,L.A.capturedjust44percentofallpilots

inthecurrentcycle. ThisisthelowestonrecordbyawidemarginandthefirsttimethatL.A.smarketsharehas

fallenbelow50percent. Needlesstosay,itisaveryfarcryfromL.A.srecord82percentsharein06/07.

TVDramas

In13/14,theLosAngelesregioncapturedjust17percentofalltelevisiondramapilots.Thisrepresentsa

staggeringdeclineof73percentfromthepeakin06/07,whenL.A.sdramasharewasacommanding63percent.

Foronehourdramapilots,the13/14cycleisalsoL.A.slowestmarketshareonrecordandthefirsttimethe

regionspilotproductionsharehasdippedbelow20percent.


4/15

2

Inthe12/13cycle,theratioofdramapilotsfilmedoutsideL.A.wasover4to1. Duringtheprevious

threedevelopmentcycles(09/1011/12),dramapilotswerefilmedoutsidetheL.A.regionbyaratioofmore

than2to1. Alarmingly,theseratiosnowseemrosycomparedtothe13/14cycle,inwhichtheratioofdrama

pilotsfilmedoutsideL.A.wasalmost5to1.

TVComedies

L.A.sshareofcomedypilotsproducedin13/14was76percent,downfrom83percentintheprevious

cycleandsubstantiallysmallerthanits91percentsharein11/12. ThenumberofcomedypilotsproducedinL.A.

was71in13/14comparedto75inthepreviouscycle.

L.A.sstatusasthepremierpilotproductioncentercontinuestohingeonindustrywillingnesstoproduce

comedyprojectsinLosAngeles. Untilrecently,generousfilmincentivesinotherlocationshavenotbeenas

successfulatsiphoningcomedyproductionfromL.A. AnemergingexceptiontothatruleisNewYork,whichhas

seenremarkablegrowth(discussedlaterinthisreport). However,with11comedypilotsproducedinNewYork,it

remainsaverydistantsecondtoLosAngeles.


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3

Multicamera,stageboundcomedies,whichL.A.hasbeenabletoretainingreatnumbers,costupto$1.5

milliontoproduceperepisode.In13/14,therewere40multicamerapilotsproduced(37inL.A.). By

comparison,in12/13,therewere40multicamerapilotsproduced(36inL.A.).Creativereasons,asopposedto

economicreasons,presentlykeeptheseproductionsinLosAngeles.

Singlecameracomediesthatregularlyshootonlocationcostslightlymoretomakeatupto$2.0million

perepisode.

In

13/14,

there

were

52

single

camera

pilots

produced

(33

in

L.A.).

By

comparison,

in

12/13,

there

were50singlecamerapilotsproduced(39inL.A.).

PilotProductionLocations

Duringthe13/14developmentcycle,90televisionpilotswerefilmedonLosAngelesstreetsand

stages. However,113otherpilotsofwhich91werecovetedonehourdramaprojectswereproduced

outsidetheregionincompetingjurisdictions. Inthepreviousdevelopmentcycle,only90totalpilotswere

producedoutsidetheregion.

AfterL.A.,thetopfourcompetitorsforpilotproductionin13/14wereNewYork(35pilots),Vancouver

(17pilots),Atlanta(12pilots)andToronto(8pilots). TrailingthetopfourwastheStateofTexas,whichhostedfive

totalpilots

(Austin:

3;

Dallas:

2).

Theavailabilityoffinancialproductionincentivesandproductioninfrastructurearekeyfactors

influencingwherepilotproducerschoosetofilm. Asinprioryears,someformoffilmproductionincentivewas

availableineveryoneofthenonCalifornialocationsusedduringthe13/14developmentcycle. Indeed,the

availability

of

generous

financial

incentives

and

the

availability

of

an

established

and/or

rapidly

growing

production

infrastructureproveddecisivefortwoofL.A.stopcompetitors:NewYork&Georgia.

NewYork

In2009,theStateofNewYorkincreasedtheamountofavailablefundsunderthestatesfilmtaxcredit

programtoover$400million. Theincreasedfundingbecamenecessaryduetothegreatlyincreaseddemandand

popularityoftheprogramaftertherateoftheincentiveinNewYorkwasincreasedfrom10percentto30percent

inlate2008.


6/15

4

Inthe09/10developmentcycle,theyearbeforeitsprogramtookeffect,justfivetotalpilotswere

producedinNewYork. Theverynextyear,duringthe10/11developmentcycle,thenumberofpilotsproduced

inNewYorkexplodedto17,a240percentincreaseovertheprioryear. Withthe35totalpilotsproducedinNew

Yorkduringthe13/14cycle,NewYorkhasseenthevolumeoftotalpilotsproducedwithinitsbordersincreaseby

600percentsincethestateincreasedtherateandavailabilityofitsfilmtaxcreditprogram.

Whenitcomestoonehourdramapilots,thegrowthinNewYorksincethestateincreaseditsincentiveis

evenmoredramatic. In09/10,justtwoonehourdramapilotsfilmedinNewYork. Duringthemostrecent

cycle,thatnumberhadclimbedtoarecordhighof24onehourdramasin13/14. Fortheeconomically lucrative

onehournetworkdramas(whichtypicallyshoottwiceasmanyepisodeseachseasoncomparedtocable),New

Yorkwentfromhostingzeronetworkdramapilotsin09/10to12inthe13/14cycle. Bycomparison,Los

Angelessawthenumberofonehournetworkpilotsdeclinefrom14tojustsevenduringthesameperiod,a50

percentdecline.

The13/14cyclealsomarksanothermilestoneforNewYork. Forthefirsttimeonrecord,NewYork

hostedmoreonehourdramapilotsthanCalifornia. TheEmpireStatehosted24onehourdramapilotscompared

tojust19forLosAngeles.

NewYorkhasalsoseenremarkablegrowthinthenumberofcomedypilotsproducedinthestate. During

the13/14developmentcycle,comedypilotproductionactivityinNewYorkincreased83percentovertheprior

year,with11comedypilotsproducedintheEmpireState.


7/15

5

Moreimportantly,14ofthe17comedypilotsproducedinNewYorkoverthelasttwoyearshavebeenfor

covetedsingle

camera

shows,

which

cost

more

to

produce

than

multi

camera

comedies.

Georgia

In2008,theStateofGeorgiaenactedanuncappedfilmtaxcreditprogramthatcoversupto30percentof

productionexpendituresincurredwithinthestate. AsinNewYork,Georgiasawasignificantincreasein

productionspendingwithinitsborders,includinganincreaseinthenumberofTVpilotsshotthere. Inthe08/09

developmentcycle,whichoccurredjustbeforethenewincentivebegantotakeeffect,justonepilotwasproduced

inthePeachState. Thefollowingyear,however,withthenewincentiveinfulleffect,thenumberofpilotsshotin

Georgiaquadrupled. Duringthe13/14cycle,atotalof12pilotsfilmedinGeorgia,anincreaseof1,100percent

overthe08/09cyclewhenGeorgiaenacteditslargeincentive.

Inadditiontoitsgenerousuncappedincentiveprogram,Georgiahasbeenaggressivelybuildingupits

nativefilminfrastructure. Filmmaker(andGeorgianative)TylerPerrysstudiosarecurrentlyundergoingamassive

expansionthatwillnearlydoubletheircurrent38acres. UnitedKingdombasedPinewoodStudiosisalso

expandingitspresenceinGeorgiaandcurrentlyoperatessixstateoftheartsoundstagesatits288acrecampus,

whereithasplanstobuildatleastsixmore. Morerecently,GeorgiaGovernorNathanDealhasexpressedinterest

inhaving1,000ormoreacresoflandinGeorgiaconvertedintouseforamovieranchsimilartothosefoundin

SouthernCalifornia.


8/15

6

Georgiasgenerousincentiveandinvestmentininfrastructurearehavingaprofoundeffectonthe

popularityofthestateasafilmingdestination. Lastyear,GeorgiaovertookLouisianaasthethirdlargestUSstate

intotalproductionspending.

DigitalPlatformsReshapingTelevisionLandscape

Injust

the

last

several

years,

non

traditional

programming

available

from

online

services

like

Amazon

and

Netflixhasbegunalteringhowmoretraditionaltelevisionbroadcasteracquireanddelivercontent.

InAugust2013,actorKevinSpacey,thestarofNetflixshitseriesHouseofCards,gaveaspeechattheEdinburghTelevisionFestivalinwhichhepredicteddifferentiationbetweencontentdeliveryplatformswouldend

withinadecade:

Onewaythatourindustrymightfailtoadapttothecontinuallyshiftingsandsistokeepadogmatic

differentiationintheirmindsbetweenvariousmedia separatingfilmandTVandminiseriesand

webisodesandhoweverelseyoumightwanttolabelnarrativeformats...Ipredictthatinthenextdecade

ortwo,anydifferentiationbetweentheseformats theseplatforms willfallaway.

Is13hourswatchedasonecinematicwholereallyanydifferentthanafilm?Dowedefinefilmbybeing

somethingtwo

hours

or

less?

Surely

it

goes

deeper

than

that.

If

you

are

watching

afilm

on

your

television,

isitnolongerafilmbecauseyou'renotwatchingitinthetheater?IfyouwatchaTVshowonyouriPadis

itnolongeraTVshow?Thedeviceandlengthareirrelevant.Thelabelsareuseless exceptperhapsto

agentsandmanagersandlawyerswhousetheselabelstoconductbusinessdeals.Forkidsgrowingup

nowtheresnodifferencewatchingAvataronaniPadorwatchingYouTubeonaTVandwatchingGameofThronesontheircomputer.It'sallcontent.It'sallstory.Inthe2010/11season,justsixdigitalserieswerebeingproducedfornontraditionaldigitalplatforms.

Thegrowthinthenumberofdigitalseries1thatbeganairingsincethattimehasbeenremarkable:

1Digital Platforms include: Amazon, AOL, Crackle, Hulu, MSN, Netflix, Playstation, XBOX, Yahoo, YouTube(Source: Baseline Studio Systems)


9/15

7

Amazon

In13/14,AmazonStudiosproducedsevenliveactionpilots(plusanadditionalthreeanimated)forits

AmazonPrimesubscriptionstreamingservice,justonemorethanthesixliveactionpilotsthestudioproducedin

thepreviouscycle. However,Amazonpickedupfiveofthesevenliveactionpilotsproducedin13/14,compared

tojusttwo(ofsix)inthepreviouscycle. Amazonselectswhichpilotsreceivefullseriesordersbasedinlargepart

onthe

number

of

times

ashow

is

streamed

and

the

percentage

of

viewers

who

finish

the

pilot.

Unlike

network

television,onAmazontherearenocommercialinterruptionsandadvertiserinfluenceiseffectivelytakenoutof

theequation.

TheresponsefromviewersappearstobeverypromisingforAmazon. AccordingtoAmazon,thenumber

ofstreamsforeachpilotproducedinthe13/14cycleincreasedby100percentcomparedtolastyear.Some

industryobserverspointtoarumoreddoublingofAmazonPrimessubscriberbaseoverthepastyear,whichcould

helpexplainwhythenumberofviewsforpilotsthisyeardoubledaswell.Whilethatisavalidexplanation,its

worthnotingthatthefivepilotsproducedforchildrensawthenumberofstreamsincreaseby200percentover

lastyear. AmazonistightlyguardedaboutrevealingexactlyhowmanysubscribersAmazonPrimehas,but

unofficialestimatesplaceitaround20million.

ItspossibletheincreasedsubscriberbaseforAmazonPrimeincludedmorefamilieswithchildren. It

couldalso

reflect

agenerational

reality

that

children,

unlike

their

parents,

are

much

more

likely

to

consume

contentvianontraditionalplatformsandviewingdevices. ItsalsopossiblethenumberofsubscriberstoAmazon

increasedbecauseofthegrowingamountoforiginalcontentbeingproducedoutsidetraditionaltelevision

broadcastingandthemannerinwhichcontentisdelivered.

Netflix

UnlikeAmazon,theoriginalprogrammingonNetflixhasallconsistedofstraighttoseriesorders. Rather

thanreleaseepisodesonaweeklybasisliketraditionalnetworks,Netflixmakesallepisodesavailableatonetime,

whichalsotakesadvertisersoutoftheequation.

Ratherthanmakeviewerstuneinweekly,Netflixallowsviewerstobingeonanentireseasonof

episodesas

quickly

as

they

please.

Moreover,

because

there

are

no

commercial

interruptions

or

gaps

between

episodes,Netflixallowsscreenwriterstocontrolthepaceandflowofthestory,avoidingcommercialinterruptions

ortheneedforweeklycliffhangers. TheNetflixmodelappearstobeahitwithviewers.

WhenNetflixrolledoutitsonlinestreamingservicein2008,thecompanyhad8.2millionsubscribers. By

thecloseof2010,thenumberofsubscribershadsoaredtoalmost20million. Bytheendof2013,thecompany

hadmorethan40millionsubscribersworldwide,includingover33millionintheU.S.and9.7millionoverseas

(comparedtolessthanonemillioninternationalsubscribersinearly2011). In2011,Netflixbeganacquiring

originalcontenttoairexclusivelyonitsstreamingsubscriptionservice,anditsfirstoriginalseries,Lillyhammer,

wasreleasedin2012. In2013,Netflixaddedfivemoreseriesoforiginalcontent,includinghitserieslikeHouseofCardsandOrangeistheNewBlack. Attheendof2014,Netflixwillhaveatotalof11originalseries(includingthreeanimatedshows). In2015,Netflixplanstoaddsevenmoreseriestoitsoriginalcontentlineup,includingthe

firstof60episodesinaseriesproducedbyDisneyfeaturingMarvelsuperheroes.

Netflixdemandshighqualityforitsoriginalcontentandhasbeenwillingtopaytopdollartogetit. Total

spendinginMarylandforthefirstthreeseasonsofHouseofCardsisexpectedtoexceed$173million. MarvelStudiosisexpectedtospend$200millioninNewYork,whereall60episodesofitsfoursuperheroserieswillbe

filmed. NewYorkalsobenefitsfromroughly$4millionspentmakingeachepisodeofOrangeistheNewBlack,foratotalof$104millioninitsfirsttwoseasons.


10/15

8

Project Location Spending

HouseofCards(S1S3) Maryland $173millionMarvelSuperheroSeries NewYork $200million

OrangeistheNewBlack(S1S2) NewYork $104millionPresumeforamomentthatsuchseriescouldhavebeenmadeinCalifornia,wereincentivesinplaceto

bringthem

here.

The

lost

opportunity

to

the

California

economy

from

just

these

three

Netflix

series

approaches

$475million.

TheMainstreamingofStraighttoSeriesProduction

Astheinitialepisodeofaproposedtelevisionseries,manypilotsaremade,butonlyafewwilleverbe

showntoviewersonbroadcastorcabletelevision. Beforeapilotcanbegreenlightedforseries,itmustfirstbe

deemedmarketabletotelevisionadvertisersandforeigndistributors.

Fordecades,broadcastnetworkshavecourtedadvertisersinanexpensiveandseasonallydriven

upfrontsprocess. EveryyearinlateMay,advertiserspreviewtheshowsthatwillgoontobeairedonbroadcast

networksinthefallorearlythefollowingyearasmidseasonreplacements.

Cablenetworksalsoscreenavarietyofscriptedcontent. Unlikenetworkpilots,cablepilotsareproduced

yearroundandhaveincreasedinnumbertocontributemightilytodevelopmentcycleyields. Newcableseries

debutthroughouttheyear.

Notonlyhavethetraditionalbroadcastandcabletelevisionnetworksbeguntorespondtothepresence

ofnewcompetitors,itappearstheyareadaptingtheirownbusinessmodelstosuit. Accordingtotheformer

chairmanofentertainmentatFoxBroadcasting,KevinReillyattheTelevisionCriticsAssociationinJanuary,the

gamehadalreadychangedandtherewasadesireatthenetworktoplaybynewrules. AsofJanuary2014,Fox

announcedtotheworldthatitwouldskippilotproductionaltogether:

WevebeentryingtodoawaywithpilotseasonforalongtimeatFox. Thebroadcastschedulingprocess

wasbuiltforadifferenterawhentherewerethreenetworksthathadanearmonopoly.Wedontlivein

thatage

anymore.

Iftheindustryhasenteredadifferentera,whatdoesthatmeanfortelevisionshowrunners? As

screenwriterTravisBeahhamtoldtheLosAngelesTimesearlierthisyear,theresultingcreativefreedomcouldhelpmakeunusualshowconceptsmorecommerciallyviable:

AfewyearsagoFoxpassedonmakingapilotfortheproposedseriesbyscreenwriterTravisBeacham,

whichseemedlikethekissofdeath...Thisyear,however,Foxdecidedtotaketheseries.Butitdidn'tjust

orderapilotitordered13episodes.

Thebiggestadvantageofaseriesorderisthatitgivesusacrucialheadstartonthesortofpreparationit

takestorealizeaworldaslushandcomplexasthis,BeachamtoldTheTimesinanemail.It'shardtoinvestthatkindofeffortinapilotthatmayormaynotseethelightofday.Withoutaseriescommitment,

it'salmostimpossibleforsomethinglikeHieroglyphtohappen.

Ifadaptingtoaneweraoftelevisionbroadcastingmeansadoptingthepracticeoforderingmoreshows

straighttoseries,areviewofFilmL.A.shistoricaldatasuggeststhe13/14cyclemarksyearoneofthenewera.

Atotalof38network,cableandnewmediashowswereorderedstraighttoseriesinthe13/14cycle,whichis

morethandoublethecombinedtotalofthethreepreviousdevelopmentcycles.


11/15

9

Lookingatthetrendsforbothcategoriesindividuallyrevealsotherpatterns. Whenitcomestodrama,

cablenetworkshavebeenmoreaggressivethanbroadcastnetworksineachofthelastfourcycles. Inthethree

cyclespriorto13/14,thenumberofdramasorderedstraighttoseriesforcableoutpacednetworkordersbya71

margin. Whereasinthe13/14cycle,cableordersstilloutpacednetworkorders,butonlybya21margin. The20

cabledramaordersin13/14representa122percentincreaseoverthepriorcycle. Bycomparison,the10

networkdrama

orders

in

13/14

represent

a400

percent

increase

over

the

prior

two

cycles

combined.

Whenitcomestocomedy,neithercablenorbroadcastnetworksplacedapriorityonorderingshows

straighttoseriespriorto13/14,whenalmostthreetimesasmanycomedieswereorderedthanthepriorthree

cyclescombined. Comedystraighttoseriesordersforcableoutpacednetworkordersbynearlya31margin.


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10

PilotsEconomicImportance

Pilotproductionisworthyofstudybecausetheactivitycreatessignificanteconomicbenefitsforthe

hostingregion. Accordingtoindustrysources,theaverageonehourdramapilotcandirectlyemploy150230

peopleforthedurationoftheproject.

Typicalpilotproductioncosts,havingrisenovertheyears,nowaverageabout$2million(forcomedy

pilots)and$6millionto$8million(fordramapilots). Presentations,whicharesometimesmadeinlieuofpilots,

costupto40percentlesstoproducethanfulllengthpilots.

Basedonthesefigures,FilmL.A.estimatesthatapproximately$290millionwasspentontelevisionpilot

productioninLosAngelesduringthe13/14developmentcycle,anincreaseoverthe$278millionspentinL.A.

duringthepreviouscycle.2 Thisisroughly30percentofthetotalamountspentbyproducersinalllocations.

2While there were six fewer pilots producing in L.A. during the 13/14 cycle, total spending increased due anincrease in the estimated cost to produce a one-hour drama. During the previous cycle, the average cost for a dramapilot was $5.5 million.


13/15

11

RunawaySeriesProduction

Pilotproducersongoingwanderlustintroducesapairofrelatedconcernsforthosewhoworkintelevision

inL.A. Ononehand,lostproductionsharecarrieswithitthethreatofdiminishedpilotseasonspending. But

another,moreserious,concernisthattheonetimelossofapilotcaneasilyleadtothelossofapromisingseries.

Historically,pilots

made

in

Los

Angeles

were

highly

likely

to

stay

in

the

region

ifpicked

up

for

series

production. Inrecentyears,however,agrowingnumberofproductionshavebeguntobuckthistrend. Evena

pilotshotinL.A.forashowthatissetinL.A.hasnoguaranteeofstayinginL.A.forseries.

AfterfilmingthepilotepisodeforUSAsSouthernCaliforniasetdramaGracelandinL.A.,producers

relocatedtheseriestoFloridaafteritfailedtoreceivetheCaliforniaFilm&TelevisionTaxCredit. Asaresult,the

remaining11episodesforGracelandsfirstseasonfilmedinFlorida. Onaverage,Gracelandspentmorethan

$151,000foreachdayofproductioninMiami. ThisrepresentsalosstoCaliforniaofmorethan$19million,

including$10.2millionspentonwages,forjustthisoneshow. Unfortunately,GracelandwasntCaliforniasonly

recentseriesloss.

PlanswererecentlyannouncedtorelocateTheWhispers,anetworkdramaseries,toVancouverafterfilmingthepilotinL.A. ThetwopartpilotepisodefortheNCISspinoff,NCIS:NewOrleans,reportedlyspentthebulk

of

its

$10.7

million

budget

in

L.A.,

but

the

series

is

relocating

to

New

Orleans.

While

for

the

latter

there

are

obviouscreativeconsiderationsinplay,allpriorseriesintheNCISfranchisehavebeenL.A.based,andproducers

pointtoLouisianasgeneroustaxcreditprogramasanimportantfactorindeterminingtheirchoiceoflocation.

Thiscomesontheheelsof losingAmericanHorrorStory,anothercovetedonehourdrama,toLouisianaaftertheshowfilmeditsfirsttwoseasonsinLosAngeles. TheonlyreasonAmericanHorrorStorydidnotrelocateafterseasononeisthatproducerswerehopingseasontwowouldmakeitoffthewaitinglistfortheCaliforniaFilm

&TelevisionTaxCredit. Unfortunately,thegambledidnotpayoffandtheshow,whichspendsroughly$60million

makingeachseason,movedtoNewOrleans.

FromPilottoSeriesProduction

Today,the

availability

of

production

incentives

and

established

production

infrastructure

outside

Los

Angelesmakeitpossibletofilmseriesinotherplaces. Thisfact,combinedwithnetworkdecisionsaboutwhich

showstopickuporcancelinagivenyear,posesaseriousthreattoestablishedproductioncenterslikeLos

Angeles.

Inanefforttohelpquantifythisproblem,FilmL.A.researchersanalyzednewandcontinuingseries

pickupseachyearfromthe2010/2011fallviewingseasontotheforthcoming2014/15fallviewingseasonon

majorbroadcastnetworksduringprimetime.Thisanalysisexcludedcableandwebproductions,becauseoftheir

irregularseriesstartpatterns,aswellasreality,animatedandnonscriptedbroadcastingsuchassportsandnews

programming.

Threeyearsago,the2012/2013seasonmarkedthefirsttimeduringFilmL.A.songoingstudyinwhich

L.A.accountedforlessthan50percentofnetworkscreentimedevotedtoprimetimescripteddramas. Sincethen,

L.A.sshare

of

network

screen

time

devoted

to

dramas

has

fallen

below

40

percent

for

the

second

time

in

arow

headingintothisfall.

Atthebeginningofthe2013/2014fallviewingseason,L.A.sshareofnetworkscreentimedevotedto

primetimescripteddramasfellbelow40percent,arecordlow. Inall,viewerslastfallwereexposedto38L.A.

basedshows(15dramas,23comedies). Viewerswerealsoexposedto27showsfilmedoutsidetheregion(26

dramas,1comedy).


14/15

12

Bythebeginningofthe2014/2015fallviewingseason,L.A.sshareofnetworkscreentimedevotedto

primetimescripteddramaswill,forthesecondyearinarow,againfallbelow40percent. Inall,viewerswillbe

exposedto36L.A.basedshows(14dramas,22comedies). Theywillalsobeexposedto23shows(alldramas)

filmedoutsidetheregion.

IsThereAnyGoodNews?

Fortheforthcomingfallseason,nineof29newnetworkdramasserieswillfilminLosAngeles. Whilethis

maysoundlikebleaknews,itstillrepresentsaremarkablerecoveryconsideringthelasttwoyears. Lastfall,just

fiveof26newnetworkdramaseriesfilmedinL.A.,andonlytwoof22newnetworkdramasseriesfilmedinL.A.

duringthepriorcycle.

TheCaliforniaFilm&TelevisionTaxCreditprogramhashelpedreverseatinyamountofrunaway

production. In2014,theprogramhelpedrelocateseventelevisionseriesthatfilmedtheirpilotepisodesand/or

priorseasonsfromoutsideofthestate. Asaresult,thesesevenproductionswillspendmorethan$170millionin

thestateandsustainover30,000full&parttimepositionsthisyear.

Production

Background&

Standins

Cast

Crew QualifiedSpending Prior

Location

DeliveranceCreek 3,450 120 200 $23,425,111 Austin,TX(Pilot)Franklin&Bash 3,580 261 142 $20,128,375 Atlanta,GA(Pilot)Justified 3,705 331 140 $29,457,855 Pennsylvania(Pilot)Perception 4,554 179 207 $27,748,988 Toronto,ON(Pilot)PrettyLittleLiars 10,500 313 130 $40,181,676 Vancouver,BC(Pilot)TeenWolf 3,570 20 130 $24,069,925 Atlanta,GA(Pilot,

Season1)

LetsStayTogether 480 10 86 $5,6645,55 Atlanta,GA(Season14)

Itsworth

noting

that

two

of

these

productions,

(TeenWolf&LetsStayTogether)relocatedafterfilming

priorseasonsinGeorgia,wheretheincentiveisalmostdoublewhatCaliforniaoffers. Moreover,LetsStayTogetherfilmeditspilotepisodeinCaliforniabeforemovingtheshowtoGeorgiaandonlyrelocatedtobacktoLos

AngelesafteritwasoneoftheluckyfewproductionsabletosecureataxcreditunderCaliforniascurrent

program. Similarly,hadtherebeenenoughtaxcreditstopreventashowlikeAmericanHorrorStoryfromgettingwaitlisted,itmighthavepreventedtheshowfrommovingtoLouisiana(whichoffersthesameamountasGeorgia).

Alsoofnote,noneofthetelevisionseriesthathavereceivedtheCaliforniaFilm&TelevisionTaxCredit

sincetheprogramsinceptionin2009haveeverrelocatedtoanotherjurisdictionoutsideofthestate. Oncea


15/15

13

seriesgetstheCaliforniataxcredit,theshowstaysinthestate. Similarly,everyseriesthathasfilmedpriorseasons

orpilotepisodesoutsideofthestatehasrelocatedtoCaliforniauponreceivingthestatesfilmincentive.

Talk,Talent&VarietyinL.A.

Thoughnotafocusofthisreport,othersoundstagereliantfacetsofLosAngelestelevisionproduction

industryare

worthy

of

mention.

TheL.A.regionhostsnumeroustelevisiontalkshows,includingConan,TheLateLateShowwithCraigFerguson,JimmyKimmelLive,TheTalk,EllenandDr.Phil.

Locallyproducedgameshowsinclude,butarenotlimitedto,Jeopardy,WheelofFortune,LetsMakeaDeal,SharkTank,Wipeout,TheBiggestLoserandThePriceisRight.

TalentshowsinL.A.includeAmericanIdol,AmericasBestDanceCrew,TheVoice,TheXFactor,AmericasGotTalent,SoYouThinkYouCanDance,DancingwiththeStars,DuetsandAmericasNextTopModel.METHODOLOGY

SinceJanuary,

2005,

FilmL.A.

has

conducted

ongoing

primary

and

secondary

research

to

keep

track

of

newtelevisionpilots.

Thisreportcapturesallpilotproductions,presentations,andstraighttoseriestelevisionprojects

intendedforprimetimeviewingonmajorbroadcastandcablenetworksandpremiumwebservices.

OurlistsincludeallpilotsofwhichFilmL.A.hasbeenmadeawarethroughprimaryandsecondary

research,andforwhichaprimaryproductionlocationcouldbeverified.

Pleasenotethatitisrareforunscripted(reality)televisionseriestoproducepilots. Afewturnupineach

developmentcyclesurvey,butreportauthorsopttoexcludethemfromofficialcounts.

NOTES

1. FilmL.A.usesthewordpilotthroughoutthisstudytorefertoalloriginalscriptedpilots,shorterlengthpresentationsor

hiddenpilotscapturedduringthedevelopmentcycle.Pilotcountswithinadevelopmentcycleincludebothstagebasedand

locationbasedprojectsmadeinanylocation,ofanyrunningduration,intendedforprimetimedebutoneitherbroadcastor

cablenetworksservingU.S.audiences. Originalwebseriesareincludedforthisanalysis,butanimatedpilotproductionsarenot

counted.

2. Networksmaychoosetoskippilotandpresentationproductionandimmediatelygreenlightpromisingnewshowsfor

seriesproduction. Ratherthandiscountnewproductionoccurringanywherewithinthedevelopmentcycle,FilmL.A.includes

thefirstepisodeofthesestraighttoseriesproductionsashiddenpilotsinallofitscounts.

3. FilmL.A.definesadevelopmentcycleastheperiodleadinguptotheearliestpossibledatethatnewpilotswouldair,post

pickup. Thus,the13/14developmentcycleincludesproductionactivitythatstartsin2013andcontinuesinto2014forshow

startsat

any

time

in

2014

(or

later).

4. FilmL.A.accountsforthedifferencebetweenfullpilotandpresentationcostsinitsoverallpilotseasonspendingestimates.

2014 TV Pilot Study.pdf

Documents

Transcript of 2014 TV Pilot Study.pdf