Movie, TV Production Levels Historically Low Following Strikes

Published: January 18, 2024

Movie, TV Production Levels Historically Low Following SAG, WGA Strikes

By Movieguide® Contributor

It looks like Hollywood still needs some time to bounce back after 2023’s SAG-AFTRA and WAG strikes. 

“Scripted TV production ticked up slightly in the fourth quarter compared with the prior three-month period, but still remained far below historic levels,” Variety reported. “And feature film production continued to decline even after the strikes ended.”

A new report from FilmLA found that “Local on-location filming declined steeply in the fourth quarter, with 5,520 Shoot Days (SD)* logged for a -36.4 percent decline against the same period in 2022.”

TV production was also down “-54.3 percent to 1,707 SD for the quarter, and down 43.8 percent to 9,430 SD for the year.”

Paul Audley, the president of FilmLA, said 2023 wasn’t “good for anyone who works in the industry.”

“The question is, ‘What is the new normal?’” he continued. “We know networks and streamers were going to cut back on production. We know some of it has gone overseas.”

In a statement about this decline, Audley said, “History offers no point of comparison to the present. The pandemic year aside, we have to look very far back — farther back than permit records allow — to find a time when production levels stayed so low, for so long.”

“Everyone we are speaking to is eager to see production resume,” he continued. “Even as it does, we’ll remain in uncharted territory. We have months to go before we can describe what the new normal looks like for filming in LA.”

Movieguide® previously reported on the struggles the entertainment industry is facing post-strikes:

2024’s box office is projected to falter without a consistent stream of movies with blockbuster potential due to 2023’s extended writers’ and actors’ strikes.

“We should be nervous about the first half of 2024,” an anonymous studio executive told Deadline. “There’s no way that a labor stoppage as prolonged and chaotic as this wasn’t going to have consequences. Fire comes through and burns a forest and a town, and then the fire is over. But the consequences of the fire aren’t over: There’s mudslides, and there’s damaged infrastructure.”

“The fire is over: Now we’ve gotta rebuild the town,” the executive added.

With only 107 widely released movies – compared to 2023’s 124 – coming out this year and numerous gaps in the release schedule, 2024’s box office total is expected to drop at least $1 billion from last year’s $9 billion total.