Recession blamed as LA film shoots slump

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1. Brett
   

   Film shoots in Los Angeles have slumped to their lowest levels on record as a result of the recession and stiff competition from rival states, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
   
   Although Hollywood has enjoyed a strong start to 2009, with the box office surging by around 14 percent, studios have begun slashing the number of films they produce and laying off thousands of employees, the Times said.
   
   Falling DVD sales, declining ad revenue from local television and dwindling sources of financing were cited for the cutbacks.
   
   Advertisers were making fewer commercials and cutting marketing budgets as consumers sought to reduce spending on household and big-ticket items.
   
   According to the California Employment Development Department more than 22,000 jobs were lost from the entertainment industry in January alone, around 10 percent of the workforce, the Times reported.
   
   The latest indicator of how the tanking US economy is affecting Hollywood comes in the figures for applications of permits for filming in Los Angeles.
   
   Figures from Film LA due to be officially released Tuesday reported that film shoot applications had nosedived by 56 percent in the first quarter. TV commercial production plunged by 34 percent, the report added.
   
   Film LA added that only five major studio films were scheduled to be filmed in Los Angeles this year, compared to around 15 last year.
   
   The decline has been attributed to other states seeking to win a slice of the lucrative entertainment industry pie by offering generous tax credits and rebates that make it cheaper to film outside California, the Times reported.
   
   "A combination of limited financing, reduced studio budgets and reduced ad buying are all hitting Hollywood at the same time," Kevin Klowden, managing economist at the Milken Institute told the Times.
   
   "The result is less production and clear job losses."

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