Eight studio features have secured initial approval for filming incentive support from California’s boosted tax credit programme. The highest-profile movie is supernatural sequel Conjuring 2 and several of the approved productions will shoot outside Los Angeles’ 30-Mile Zone.
The California Film Commission has discussed the advantages of allocating its filming incentive tax credits according to how many jobs a production will create. California boosted its filming incentive earlier this year and is now considering 254 feature applications.
Location filming in Los Angeles fell by 1.9% overall in the second quarter of this year, but the decline was moderated by increases in specific categories, including a 12.3% rise in shoot days for TV drama. California has more than tripled its annual film fund for the next few years.
Los Angeles has claimed the top spot as the most popular North American filming location for TV pilots by a huge margin, according to new figures from FilmLA. Ninety-one pilots were shot in the city in the 2014-15 production cycle, while New York came a distant second with 25.
Long-running political comedy Veep has confirmed it is switching its filming location to California after four years doubling Maryland for Washington, DC. The show takes a satirical look at the workings of the US government from the offices of the Vice President.
Award-winning political satire Veep is one of several top-rated TV shows awarded incentive support to relocate its new season to California. The series has spent four years doubling Baltimore for Washington, DC, using Maryland’s 27% TV filming incentive.
Washington, DC, has launched a small film fund for the first time in half a decade. The success of TV shows like Veep and House of Cards have sustained Washington as a hugely popular setting, but the city is not regarded as film-friendly and supports very few production days.
Popular Cold War spy series The Americans doubles New York for 1980s Washington, DC. Currently in its third season, the drama follows two Russian KGB agents living undercover as an American married couple in northern Virginia towards the end of the Cold War.