TAX CREDITS HELP REVIVE FEATURE PRODUCTION IN L.A.

Despite a slight recovery from 2009, when film production in Los Angeles suffered its steepest annual slump ever, feature film production in the city and surrounding areas in 2010 was down 62 percent from its peak in 1996, according to a study by FilmL.A., the group that acts as a clearing house for location permits in the city. Feature film production was up 8 percent for the year, with most of the rise coming in the fourth quarter, which saw a 28-percent spurt in activity. FilmL.A. attributed the rise to California’s Film and Television Tax Credit, the state’s tax incentive program, and noted that films that received tax credits accounted for 26 percent of all production days in 2010. Had it not been for that program, FilmL.A. said the year would have been the worst year ever for local feature film production.