CA Film Production Increases 48% in First Half of 2004

Filming for feature films and commercials was up in California for the first half of the year, according to numbers released by the California Film Commission on July 1.

According to the Hollywood-based commission, production days for the January-June period rose 48 percent from last year, and commercial production increased 14 percent. Productions days for June increased 51 percent from the year-earlier period when feature films, commercials, television, music, stills and student filming are all included.

On the feature film front, 85 shooting days were active during the month, compared with 18 in 2003. The increase is the largest of the past six months, illustrating a significant pickup in the numbers of productions shooting on California property. For commercial production, days increased by two to 47, compared with the June 2003.

The California Film Commission, which hasn't released such statistics in the past two years, indicated that it will now release production figures quarterly.