Written by on Nov 30, 2011. Posted in On Location

Los Angeles City Hall location filming drops as Occupy LA protests continue

Location filming at Los Angeles’ iconic City Hall has fallen in recent weeks as a result of the Occupy LA protests. A mass of tents set up by protestors outside the popular filming location has resulted in a 50% drop-off in filming projects over the past eight weeks compared to the same period last year.

The protest camp outside City Hall has contributed to a general 10% decrease in Los Angeles location filming over the past two months compared to the same period in 2010, according to the LA Times. Many productions have moved out-of-state, while others are confining their shoots to studios.

Most [film crews] are avoiding City Hall at this point. They can’t even get their parking vehicles in the area and it would be very difficult to run cable with that many people there.

Paul Audley, Film LA

Paul Audley is President of Film LA and spoke to the outlet: “Most [film crews] are avoiding City Hall at this point. They can’t even get their parking vehicles in the area and it would be very difficult to run cable with that many people there.”

California recently extended its state filming incentive, although only for 12 months as the scheme has plenty of detractors. The short-term extension is likely to be one reason why New York became the favourite filming city for this year’s TV pilot season in the US.

(Image copyright: Brion Vibber)