Los Angeles film production rose slightly in 2011, offsetting a decline in TV production to help boost overall on-location 4.2 percent for the year, according to non-profit permitting body FilmL.A.
All told, there were 45,484 permitted production days in the entertainment industry's backyard last year as opposed to 43,646 in 2010.
Also read: No Tax Breaks, No Growth: L.A. Film/TV Shooting Days Flat in Q2
On-location feature production increased 5.7 percent for the year, with 5,682 movies filmed in 2011 versus 5,378 in 2010.
By contrast, L.A. TV production slipped 2.7 percent for the year, down 10.6 percent in the fourth quarter alone.
That precipitous slide is partly attributable to the loss of 10 one-hour television dramas to other states, notably the Empire State. New York is having a record television season — thanks to a tax incentive structure that offers more than four times the amount of funding available than California.
Last year in Los Angeles, the number of television dramas dropped 11.5 percent; reality shows were down 1.8 percent; and sitcoms were down 12.8 percent.
Bucking the trend, pilots logged a 6.1 percent increase over the year. Also showing strength were the number of television commercials shot in the city, which jumped 4.4 percent to a record 7,079 advertisements.
On the feature side, the number of films dropped a massive 26.4 percent in the final quarter of the year.
California's film tax incentive program did help entice some productions to stay in the city, with 652 productions opting to stay in the region because of the credits, according to FilmL.A.
Among the productions driving a significant amount of feature activity were "The Dark Knight Rises" and Oliver Stone’s upcoming thriller "Savages," FilmL.A. said.
The study generates its figures from the number of days of permitted production.