One of the critical, but often overlooked, categories of filming in the Los Angeles region is commercials.  Indeed, as seen in the chart from FilmL.A. below, commercials racked up a higher number of permitted production days (PPDs) in Los Angeles during the last two years than feature films:

Earlier this week, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers issued a press release announcing the results of their ninth annual survey about the health of the commercial production business:

“The data collected and analyzed by Resolve Market Research provides both our members, and the industry at-large valuable insights into trends in the commercial production business,” said Matt Miller, AICP President and CEO.  “These findings provide an in-depth analysis of where the billions of dollars in commercial production activity are expended, along with key business issues our members face as they manage and grow their companies.”

The survey quantifies the economic impact of commercial production, including identifying geographic trends in commercial filming activity by AICP member companies both domestically and internationally as well as industry responses to a number of key factors that impact the financial health of the industry.

According to the AICP release, the main highlights of the survey were as follows:

Expenditures rose 5% in 2010. Rebounding from the economic downturn in 2008-2009, expenditures rose close to pre-2008 numbers this past year. Specifically, live action production expenditures saw an average increase of 5% per company, and companies that are engaged in digital production saw an increase of 47% on average from 2009-2010. Domestic expenditures also increased by 4%. Regionally, the industry invested an average of 50% of all live action expenditures in California, with New York at 15% and all other domestic regions at 26% for 2010.

71% of live action shoot days took place on location. The percentage of shoot days on location was the highest since 2008. In line with expenditures, 51% of all shoot days in 2010 took place in Southern California. However, production levels in the Golden State remain almost stagnant, continuing a 3% market loss trend since 2007. New York received 15% of all shoot days, with the New York Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting showing a 10% increase in commercial activity over 2009 due primarily to the positive economic impact of the Empire State Commercial Tax Credit put into effect in 2007. Other domestic regions received 22%, with Illinois receiving 4% and Florida receiving 2% respectively. Overall, foreign shoot days remained consistent, accounting for 12% of all shoot days.

2010 Sees Continuing Trend Toward Domestic Filming Activity: Eighty-eight percent of all reported shoot days took place domestically, with 12% abroad. This represents a decrease from the 24% of shoot almost a decade ago, and the lowest ratio for shoot days overseas since this survey’s inception in 2002.

Significant Filming Activity Continues Outside of Traditional Production Centers:In 2010, about 18% of all shoot days took place away from the major production centers of New York, Illinois, and Southern California.  The Southwest (Texas, New Mexico & Arizona) with 4% and Southeast (Georgia, North & South Carolina) with 3% have shown the most growth in activity in recent years, mostly due to incentives offered to commercial production in those states.

Europe and the U.K. Ranks #1 Among International Locations for 1^st Time: The past year saw fluctuation in the most common foreign shoot location. Shoot days in Europe and the UK increased significantly to lead activity overseas for the first time in the survey’s history. After a 49% dip in activity in 2009, South America rebounded to remain the second most filmed foreign location. Canada again fell slightly for the second straight year to 21% of all shoot days abroad.”

To read the entire report, which is available in our brand new “Reports & Resources” page, click HERE.