The Zac Efron-Seth Rogen comedy “Townies” has provided a boost to Los Angeles film production at a time when feature shooting has been moderate.
The Universal project, with Nicholas Stoller helming the pic, has been among the most active location shoots in recent weeks, according to figures provided by the FilmL.A. permitting agency. The pic, which revolves around a frat boy whose behavior affects a local neighbor’s family life, totalled 45 permitted days over the past three weeks — and has been entirely shot in Los Angeles.
Rose Byrne, Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse also star in “Townies,” due to wrap Friday. Locations have included Los Angeles City College, Universal City Walk, an office building in Chatsworth, an apartment in Silverlake, private residences in the mid-city area and a Ukranian cultural center in east Hollywood.
Other recent high-profile features shot in Los Angeles include Elizabeth Banks comedy “Walk of Shame” and “Captain America 2.”
Location activity in Los Angeles has heated up over the past month, thanks mostly to the mainstay TV category. Double-digit gains have been posted for seven straight weeks, including an 18% hike to 630 days.
TV surged 21% to 328 days last week thanks to hikes in reality and Webisodes. As is often the case, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was the most active show with 31 days.
However, the TV category lost a key driver of local activity on May 10, when TNT announced that it had decided not to renew “Southland” after five seasons. The police procedural, which wrapped its final shoot in March, racked up a total of 1,774 days in the five seasons with the final season posting the top total of 464 days.
The first season, which started lensing in 2009, totaled 280 days of location shooting, followed by 378 for the second season, 363 for the third and 287 for the fourth.
Feature filming has been far less robust with activity at half the levels in the 1990s. Last week’s total was 134 days, up one day from the same week in 2012.
Los Angeles has seen feature activity evaporate due to the lure of government incentives — even with tax credits under the four-year-old California Film & Television Tax Credit Program, which is far smaller than those of rival states with a maximum of 25% of the budget. With only $100 million in credits available annually, demand far exceeds supply with recipients selected through a lottery, set for June 4.
