Another bad sign: Film production down

Runaway production costs pushed the number of feature film shoots in metropolitan Los Angeles to a record low in 2008 as studios sought cheaper locations out of state, an industry tracker said Tuesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

The report from FilmL.A., which coordinates location permits in the region, said feature filming for the year tumbled 15 percent from 2007. The fall was especially steep in the last half of the year - down an annual 38 percent in the third quarter and 47 percent in the fourth quarter.

There were 7,043 feature production days last year, the fewest since the nonprofit FilmL.A. began to keep records in 1993. Last year's total was 50 percent below the peak of 13,980 production days in 1996.