Is LA still even a practical location for the entertainment industry?

[jc76]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

This seems to be a question from time to time. What happens is a lot of filming takes place some where else other than in the LA area and people asume that the new hot spot is Atlanta, Austin, Salt Lake City, Chicago, or pick a place. The last one I heard was that Detroit was the new hot spot.

The reality is that 1: the LA area has more places that look like somewhere else than any of the cities mentioned. 2: The LA area is set up with the resources to film and package the finished product making it cheaper to film in the LA area. That leads to 3: Filming happens where it is economically advantageous to film, meaning if it can be done cheaper somewhere else than it will happen.

Why are so many films now being shot in Canada? These film crews will fly their crew and themselves to Canada for a month to shoot because they claim it's cheaper. I don't see how it could be cheaper after all the travel expenses.

[urbanjunglist]

Originally Posted by jc76

Why are so many films now being shot in Canada? These film crews will fly their crew and themselves to Canada for a month to shoot because they claim it's cheaper. I don't see how it could be cheaper after all the travel expenses.

Tax incentives... (this was new info to me last year) it seems in a lot of cases, the savings/incentives shooting are worth the travel. Interesting... Canadian Heritage - CPTC - Guidelines and Forms

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Canada has a lot of places that look like they could be anywhere in the US and other parts of the globe. Montreal for instance has places that look very Euopean. The cost to film there and the resources available make it benefitial to film there.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Canada has a lot of places that look like they could be anywhere in the US and other parts of the globe. Montreal for instance has places that look very Euopean. The cost to film there and the resources available make it benefitial to film there.

The stronger Canadian dollar is the reason why there has been more production in Michigan recently.

However, Gov. Granholm's strategy of making Detroit into a film center is resting on very shaky ground. There is no film school anywhere in Michigan (so would that mean the crews would come from Ontario or Illinois?) and I think the intent of the state's efforts to increase production there is to provide more jobs to locals not to attract out of staters.

NYC would definitely be the best place