Due to the lack of tax incentives and a bad economy, filmmaking activities in the Los Angeles area, which is home to Hollywood movie studios, have dropped to a record low in the past year.

As studios sought cheaper locations out of California to make their films, the number of feature films shot in Los Angeles tumbled about 15 percent in 2008 from the year earlier, with the trend deteriorating in the second half of the year, according to a latest report available here on Wednesday.

The report by Film L.A., which coordinates location permits for film projects in the region, said that the fall was especially steep in last six months -- down an annual 38 percent in the third quarter of 2008 and 47 percent in the fourth quarter.

There were 7,043 feature production days last year, the fewest since the nonprofit agency began to keep records in 1993, according to the report released Tuesday. The number was 50 percent below the peak of 13,980 production days in 1996.

Economists and Hollywood executives blame California's lawmakers for no coming up with tax and financial incentives to keep production in Los Angeles, boasted as the world's entertainment capital, while some officials say all the industries are affected during the current U.S. economic recession.

Jack Kyser, vice president and chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said that runaway productions are bringing money out of the local economy and the state legislature failed to do something to halt the trend.

But at least Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have tried. The former Hollywood action star proposed tax credits for production studios as part of an economic stimulus plan during state budget negotiations in November. But California still does not have a revised budget or a tax credit for film companies.

"This is another indication of how the national economic downturn has affected industries across California and the nation," said Camille Anderson, Shwarzenegger's spokeswoman.

That is "why Governor Schwarzenegger is aggressively pushing the state legislature for an economic stimulus package to help get our economy back on track," she said.

Paul Audley, president of Film L.A., said that California is not sufficiently competitive and needs to create an environment that brings film productions -- and their jobs -- back into the local economy. He noted that feature film production in the Los Angeles area has fallen for 10 of the past 12 years.

Meanwhile. the entertainment industry was also racked by the 100-day writers strike early last year and helped drive down location shooting of comedies and pilots by 25 percent and 41 percent, respectively.

Source:Xinhua