Despite the widespread devastation to homes and businesses across the Southland, central production hubs in Los Angeles appear to remain unscathed from the historic destruction caused by wildfires in the region.
Not included in the 5,000-plus structures that have been ravaged by the blazes are major soundstages that host the majority of TV and movie shoots in Los Angeles. Most production in the area has been suspended but is expected to return.
While some of those soundstages were threatened by the Sunset Fire, which triggered mandatory evacuation orders in Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening, that blaze is subsiding as firefighters made big gains overnight pushing it back. If the fire continued unabated, it could’ve approached critical production facilities, including Radford Studio Center and Sunset Gower Studios, as well as iconic Hollywood locations such as TCL Chinese Theatre, the Dolby Theatre and the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
To the west, the Palisades Fire, in the seaside area between Santa Monica and Malibu, has emerged as the most destructive natural disaster in the history of the county. Still at zero containment in its third day, it’s claimed structures across more than 17,000 acres. On Tuesday evening, it engulfed Palisades Charter High School, a filming hotspot that’s hosted Brian De Palma’s 1976 horror classic Carrie, the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday, the Teen Wolf TV series, Nima Nourizadeh’s 2012 film Project X and the 2001 teen rom-com Crazy/Beautiful.
And to the northeast, the Eaton Fire continues to sweep across the densely-packed Altadena-Pasadena area. Five deaths have already been reported, with over 1,000 structures damaged. Haven Studios in Glendale, which hosts The Price Is Right, is in the evacuation zone but not in immediate danger.
The blazes have forced a host of TV productions to stop filming, mostly due to poor air quality and to avoid clogging roadways for emergency responders rather than their proximity to soundstages. They include ABC’s Doctor Odyssey, Grey’s Anatomy and Jimmy Kimmel Live, all from 20th Television, and The Rookie, produced by Lionsgate TV and 20th. The talk show rarely leaves El Capitan in Hollywood to shoot, while Grey’s Anatomy shoots its interior scenes at Prospect Studios in Los Feliz, which could’ve been threatened if the Sunset Fire spread east toward Griffith Park but is no longer threatened by the blaze. The Rookie had a scheduled location shoot in Vernon called off.
Also closed Wednesday: The Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank. Several shoots based there, including ABC’s Abbott Elementary, The CW’s All American and Max’s The Pitt, have been rescheduled.
Production on season 2 of Fallout, which will get a $25 million tax credit for shooting in California, has tentatively been slated to restart on Friday in Santa Clarita. Other shows that have halted filming but will return to L.A. include Max’s Hacks, NBC’s Happy’s Place and Suits: L.A., Apple TV+’s Loot and Peacock’s Ted, all from Universal Studio Group. Return to filming remains fluid but those projects are expected to resume shooting over the next couple of days, said a person familiar with the situation, with decisions being made on a case-by-base basis by Universal alongside producers. Production of Sony’s S.W.A.T. and Spider Noir have also temporarily been shut down.
The decisions to halt filming were driven in part by firefighters, police and paramedics, who’re typically available to support production, responding to the blazes. The L.A. County Fire Department directed film offices to withdraw permits issued for filming in Altadena, La Crescenta, La Cañada Flintridge and unincorporated parts of Pasadena. The L.A. County Parks and Recreation Department cancelled all events at county parks until Jan. 14, at which point the suspension may be lifted depending on fire severity.
On the feature film side, Amazon and Universal don’t currently have any projects shooting in Los Angeles, while Netflix productions haven’t yet been impacted, according to people familiar with the situation.
“With deepest appreciation for the efforts of local firefighters, police and paramedics at this difficult time, we advise the production community that personnel resources ordinarily available to support film production may not be available during the local State of Emergency,” said local film office FilmLA in a statement.
Filming permits in Malibu, which borders the razed Palisades region, were not suspended as of Wednesday, says Kimberly Nilsson, who oversees permits for the region and Agoura Hills and notes that January is a slow time of year for production. “Everything is day-by-day,” she adds. “It’s in the wind’s hands.”
Malibu largely hosts TV productions when they want to shoot on location at beaches, commercials and fashion still photography.
Though the expectation that they’ll resume shooting in L.A. is welcome news, the production suspensions come amid an unprecedented slump in filming in the region as studios increasingly opt to shoot overseas to take advantage of tax credits.
One talking point to watch: The potential flight of talent and crew away from L.A., further eroding its share of production. Many in the industry have lost their homes in the fires, including Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes, Mandy Moore, Anna Faris, James Woods, Diane Warren, and Paris Hilton, among others. Plans to vastly increase California’s current cap for a program that provides tax relief to producers across the business from $330 million to $750 million a year is expected to curb runaway production. The expansion, which would make California’s subsidy the most generous offered by any state except Georgia to the film and TV business, will shower as much as $3.75 billion in tax credits to the industry over five years starting in 2025.
“The entertainment industry, deeply rooted in this region, faces significant challenges as productions are halted, facilities are threatened, and cherished landmarks are damaged,” said Colleen Bell, executive director of the California Film Commission, in a statement. “These fires remind us of the importance of community and resilience during times of crisis.”
Preliminary estimates of the destruction caused by the wildfires reach into the tens of billions of dollars, making the blazes among the worst ever in state history. AccuWeather, the weather forecasting service, pegged the damages at $52 billion to $57 billion, driven by the loss of highly populated and expensive real estate in the Palisades.
Katie Kilkenny and Rick Porter contributed to this report.
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