DGA Monthly

2 I D G A M O N T H L Y DGA and Industry Coalition Release Report on Shift in Location for Film & TV Production Over 25 Years On October 5, the DGA, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA), the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters), the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) today released a study conducted by EY Quantitative Economics and Statistics (EY QUEST) on the change in the location of film and television production over a 25-year period from 1999 to 2024. The study's findings confirm an increasing share of U.S. film and television production has moved to foreign locations over the past 25 years, significantly reshaping an industry that supports more than two million U.S. jobs. An examination of where scripted, live-action productions by major U.S.-based studios were primarily filmed, as well as the production spending and number of cast and crew associated with each location, the study revealed the following. For more details about the Atlanta Coordinating Committee, visit their webpage on www.dga.org. Atlanta Coordinating Committee Election Results On October 3, the DGA Atlanta Coordinating Committee (ATLCC) completed their inaugural elections. Director Seith Mann was elected to serve as the Chairperson of the Committee and Director Angela Barnes as the Vice Chair. The following members and alternates were also elected: Committee Members — Directors: Anton L. Cropper, Christian Nolan Jones, Maurice L. Marable, Terri J. Vaughn. AD/UPMs: David Champion, Jason Inman, Kristina M. Peterson, Matthew Spiegel Committee Alternates — Director: Tamika Miller. AD/UPMs: Yor-El Francis, Jason M. Graham, Renee Hill-Sweet Seith Mann Angela Barnes Changes in film production • Over the past 25 years, America's share of global production for the top 25 highest-budget feature films experienced a 54% decline, plummeting from 74% to just 34%. • The share of films by major U.S. studios on movies filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined from 66% to 54%, a decrease of 18%. • For total cast and crew working on major studio films, the share of cast and crew working on movies filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined from 72% to 43%, a 40% decrease. Changes in television production • The share of production spending by major U.S. studios on television episodes filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined by 32% from 94% to 64%. • The share of television episodes by major U.S. studios filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined by 27%. • For total cast and crew working on major U.S. studio television episodes, the share working on television episodes filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined by 32%. The analysis focused on productions by larger studios with budgets above certain thresholds that would capture productions with the most significant impact on industry employment and economic activity and projects with sufficient scale to make strategic location decisions between filming in the U.S. or abroad. These budget thresholds were at least $5 million for feature films and $1 million for TV episodes under 41 minutes or $1.7 million for longer episodes. To see the full report visit www.dga.org

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