Judd Apatow voices concerns for 'heartbreaking' drop in film and TV production in California

Film and TV production has taken quite the drastic tumble, which is a troubling trend for director Judd Apatow .

FilmLA, the organization that sets up film permits throughout the greater Los Angeles area, reported a 5% drop in filming days in the third quarter of 2024.

The report also noted massive drops in reality TV production (56.3%) and television production overall (18.3%).

Apatow, 56, directed four of his seven feature films in Los Angeles, and revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he was saddened to see the drop in production.

'It is heartbreaking to watch it happen because as people tighten their belts, there are very few situations where people can just stay in town because they want to,' Apatow said, before hosting the fundraiser Rock4EB last month.

'Most of my movies have been made in California — four out of seven — and all of them could have been made somewhere else but there's an energy and a vibe to California that made it work,' he admitted.

Part of the FilmLA report stressed that they want an expansion of the California's Film & Television Tax Credit Program to help bolster production, which Apatow agrees with.

'I've never understood why California doesn't think they should have a healthy tax rebate for our industry,' he said.

'I was just in Michigan and I remember they had a great rebate for a while and then suddenly they just got rid of it. All these people moved to town to create an industry there, but then they all had to leave,' he stressed.

'Other places like Georgia do very well, and it must make sense for them economically because they've been doing it for a long time. They know the numbers and why it adds value to the state,' Apatow said.

Georgia has become a massive production hub in recent years, with Tyler Perry's massive soundstages and several Marvel movies shooting there, along with The Walking Dead and many more.

Apatow's Los Angeles films include 2005's The 40-Year-Old Virgin, 2007's Knocked Up, 2009's Funny People and 2012's This Is 40.

When asked if he thought he'd find challenges getting those films made in L.A. in this current climate, he said costs drive everything.

'Everybody is worried about how things cost. It's just a completely different paradigm for everything,' he admitted.

'There are movies that we made with healthy budgets that they would want us to make for half as much and that wouldn't be possible today, or we wouldn't have enough shoot days here to make it look right. It's more challenging today but you still just have to fight it out,' he said.