L.A. is still TV production capital - but more dramas are leaving town

Out of the 152 pilots produced during the 2011-2012 development cycle, 92 were filmed in the L.A. area, according to a report by Film LA. That's just nine fewer than L.A. handled during the peak year of 2004-2005. But there's been a noticeable drop in the number of hour pilots produced here - a total of 22 this year compared with 35 in 2004-2005. That's only 29 percent of all television drama pilots. L.A. continues to dominate comedy pilots, with 91 percent of the projects produced locally. This is decent news, but keep in mind that comedies employ fewer people than dramas. They're just less of an economic engine. From FilmLA report:

Los Angeles can thank its local talent base, the proficiency of local crews and availability of audience-rated soundstages as reasons comedies locate in the region. These factors exert their greatest pull on multi-camera projects.

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Over the years, other jurisdictions have enticed away much of the L.A. region's historical TV drama pilot production share. The availability of financial production incentives and production infrastructure are key factors influencing where pilot producers choose to film.