Few Major Films Shot in California, Study Shows

Only two films with budgets above $100 million were filmed primarily in California

A report shows that despite California acting as the backdrop for blockbusters this year, very few were filmed in the state.

Only 22 of 106 films released by the major studios in 2014 were actually filmed in California. The rest of the movies were shot in New York, Britain, Canada, Georgia, Louisiana, Australia and a dozen other states and countries, according to a feature film study by FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that handles film permits for the city and county, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Only two films with budgets above $100 million were filmed primarily in California: Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and Paramount's "Interstellar."

In 1997 64 percent of the top 25 movies at the box office were filmed in California, compared to 16 percent last year.

Several box office hits set in California were filmed outside of the state, including Warner Bros.' "Godzilla," which was shot mainly in Vancouver, Canada; 20th Century Fox's "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," which was filmed in Louisiana; and Disney's "Million Dollar Arm," which was shot mainly in Georgia.

Even this weekend's "San Andreas," which depicts the destruction of California from a massive earthquake was filmed mainly in Australia.

State lawmakers last year approved an expansion of the film and TV tax credit program tripling annual funding to $330 million a year to try to keep production in state. The new program also allows big budget films to apply for incentives for the first time.

Studios will apply for feature film tax credits under the new program in July.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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