LA to be dethroned as movie and TV production capital — by an East Coast state

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The Big Apple may soon dethrone Los Angeles as moviemakers’ top choice.

Major movie and TV productions are increasingly choosing the East Coast over California. Although the Golden State remains the nation’s top market for production spending, New York is closing the gap fast.

California held the top spot after spending nearly $1.76 billion on movie and TV production, followed by New York with $1.61 billion spent.

While the Golden State’s production spend increased by only 17%, New York State’s expenditure grew by a massive 87%, according to ProdPro’s recent quarterly snapshot reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter.

“California’s production spending is starting to rise again, but New York’s rebound has accelerated this year, putting it within reach of the country’s largest production hub.” ProdPro co-founder and CEO Alex LoVerde told the news outlet. 

He said his team thought New York might actually come out at top while they compiled the figures. Whether the city can overtake California in this year’s fourth quarter and 2027 is “a key question,” LoVerde said.

The trend isn’t new, and the cracks in Hollywood’s business strategy have been visible for a while now. California led with $1.33 billion in spend, up 5 percent year over year, while New York rose 57 percent to nearly $1.06 billion, THR had reported in July based on ProdPro’s second-quarter data.

California is increasingly losing long-term scripted series, whereas New York is fast becoming the go-to destination for multi-season productions.

The state’s production lineup this season features major series like ‘CIA,’ ‘FBI,’ and CBS’s ‘Elsbeth,’ alongside NBC’s ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ and long-running staples ‘Law & Order’ and ‘Law & Order: SVU.’

The Big Apple’s city-level filming was equally bustling in October, hosting crews for Apple TV’s Ben Stiller-led comedy ‘Protective Custody,’ A24’s romantic drama ‘Deep Cuts,’ and the Kit Connor true-crime film ‘PREPPY,’ among numerous other projects, THR reported.

New York’s momentum can be attributed to expanded soundstage infrastructure, a large base of union crew members, and easy access to neighboring Tri-State locations.

A June 2026 report from real estate firm CBRE also found that “New York Tri-State’s soundstage inventory has grown 43 percent since 2020.” The launch of Sunset Pier 94 Studios in Manhattan earlier this year has put purpose-built, state-of-the-art soundstages directly inside the city.

At the same time, major media giants are solidifying long-term stakes just across the river, strengthening the city’s ecosystem to support large-scale film and television projects for decades to come.

Netflix is constructing its East Coast production hub at the former Fort Monmouth site and Paramount secured a 10-year lease to anchor Bayonne’s in-development 1888 Studios.

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