Permits For New York City Production Plunged Again In July Amid Strikes

Jill Goldsmith
·2 min read
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The total number of permits issued by New York City for shooting in July fell to 260 for 125 projects, according to the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment.

That’s way down from 471 permits in June, and a huge drop from 757 in July of 2022.

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MOME issued 549 permits in May, 662 in April and 679 in March as production slowed down in anticipation of an industry work stoppage – no one wanted to get caught in the middle of a shoot. It continued to slow as writers struck on May 2 and actors on July 14 after guild contracts with the Association of Motion Pictures & Television Producers expired with many issues from AI to streaming residuals still to be resolved.

The labor unrest hit the city as it was on the cusp of returning to a pre-Covid level production.

MOME has offered several webinars for writers, industry players and struggling small businesses with reps from state unemployment and city agencies on ways to navigate the strikes. It’s planning another on August 10.

“The City of New York recognizes that many workers are impacted by the WGA strike and the SAG-AFTRA strike. While we hope that agreements are reached soon, we want to ensure that all those impacted have access to support services during this time,” MOME said. Representatives from New York State Department of Labor, the Human Resources Administration/Department of Social Services, the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly Actors Fund), the Episcopal Actors’ Guild and Behind the Scenes will be participating and fielding questions at the next session. MOME is accepting questions ahead of the event.

Production is a big economic driver for the city. In its latest economic impact report in 2021, MOME said filmed entertainment supported about 185,000 jobs, $18 billion in wages and nearly $82 billion in total economic output in 2019.

The guilds and the AMPTP have not held talks since the strikes began. In welcome news yesterday, the WGA and studios are planning to sit down together this Friday.

MOME permits include all projects that shoot on city streets including feature films and episodic television, as well as news and talk shows, commercials, web series and music videos.

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