Nellie Andreeva

Part of a series that takes an analytical look at the current broadcast pilot season and some of its trends and heroes.

In August, New York State’s Film Production Tax Credit Program was extended and expanded to $420 million per year. Several months later, pilot production in the Big Apple is back in a big way. Nine broadcast drama pilots are filming there now, including such high-profile entries as NBC’s Prime Suspect and Smash, ABC’s Pan Am and CBS’ Susannah Grant. That is up from zero last year. (The pilot for CBS’ New York-set Blue Bloods only shot some footage there.) The giant leap puts New York almost on par with the traditional location leader, Los Angeles, which houses 11 of the 42 drama pilots ordered by the broadcast networks  this season. That extends the continuous decline of the number of drama pilots shot in L.A. over the past decade. (Last year, 14 of the 43 broadcast drama pilots were filmed in there.) But with virtually all comedy pilots shooting in Los Angeles this season (ABC’s Bad Mom is the only one filming elsewhere, in Orlando), and the overall number of broadcast pilots creeping down every year, the percentage of all broadcast pilots (drama and comedy) produced in L.A. this year, 60%, was up a tick for a second straight year (59% in 2010, 57% in 2009).

Meanwhile, fewer pilots, six, are being filmed north of the border this year (a seventh, Fox’s Alcatraz, shot in San Francisco and Vancouver). Last year, that number was nine. The most dramatic reverse of the runaway production trend is at the CW, which traditionally films pilots and series in Canada. Last season, the network shot five of its six pilots in Canada and one in Thailand. This year, half of its six pilots are being produced in the U.S., with the others in Canada. For the bigger-budget drama pilots at the Big Four networks, shooting in Canada this year is tied mostly to creating elaborate settings, like the magical worlds in ABC’s Once Upon a Time and NBC’s 17th Precinct and 1840s Boston in ABC’s Poe.

Part of the reason for more TV studio executives to consider keeping drama pilot production in the U.S. is that the current currency exchange rate makes production in Canada less appealing than in years past. But also key are tax incentives offered in the states. On a standard hourlong pilot budget of $3 million, 10%-25% in tax rebates represents a nice saving. For instance, two of the three CW pilots shooting in the U.S., Hart of Dixie and Cooper & Stone, are being produced in states with tax incentives, North Carolina and Illinois. The locations also happen to fit the settings of the shows, which producers always wish for but only get when economics allow.

The Illinois incentives put in place by ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich made Chicago the hottest pilot location last year with five projects filmed there: dramas Ride-along (now The Chicago Code), A.T.F., Pleading Guilty and Matadors and comedy Friends with Benefits. This year, that number is two, both shows set in the Windy City: NBC drama pilot Playboy and CW’s Cooper & Stone. Other pilots whose setting and filming location match this season include Fox’s Bones spinoff The Finder (Miami), NBC’s Prime Suspect and Smash (New York) and ABC’s Good Christian Bitches (Dallas).

Just in time for pilot season, Puerto Rico Gov. Luis G. Fortuño last week signed into law a new package of film incentives. It immediately paid off, with the territory snagging the ABC thriller drama The River (though the potential series may be filmed in Hawaii).

Two pilots, ABC’s Partners and CBS’ Hail Mary, are being filmed in Atlanta amidst a heated discussion at the Georgia Capitol over whether to keep the state’s tax incentives in place. A couple of weeks ago, several Hollywood executives spoke at a hearing with Georgia lawmakers to stress how vital tax breaks are to getting films and shows produced in the state and how they help create jobs outside the movie and TV business. But strapped for cash, several states, including Georgia, Michigan and New Mexico, are considering capping or eliminating their Hollywood tax credits. Budget woes already prompted New Jersey and Kentucky to place caps on film incentives last year, and Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin all slashed spending on their programs in 2009.

The outcome of the political discussion in Georgia and New Mexico would affect TV studios’ decision whether to keep Partners, Hail Mary and NBC’s Reconstruction (the pilot shot in Santa Fe, N.M.) there if they are picked up to series. Shooting a pilot somewhere never guarantees that the series will be filmed there, too. (For instance, the pilot for Detroit 1-8-7 was shot in Atlanta, while the series has been filming in Detroit.) This year, at least two pilots will switch locations if ordered to series: Fox’s Exit Strategy from Los Angeles to New York and CBS’ Ringer from New York to Los Angeles. Because it is a one-time write-off, studio execs are being financially conscious but not overly concerned about expenses tied to a pilot-location choice. However, when it comes down to a 22-episode-a-year production, every penny counts and places like Canada become more appealing to TV execs.

Here is list of this year’s broadcast pilots and their filming locations:

Title Length Network              Location
Bad Mom 1/2 hour ABC                     Orlando
Charlie’s Angels 1 hour ABC                     Miami
Damage Control 1 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Don’t Trust The Bitch… 1/2 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Georgetown 1 hour ABC                     New York
Good Christian Bitches 1 hour ABC                     Dallas
Grace 1 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Hallelujah 1 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Identity 1 hour ABC                     Montreal
Untitled Tim Allen 1/2 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Lost and Found 1/2 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
My Freakin Family 1/2 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Once Upon A Time 1 hour ABC                     Vancouver
Other People’s Kids 1/2 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Pan Am 1 hour ABC                     New York
Partners 1 hour ABC                     Atlanta
Revenge 1 hour ABC                     Wilmington, NC
Poe 1 hour ABC                     Toronto
The River 1 hour ABC                     Puerto Rico
Suburgatory 1/2 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Smothered 1/2 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
Work It 1/2 hour ABC                     Los Angeles
The Assistants 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
The Doctor 1 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
Hail Mary 1 hour CBS                      Atlanta
Untitled Filgos 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
Homegrown 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
How To Be a Gentleman 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
Untitled Susannah Grant 1 hour CBS                      New York
Person of Interest 1 hour CBS                      New York
Ringer 1 hour CBS                      New York
Rookies 1 hour CBS                      New York
Two Broke Girls 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
Untitled Redlich,/Bellucci 1 hour CBS                      New York
Untitled Rob Schneider 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
Untitled Sports Radio 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
Vince Uncensored 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles
Awakening 1 hour CW                       Toronto
Cooper & Stone 1 hour CW                       Chicago
Hart of Dixie 1 hour CW                       North Carolina
Heavenly 1 hour CW                       Vancouver
Danni Lowiski 1 hour CW                       Los Angeles
The Secret Circle 1 hour CW                       Vancouver
Alcatraz 1 hour FOX                      SF/Vancouver
The Council of Dads 1/2 hour FOX                      Los Angeles
Family Album 1/2 hour FOX                      Los Angeles
I Hate My Teenage Daughter 1/2 hour FOX                      Los Angeles
The Finder 1 hour FOX                      Miami
Exit Strategy 1 hour FOX                      Los Angeles
Weekends at Bellevue 1 hour FOX                      New York
Iceland 1/2 hour FOX                      Los Angeles
Little In Common 1/2 hour FOX                      Los Angeles
Untitled Liz Meriwether 1/2 hour FOX                      Los Angeles
Locke & Key 1 hour FOX                      Pittsburgh
Outnumbered 1/2 hour FOX                      Los Angeles
Tagged 1/2 hour FOX                     Los Angeles
Touch 1 hour FOX                     Los Angeles
17th Precinct 1 hour NBC                     Vancouver
Are You There Vodka 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Bent 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Brave New World 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Emily Spivey Project 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Free Agents 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Wonder Woman 1 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Grimm 1 hour NBC                     Portland
Untitled Whitney Cummings 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
I Hate That I Love You 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Lizer Kari Project 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Lovelives 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
A Mann’s World 1 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
My Life As An Experiment 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Untitledn Parham/ St. Clair 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Smash 1 hour NBC                     New York
Reconstruction 1 hour NBC                     Santa Fe
Playboy 1 hour NBC                     Chicago
Prime Suspect 1 hour NBC                     New York
REM 1 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
SILA 1 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Untitled Dan Goor 1/2 hour NBC                     Los Angeles
Untitled Peter Knight 1/2 hour CBS                      Los Angeles

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