Santa Clarita enjoys record year for film and TV production

Santa Clarita’s film business reached a record level in the last fiscal year, fueled by such television shows  as “Justified” and “Franklin and Bash.”

The suburban northern Los Angeles County city generated 1,069 film days in the year ended June 30, an 18% increase compared to last year’s level, which was also a record, the city said.

Film and TV productions spent an estimated $25.7 million in the Santa Clarita area during the fiscal year, up 22% from the prior year.

“Santa Clarita is one of Hollywood’s first choices for location filming, as shown by yet another strong year for location filming,” Mayor Bob Kellar said in a statement.  “Filming is a big part of our business community and local economy, supporting high-paying jobs and hundreds of companies involved in the industry.”

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll

In March 2012, the City Council approved a three-year extension of the city’s Film Incentive Program, which refunds permit fees to locally-based productions, those that film on location four or more times in a year, as well as those that qualified for the state of California’s film and television tax credit program.

Santa Clarita locations have doubled for many cities around the world, including New York, Washington and Paris. The city recently took steps to annex two movie ranches into its jurisdiction, Sable and Rancho Deluxe.

Nearly half of location filming can be attributed to television shows shooting in the community. Several television shows are based in Santa Clarita, including “NCIS,” “Switched at Birth,” “Chasing Life,” “Franklin and Bash” and “Justified,” and the ABC game show “Wipeout.”

The CBS show “Vegas” filmed at Santa Clarita Studios last year but didn’t get renewed for a second season.

The city also picked up several days of filming from some big features, including “The Hangover Part III,” “Iron Man 3” and “2 Guns.”