New York is rapidly approaching California as the primary center for American film and television production. Recent industry data shows a massive spike in New York's spending, leaving a narrow financial margin between the two states.
The $147 Million Gap Between New York and California
New York has narrowed the distance to the top spot significantly, with production spending jumping 87 percent to reach $1.61 billion. According to a quarterly snapshot from tracker ProdPro,California remains the leader with $1.76 billion in spend, but the difference is now just $147 million. While California also saw growth—a 17 percent uptick—the pace of New York's rebound has been far more aggressive.
Alex LoVerde, the CEO and co-founder of ProdPro,suggests that New York's aggressive investment in entertainment infrastructure is currently moving faster than the reform efforts attempted by California. this shift puts New York within striking distance of the title of the country's largest production hub for the first time in recent memory.
A 43 Percent Surge in New York Soundstage Inventory
The growth in New York is being driven by a strategic expansion of physical assets. Real estate services firm CBRE reported that soundstage inventory in New York has grown 43 percent since 2020,fueled by a boom in purpose-built facilities. This infrastructure allows New York to attract the highly coveted scripted television shows that run for multiple seasons on the same stages .
Beyond the city limits, New York is leveraging the broader Tri-State area to attract projects, with some productions conducting principal photography in locations like Wayne, New Jersey. As reported by CBRE, this psoitioning makes New York more resilient to general studio belt-tightening than other competing markets.
The Slide from 74 Percent Domestic Film Spending
This domestic rivalry is unfolding against a backdrop of systemic offshoring. A coalition of Hollywood unions, including SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, and IATSE, found that studios now spend only 42 percent of film production budgets within the United States, a sharp drop from 74 percent twenty-five years ago.
Television production has followed a similar trajectory, with domestic spending falling from 94 percent to 64 percent over the same period. although total spending has increased—with TV spending rising from $933 million to $8.4 billion—the share of that money staying in the U.S. is shrinking, intensifying the competition between New York and California for a smaller slice of the domestic pie.
Whether New York Overtakes California by 2027
The industry is now watching to see if New York can maintain this momentum to officially surpass California by 2027. however, several variables remain unverified. The source does not specify the exact nature of the "attempted reforms" California is pursuing to stem the loss of production, nor does it detail which specific studios are shifting their budgets to New York's new soundstages.
Furthermore, while the ProdPro data highlights a quarterly surge, it remains to be seen if this is a temporary spike or a permanent migration of the industry's center of gravity. The report focuses primarily on high-budget projects—films over $5 million and TV episodes costing at least $1 million—leaving the status of independent and low-budget production in these states unclear.
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