Brian Knappmiller

L.A. sees 16% drop in film & TV shoot days compared to 2024 - new article: https://lnkd.in/gEDn6XFq - plus Los Angeles On-Location Production Down 16.1% In 2025, But California’s Revamped Tax Incentive Helps Fuel Small Growth In Q4 - new article: https://lnkd.in/gEDn6XFq - plus Why film productions are leaving Hollywood | Morning In America - new video: https://lnkd.in/gbr87r_W - Last year’s 19,694 shoot days was the lowest total since 2020, according to the nonprofit FilmLA, which tracks filming in the greater L.A. area - In 2024, that total was 23,480 shoot days - About 13% of the shoot days in the greater L.A. area in Q4 were the result of incentivized productions - Since the program expanded in July, 119 projects have been awarded - Since all approved projects have 180 days after receiving their incentive award to begin production, FilmLA says to expect more movement in the coming months - Cash infusions alone aren’t going to revive Los Angeles’ film & television industry - Local officials have been working to streamline some of the permitting processes, reduce fees, & make the area more accessible for productions

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L.A. Location Shoots Continue to Struggle as Productions Look Forward to Expanded Tax Credit - new article: https://lnkd.in/gSXiZDKg - plus Executive Director of the California Film Commission talks about the rapid collapse of California’s film industry - new video: https://lnkd.in/gPwQDZ3B - Production in the Los Angeles area continued to limp along in the second quarter of 2025, with a 6.2% decline in total location shoot days compared to the same quarter in 2024, according to FilmLA‘s latest report

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Positive LA Industry News for those who seek it - The first projects to receive funding from the newly designed, $750M program were approved in August. Per FilmLA, among them are 18 television series planned for the greater Los Angeles area. The caveat is they have 180 days to begin production after the incentive is awarded, meaning it could be a while before any of those projects are up and running. So within the next 120 days (4 months), there will be an upsurge of local work. Start your engines...

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Santa Monica’s ditching LA's film permitting system to go solo. The beachside city is launching its own film office come September, ending its decade-long relationship with FilmLA, the nonprofit that handles permits for greater Los Angeles. The split comes just a month after LA's Board of Public Works voted to renew FilmLA's five-year contract despite industry criticism and calls for reform. Film Santa Monica will set up shop under the city's tourism office, issuing its own permits and serving as a direct liaison for productions wanting to shoot at the pier, beaches, and neighborhoods. The move arrives as LA filming continues to slide, down 32% against the five-year average, with California production spending dropping 10% to $2.78B in the first half of 2024. FilmLA has processed 7,000 Santa Monica permits since 2013. #thedailies

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California's Film & TV Incentives: A Glimpse into the Future of Production?   As the California budget and legislative process unfolds, the industry is keenly watching for potential enhancements to the state's film and TV incentive program. With proposals on the table for $750M in funding, a 35% credit, and expanded eligibility to include animation, competition shows, and TV/less than 30-minute formats, California is poised to significantly bolster its competitive edge in the global production landscape.   In the interim, the California Film Commission recently announced an impressive slate of projects selected for the latest round of incentives. This diverse collection of feature films, spanning major studio productions and independent features, is projected to generate a remarkable $664 million in total spending across the state, including $485 million in qualified expenditures and over $302 million in wages for California workers.   Amidst fierce international competition from hubs like Ireland (40%), New York (30%-40%), and the UK (39.75%), it's exciting to see a renewed focus on independent production in California. Of the 48 titles selected for subsidies, five are feature films, collectively accounting for an even split of the $96 million in tax credits allocated this round. While the overall allocation for features is down from previous years, the continued investment in independent cinema signals a promising future for 'Indies in California!'   Looking forward to seeing these projects come to life and the economic impact they'll bring.   #CaliforniaFilm #FilmProduction #TaxIncentives #IndependentFilm #EntertainmentIndustry #EconomicImpact #FutureOfFilm Entertainment Partners https://lnkd.in/gk9QEGBp

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For over 40 years, the Sundance Film Festival has served a launching pad for independent filmmakers in the United States. From early genre defining hits like Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (which blew my mind, years before I became a filmmaker), the festival has consistently proven its ability to spotlight bold new voices. But as an African filmmaker, I've often wondered: does this platform truly extend to stories from our continent? This January, I traveled to Park City through a -12 degree blizzard to attend Sundance 2025, where only three African films had been selected from thousands of submissions. Two - How to Build a Library and Khartoum - carried Docubox Executive Producer credits! For the East African film fund I founded in 2013, this represented both an achievement and a challenge: why were there still so few African stories at one of the world's most important film festivals? The films themselves showcase the depth of African storytelling. How to Build a Library, directed by Maia Lekow and Christopher King, documents the radical transformation of a colonial-era library in Nairobi into a vibrant community space, weaving together Kenya's complex history with contemporary struggles for cultural ownership, featuring Book Bunks co-founders, the amazing Shiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka . Khartoum, a collaborative work by Anas Saeed, Rawiah Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed and Phil Cox tells the stories of five people who fled Sudan's capital amidst war, using powerful reenactments and share first-person accounts of survival, revolution, and hope during Sudan's ongoing conflict. What makes theses, and other East african films appearing at festivals globally over the past five or six years particularly significant is that they emerged from an ecosystem we've been carefully building for over a decade. When we began Docubox, East African documentary filmmakers had no local funding options and faced pressure to conform to Western funders expectations about African stories. We set out to change that by creating a space where our community could access financing and tell stories on their own terms. The results speak for themselves. Our model combines funding with intensive mentorship and community-building - we've now supported nearly 70 films, trained more than 600 filmmakers, and brought these stories to audiences of over 50,000 across the continent. At Sundance, we threw an Afro Fusion dance party, but despite the celebration, it was impossible to forget that there were still only three films repping an entire continent. We have far to go - and perhaps getting there also involves building local alliances of African funders and local audiences. But as we do, we must remain nimble to keep aggregating, assessing, and allocating film opportunities in a way few other film organizations have.

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Season 4 of Heard! Afros & Audio Interview Series opens with a conversation that cuts through a lot of noise around podcasting and creative work. In the first episode, I sit down with podcast producer, musician, and creative architect Mike Brown to talk about vulnerability, sustainability, and knowing when it’s time to evolve your work. Mike reflects on producing over 200 episodes of The Art of Letting Go, how therapy shaped his approach to audio, and why authenticity matters more than polish when you’re starting. We also talk about the pressure to “do it the right way,” how gatekeeping shows up in creative industries, and why stagnation can hide inside loyalty to an old plan. This episode is for creators, producers, and leaders thinking seriously about growth, audience shifts, and what comes after something that worked. Watch on YouTube https://lnkd.in/eKcsVgNb or listen on your preferred streaming platform https://lnkd.in/eh63D4-R.

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PRODUCER - Maker Machina & CREE8 Announce Strategic Partnership at NAB Show Las Vegas 2025 Revolutionizing Media & Entertainment with Seamless, Cloud-Powered Workflows. Las Vegas, NV – 7 April 2025 – In an exciting collaboration, PRODUCER & CREE8 are joining forces to announce a strategic partnership at NAB Show 2025. This partnership unites two of the most innovative startups in the Media & Entertainment industry, delivering a streamlined, cloud-powered ecosystem that accelerates workflows from pre-production to post-production. The alliance between PRODUCER, leading project management and collaboration platform, and CREE8, the next-generation cloud-based workstation and storage solution, will provide creators, studios, and enterprises with unparalleled efficiency in managing and executing projects. By integrating PRODUCER’s top-of-funnel project workflow tools with CREE8’s cutting-edge cloud editing infrastructure, media professionals will be able to seamlessly transition from planning to execution — without bottle-necks,data silos, or costly local workstations. This collaboration will allow users to: - Seamlessly manage creative projects: PRODUCER’s workflow tools will now connect directly to CREE8’s high-performance storage. - Instantly spin up remote editing environments: Users can launch high-performance GPU-powered workstations in CREE8 and share deliverables directly to PRODUCER. - Enhance real-time collaboration: Integrated shared storage, metadata tagging, and CREE8’s live collaboration tools will ensure seamless file sharing and review processes between platforms – no downloads, no file transfers. - Accelerate content delivery: AI-innovations and automation tools will optimize media workflows, reducing production timelines. “This partnership represents a paradigm shift in how creative teams manage and execute media projects,” said Lisa M. Watts, Co-Founder & CEO of CREE8. “By integrating PRODUCER’s robust project management tools with CREE8’s cloud infrastructure, we are unlocking a new era of efficiency and innovation for content creators.” “PRODUCER has always been about making creative collaboration seamless. This partnership with CREE8 will allow our users to not only manage projects but execute them with industry-leading performance,” Xaver Walser Co-Founder & CEO at PRODUCER. “We are excited to bring this solution to the NAB audience and beyond.” CREE8 powers global content production with centralized, secure, and scalable workflows (SOC2 & TPN certified). Visit booth #SL9823J at NAB Show Creator Lab. PRODUCER - Maker Machina is the enterprise production management tool for content teams, streamlining workflows from development to distribution. #NABShow2025 #MediaAndEntertainment #CloudWorkflows #CreativeCollaboration #ContentCreation #FilmTech #PostProduction #RemoteEditing #ProjectManagement #DigitalProduction Lisa M Watts 🔜 NAB Show, Ali Mackani, Eli Weisman 🔜 NAB Show, Paul-Emile Joëssel

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