A By ADs, For ADs LLC Newsletter
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A monthly snapshot of production activity: where major projects are filming, how it’s changing month to month, and which regions are trending. Free, quick to read, and made for crew.
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About Your Newsletter
The Production Map is a monthly snapshot of where major movie and TV productions are filming—built to help US, Canadian & European crew track where the work is moving.
At the end of each month, we send a free email with charts, maps, and a short roundup of news that helps explain what’s shifting production activity and why. It’s meant to be quick to read and easy to act on: what’s up, what’s down, and where things are trending. If you want to dig deeper, thats where this page comes in. It'll have more charts and data than what fits in the monthly snapshot emails.
If you have feedback, data tips, or corrections, we'd love to hear them.
Contact: NewsTips@byadsforads.com
**Data is meant for North American & European crew or talent to track where their major productions are shifting. Smaller projects or other regional industries may not be shown.**
2026 DATA
The States
Europe
January Vs February
Here’s a percentage of all film and tv around the world from January to February.
USA with a -10% share loss going into February as the new year starts to spring up new productions around the globe. Canada also with a loss (-1%) and everywhere else gained.
February News & Updates
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February improved on January for the USA, Canada, EU & UK.
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USA ended 2025 with about 150 active productions and started January off with around 180 productions. That has now grown to around 195 union productions in February. That’s a welcome increase but expected as productions normally slow down going into the holidays, then ramp up in the new year. But still hopeful, as USA averaged 160 productions per month over the year of 2025 and 70 in 2024…
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Canada ended 2025 with 58 productions and started the year off with 48. Now has 55 going into February.
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EU ended 2025 with 18 productions and started off the new year with 10 and has more than doubled that going into February with around 26 productions.
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Spain and Italy really starting to take off
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UK ended 2025 with about 19 productions and started with 14 in January and grew that to around 25 in February.
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Texas - doubled down on being a magnet for production. Texas' updated Moving Image Industry Incentive Program is being set up to disburse $300M every two years and requires 35% Texas-resident cast/crew to qualify. Exactly the kind of rule that attracts shows and grows local hiring. - axios.com
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“Wisconsin officially re-entered the incentive race (Jan 13 update): Wisconsin re-established a film incentive (Wisconsin Act 15) with a 30% transferable credit, a $5M annual cap, and $1M per applicant.” ep.com
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Aimed at pulling projects into WI starting in 2026.
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"Illinois - With the 55% stackable tax credit and a program extension through 2038, Illinois has moved from a regional player to a global production powerhouse." - ep.com
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Australia’s new tax incentive looks to being kicking off the year well with Australia now in 4th place for countries with most productions right now.
December Vs January
Here’s a percentage of all film and tv around the world from December to January.
USA with a +3% share gain at the start of 2026, we’ll see how that holds throughout the year.
January News & Updates
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USA ended 2025 with about 150 active productions and started January off with around 180 productions. That’s a welcome increase but expected as productions normally slow down going into the holidays, then ramp up in the new year. But still good, as USA averaged 160 productions per month over the year of 2025 and 70 in 2024…
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Canada ended 2025 with 58 productions and is starting the year off with 48.
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EU ended with 18 and is starting off the new year with 10.
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UK ended with about 19 and is starting with 14.
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Atlanta, GA - Tyler Perry announced a $100 Million expansion for his studio to train young black creatives. Is said to create around 2000 new jobs in the area.
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“Wisconsin officially re-entered the incentive race (Jan 13 update): Wisconsin re-established a film incentive (Wisconsin Act 15) with a 30% transferable credit, a $5M annual cap, and $1M per applicant.” ep.com
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Aimed at pulling projects into WI starting in 2026.
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“A key U.S. Federal production tax break ended after 2025: IRC Section 181 (the “expense production costs now” option that helped cash flow/financing) expired after Dec 31, 2025 for projects that didn’t properly qualify before the deadline” - ep.com
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Making some projects harder to finance and potentially shrinking lower-budget slates.
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“Australia’s new streamer content-spend rule was set to start Jan 1: Australia’s “Australian Content Requirement” is expected to take effect Jan 1, 2026, requiring major streamers (1M+ subs) to invest 10% of Australian program spend (or 7.5% of AU revenue) into new local content.” - arts.gov.au
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This can force more production activity in Australia.
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“Ireland introduced a brand-new unscripted incentive (Jan 4/5): Ireland launched a 20% tax credit for unscripted production (Section 487A) up to €15M per project (with cultural test + certification).” - gov.ie
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That’s a clear “come shoot reality/unscripted here” signal.
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Month to Month World Chart - 2025
Number of Productions
2025 DATA
2024 Vs 2025
News Recap of 2025
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2024 slightly improved from 2023’s low and 2025 improved on that. But not as much as most of us wanted.
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“California supercharged its incentive to try to stop runaway production — CA expanded its Film & TV Tax Credit from $330M to $750M annually. This is explicitly aimed at keeping shows/features in-state.” According to gov.ca.gov
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This is what mainly trigged the spikes from June through October in USA.
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“New York raised the stakes — the 2025–26 NY budget boosted the film/TV incentive program to an $800M annual cap and created a dedicated pool for independents, to compete harder for shoots.” - Hollywood Reporter
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“New Jersey expanded/extended its program — NJ signed legislation (June 30, 2025) strengthening the Film & Digital Media Tax Credit program, adding new sweeteners and more eligible buckets—another magnet for NYC-adjacent production.” - NJ.gov
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“Illinois upgraded its incentive — Illinois expanded its film tax credit in 2025 (including 35% on qualified IL spending, including post and resident wages), making Chicago/Illinois more competitive for productions shopping incentives.” - dceo.illinois.gov
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Georgia tightened administration/compliance around credits — Georgia updated procedures for the mandatory film tax credit audit program in 2025; not sexy, but it affects friction/cost of claiming (and can influence budgeting decisions).