A Long-Running Series Heads East
American Idol is moving its production from Los Angeles to the Atlanta area, a relocation that producer Fremantle confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. The ABC music competition series has been a fixture of the network's schedule, and its twenty-fourth season ran to sixteen episodes. For Georgia, securing a broadcast series with that kind of continuing order offers a steadier stream of work than one-off feature films that may only shoot on location for a limited period.[S1]
The state's film office reported in late July that 280 productions had shot in Georgia over the previous fiscal year. That roster included a Warner Bros. Superman sequel, series such as Will Trent and Chad Powers, and productions from Tyler Perry Studios. Georgia ranks among the largest production hubs in the country, behind California and New York, though its spending from film and television shoots has slipped in recent years after Marvel shifted its superhero productions to the United Kingdom.[S1]
Los Angeles Feels the Squeeze
The departure is a setback for Los Angeles, particularly in scripted television, a segment where episode counts have been trimmed and overall orders reduced over the past several years. According to the latest report from the permitting office FilmLA, the city recorded a nearly 13 percent decline in shoot days from April to June compared with the same period a year earlier, and an 8 percent drop from the prior quarter.[S1]
California has taken steps in response. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom put his signature on a measure that lifted the yearly ceiling for film and television tax incentives, taking it from $330 million up to $750 million. Yet advocates for production in state and local government circles have maintained that this boost represents merely an opening move, not a full remedy, for sustaining film and TV shoots in the place Hollywood has long called home. Rivalry has only intensified from states such as Georgia, New York, New Jersey and New Mexico, plus foreign markets including Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.[S1]
Incentives and the Fight for Production
Georgia's gains have come alongside its own challenges. In the second quarter of 2026, the state saw $405 million in production spending, a 40 percent decline year over year, according to figures from the industry tracker ProdPro. California, by comparison, recorded $1.3 billion in production spending in the latest quarter, up about 5 percent year over year.[S1]
Officials at the local level have pledged to trim bureaucratic hurdles in Los Angeles and bolster subsidies. In July, Mayor Karen Bass stated that she was intensifying her support for the subsidy effort by advocating an uncapped tax credit, and that she would additionally lobby for competition reality television series to become eligible for incentives. According to her, the city would continue removing red tape and reducing permit costs locally, and she characterized the industry as central to Los Angeles' history, culture and economic strength.[S1]
