Motion Picture,TV & Video Production NAICS 512110

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Industry Summary
The 17,100 motion picture, TV, and video producers in the US produce a variety of video content, including movies, videos, TV programming, and commercials. Major revenue categories include domestic licensing rights; sales of copies of audio/visual works, international licensing rights; contract production services; and merchandise licensing. Movie and video production companies may specialize in a particular category, such as animation, commercials, films, music videos, or TV programming.
Delayed, Uneven Cash Flow
Productions incur the majority of expenses months to even years before realizing a single dollar of revenue.
Piracy
Video piracy is a growing problem, particularly internationally, where copyright protection is lax and illegal activity is more likely to go unnoticed.
Recent Developments
May 13, 2025 - Production Decreases In Major Industry Hub
- Filming in Los Angeles is decreasing amid a global production crunch and escalating competition from other regions, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Every category of production decreased year over year during the first quarter of 2025, according to a report from FilmLA, the nonprofit group that handles film permits for the city and county. Filming in Los Angeles decreased over 22% to 5,295 shoot days during the first quarter of 2025.
- The TV and film industry’s 2024 recovery fell short of expectations, according to production tracking service ProdPro. Productions starting principal photography increased 18% year over year but remained behind the pre-strike levels of 2022 by 11%. Television production rebounded in 2024 from a low point one year earlier, with the number of productions increasing 24% year over year from 397 to 494. This figure falls short of the "Peak TV" period a few years earlier that regularly saw 600 to 650 series in the works. In 2022, for instance, 607 series were tabulated. Production of feature-length films returned to levels that rivaled two years earlier, with 679 productions tracked in 2024 compared with 600 in 2023 and 706 in 2022. "These results indicate that the feature film sector is stabilizing more effectively than television, benefitting from audience demand and a renewed focus on theatrical releases as a key revenue driver," the ProdPro report states.
- Local governments around the world are expanding movie and TV production tax credit programs to draw content makers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles still has the largest portion of the film and TV economy in the US but its lead is decreasing. The area posted a 27% share of employment in the sector in 2023, down from 35% from just the year before, according to an Otis College report. The report doesn’t account for production in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, all of which have become filming hotspots at various points over the past decade thanks to tax incentive programs with looser restrictions and limitations than California’s, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
- Motion picture, TV, and video production industry employment has recovered from a steep pandemic-related drop in 2020 and but was slightly below pre-pandemic levels in early 2025 while average wages for nonsupervisory employees have decreased from pandemic-driven highs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Motion picture, TV and video production industry sales are forecast to grow at a 2.75% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.
Industry Revenue
Motion Picture,TV & Video Production

Industry Structure
Industry size & Structure
The average motion picture and video production company operates out of a single location, employs 13 workers, and generates $5.2 million annually.
- The motion picture and video production industry consists of about 17,100 firms that employ about 229,300 workers and generate about $89.3 billion annually.
- The industry is highly concentrated; the top 50 firms account for 75% of industry sales.
- Large firms with production operations include the Walt Disney Company and Twenty-First Century Fox, Lions Gate Entertainment, and Comcast (Universal Pictures). The major studios produce and distribute the majority of movies released in the US.
- Large firms may be vertically-integrated. For example, some companies are involved in production, distribution, and broadcasting of content.
Industry Forecast
Industry Forecast
Motion Picture,TV & Video Production Industry Growth

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