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SIMI VALLEY, Calif. () — Runaway production has taken a big bite out of Hollywood lately, but some of that production isn’t running far. After years marked by a pandemic, two industry strikes and rising tax incentives in other states, TV and film shoots in the city of Los Angeles have dropped sharply — yet just over the county line, Simi Valley is booming.
Data provider Luminate’s annual report shows that film and TV shoots in Los Angeles fell 24% in 2025 compared with the previous year. But while L.A. struggled, Simi Valley emerged as a rising new star.
“Filming is alive and well here in Simi Valley,” City Manager Samantha Argabrite said during a visit to Allied Studios, a sprawling facility that is home to acres and acres of backlots and finished stages.
Simi Valley also has Hummingbird Ranch, the setting for the Jennifer Garner series “The Last Thing He Told Me.” It also has Corriganville Park, where Quentin Tarantino rebuilt Charles Manson’s hideout for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Even nearby rock formations on the outskirts of the city have become popular with location scouts for “The Mandalorian.”
The city’s production numbers reflect that momentum. In 2025, Simi Valley logged 296 filming days across 87 different productions, generating $5.25 million. It might not sound like a lot by Hollywood standards, but it adds up quickly in a small community like Simi Valley.
“It’s creating jobs for our community,” Argabrite said. “We’re seeing businesses, restaurants, gas stations — all of which are getting a boom from being here in Simi Valley and benefiting from the productions that happen here.”
Local businesses say they feel the impact. Wendy Brazen, a waitress of 19 years at the Old Susana Café just down the street from Allied Studios, said crews have become familiar faces.
“There’s people here right now that are from the studios,” she said. “I enjoy them. They’re super fun, and they bring business to us.”
City officials say Simi Valley’s growth in production is rooted in a pretty simple concept: keeping filming cheap and easy.
“We have a really easy permitting process,” Argabrite said. “We don’t have a monitoring fee, so many productions, when they’re filming, there’s a city person that comes out, watches that, and there’s a fee for that. And so this saves productions thousands of dollars.”
Simi Valley also sits within the industry’s unionmandated 30Mile Zone, cutting travel costs and making the city even more attractive for shoots.
While Hollywood may be headed toward rock bottom, Simi Valley’s film and TV production is rocking and rolling.
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