Happy Friday, Creative Community!

Welcome to the first edition of On Location.

Every month, I want to give you something the trades mostly do not: a clear look at where production is physically happening around the world, what is driving the movement, and what it means for the people who actually make things. Crew, ADs, production staff, location managers, actors, and the producers hiring all of them.

Because the industry conversation tends to fixate on what is selling. This series is about where the work is.

Let's start with August.

426 Productions, and the Strongest Month of the Year

August tracked roughly 426 productions worldwide, up from 350 in July. That is the highest overall total in the 2026 data so far.

The United States drove most of it, climbing from 238 to 278, its own highest count of the year. Canada held steady at 66, up from 64. The European Union ticked back upward to around 23, still well off its May peak of 51. And the UK had the biggest single jump of any European territory, nearly doubling on the month.

Here is the part I find more interesting than the total, though.

The growth is not concentrating. It is spreading. As the US number climbed, production pushed out into more states rather than piling deeper into the same few. And for the first time in this data, we tracked productions in India, Latvia, Nigeria, and New Brunswick, Canada.

Four new territories in a single month tells you something about where this business is heading.

What Moved, and Where

California and New York both hit their highest totals of the year. Both are up in film and television. After a long stretch of runaway production headlines, that is genuinely worth noting, though it comes with a caveat I will get to.

Georgia holds third, with New Jersey close behind. The split between them is interesting: Georgia carries more television, New Jersey slightly more film. Two very different incentive environments producing two different mixes.

Canada's work stayed concentrated in British Columbia and Ontario, which continue to do the heavy lifting. New Brunswick appearing for the first time is the outlier worth watching.

The UK reclaimed its 20+ standing, and its production mix is more balanced between film and television than most territories on this map.

Europe's leaders were the UK, then Italy, then Ireland and France tied for third. Most of the current European activity is film rather than television this month.

The Share Shift Tells a Different Story

Raw counts and market share are two different measurements, and they moved in different directions in August.

• The US grew in absolute terms but its share of global tracked production fell from 68% to 65%.
• Canada fell the same three points, from 18% to 15%.
• The EU held flat at 5%.
• The UK gained three, from 5% to 8%.
• Everywhere else picked up a point.

Read that carefully, because it is the real headline. Production overall grew significantly. North America grew too. But the rest of the world grew faster.

If you work in this industry and you are watching for where the next opportunity opens up, that three-point UK swing is the number to sit with.

The News Behind the Numbers

Three stories from August explain most of what you just read.

Netflix Doubled Down on the UK

At the Edinburgh TV Festival, Netflix announced its most wide-ranging slate of UK commissions to date. Kate Winslet, Clive Owen, and Barry Keoghan joining the drama lineup. New comedy from Robert Popper and Lisa McGee. Two Top Boy spin-offs.

The one that matters most for our map: a six-part series adapting Roald Dahl's short stories for adults, from writer Danny Brocklehurst, starring Naomi Scott, Imelda Staunton, Nicola Coughlan, Toby Jones, and Dominic West. It went into production this month in Manchester and across the North of England.

Anne Mensah, Netflix's VP of UK Content, framed the slate this way: in a competitive UK landscape, it is not enough to be just okay, you need to swing for exceptional.

And when she was asked at the festival whether Netflix is still commissioning, her answer was two words: "Oh my god." Then: "Completely."

She was not alone. Prime Video's head of international originals said the same, and Disney+ cited a mandate from CEO Josh D'Amaro to triple local originals globally.

That is your UK jump. Not a fluke month. A slate.

The Odyssey Rewrote the Record Books, on Film

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time in August, crossing $1.352 billion worldwide and passing Deadpool & Wolverine's $1.338 billion. It is now Nolan's biggest film ever, ahead of The Dark Knight Rises, and the highest-grossing IMAX release in history at roughly $289 million in IMAX alone.

For a production audience, here is the detail that matters more than the gross: it is the first narrative feature shot entirely on IMAX film cameras.

A nearly three-hour, R-rated adaptation of Homer, shot on the most demanding format available, is the biggest R-rated film ever made. Meanwhile Spider-Man: Brand New Day passed $2 billion worldwide and kept the box office in front of last year.

Theaters had an excellent month. Which brings me to the caveat.

A Strong Box Office Is Not the Same as More Jobs

This is the part I want you to hold onto, because it is where the numbers and the narrative diverge.

A record-setting summer does not automatically translate into more productions being greenlit across the board. Studios are still under pressure to make content cheaper, still competing with creator platforms for attention, and still consolidating. Strong ticket sales are one input into a greenlight decision, not the whole equation.

The clearest illustration is the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery fight.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading a coalition of 12 states suing to block Paramount Skydance's proposed $111 billion acquisition of WBD. Settlement talks scheduled for late August were canceled outright, with Bonta accusing Paramount of leaking and misrepresenting an earlier meeting. Trial is set for March. If the deal has not closed by October 1, Paramount begins accruing roughly $7 million per day owed to WBD shareholders.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass put the stakes plainly: the continued uncertainty is not good for workers, not good for productions, and not good for the future of this industry.

She is describing exactly what a crew member feels. California posted its best month of the year, and simultaneously the biggest question mark hanging over its two largest employers has no resolution date. Both things are true at once.

What I Take From This Month

Three things.

Production is growing and dispersing at the same time. More work overall, spread across more places. India, Latvia, Nigeria, and New Brunswick were not on this map last month.

The territories gaining share are the ones with a slate behind them. The UK did not jump because of an incentive tweak. It jumped because streamers committed to volume and then started shooting.

A great box office month is not a hiring guarantee. Read the greenlights, not the grosses. And watch the merger, because its outcome will shape California more than any single film's performance will.

If you are weighing whether to chase a market, look for the commitment underneath the number. A slate is a signal. A single big shoot is not.

Production Resources on Stage 32

Here is where I can actually help you act on all of this.

Get Certified, Get in the Database

When a production lands somewhere new, the first problem is always the same: not enough qualified local crew. Film commissions offer significant incentives to attract work, and then struggle to staff it, which erodes the value of the incentive.

That gap is the entire reason Stage 32 Certification exists. We built it after nearly a decade of conversations with film commissions, streamers, guilds, and production companies, and as of 2026 we are working with over 60 film commissions worldwide, including the Association of Film Commissions International.

Here is what makes it work: every Stage 32 Certification holder is entered into a global database that film commissions, streamers, and production companies search when they need crew. You also get a certification badge on your Stage 32 profile, visible to over 1.5 million members, plus graphics for LinkedIn and your resume.

It is online, it is a fraction of the cost of traditional film school, and nobody gets denied admission.

Three courses fit this month's data especially well:

Assistant Director Master Certification — ADs are among the first hires when a production arrives in a new market. Covers the fundamentals, scheduling, and on-set protocols across the 1st, Key 2nd, and 2nd 2nd roles.

Location Management Master Certification — Scouting, budgeting, scheduling, contracts, risk management, negotiating, and permitting. If production is spreading into territories that have never hosted it, location managers are exactly who those places need.

Production Assistant Master Certification — The way in. Fundamentals, on-set protocols, paperwork, and department interaction.

And if the incentive side of this month's story is what caught your attention, our Tax Incentive Management individual certification goes straight at it.

Get Certified. Get To Work. Start By Clicking Here!

Talk to People Doing the Work Right Now

The Lounges are free, active every day, and full of members working in the markets on this map.

The Filmmaking Lounge, Producing Lounge, Cinematography Lounge, and Acting Lounge are where I would start. If you are curious what it is actually like working in Atlanta, Manchester, or Vancouver right now, ask. Somebody there is on that crew or also pursuing those opportunities.

That Was August

I will be back in a few weeks with September's numbers, and I would like this to be a conversation rather than a report.

So tell me in the comments: where are you working right now, and what are you seeing on the ground? If your market is on this map, I want to hear whether the numbers match your experience. And if it is not on the map yet, tell me that too.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

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