'Dark Knight' brightens LA film prod'n

"The Dark Knight Rises" continued to brighten Los Angeles film production, as the latest Batpic was the most active offlot shoot last week for the third week in a row -- and the fourth week in the last five. The Batman sequel from director-producer Christopher Nolan -- listed on permits as "Magnus Rex" -- racked up 35 permitted days last week, according to figures provided Tuesday by the FilmL.A. permitting agency. Warner Bros. has set July 20, 2012, as the release date for the last installment in Nolan's trilogy, which has done much of its shooting in Pittsburgh. Total feature days permitted last week were up 47% to 176. Other features currently shooting in Los Angeles include "Argo," "Benjamin Troubles," "Gus," "Safe House," The L Lounge," "Water & Power" and "Tag." Feature activity reached its peak this year during the last two weeks in June, when permitted days totaled over 200 both weeks. Due to the lure of incentives outside California, feature production is about half the level it was 15 years ago, when tracking began. Total permitted production days climbed 16% to 690 last week as third quarter production remained well ahead of the same period in 2010. TV shooting declined slightly to 325 days, off 12 from the same week last year. Sitcoms "Up All Night" and "Raising Hope" were the most active last week with 11 days each. Other television productions currently shooting in Los Angeles include "Prime Suspect," "The Office," "Celebrity Wife Swap," "Face Off," "How Do I Look" and "Shahs of Sunset." Commercial shooting was up 39% to 189 days with Picrow's CCI commercial shot racking up the most days at 40. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

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