Where Ads Are Made

Summary

The contraction has levelled off. The redistribution has not.

XR’s Where Ads Are Made report tracks how commercial production has shifted from 2019 through the first half of 2026, and why the industry is becoming less concentrated in traditional coastal hubs for shooting locations.

The data points to a clear driver: economics. As marketing budgets tighten and timelines shrink, brands and agencies are turning to markets with competitive incentives, lower costs, and reliable production infrastructure.

While California and New York still lead in overall production share, both are feeling the impact of broader shifts in the industry. Data through H1 2026 shows the ad production slowdown that began during COVID is now levelling off, with total production volume down just 2% year-over-year - California holding near 42% share, New York continuing to lose ground at 14.2%, and Georgia emerging as one of the period’s more notable gainers.

Part 1

Production is expanding beyond the coasts

California and New York still lead commercial production, but regional markets are gaining share.

California still anchors two-fifths of the market. Everything else is moving.

Share of national commercial production, H1 2026. Equal tiles, so every state carries the same visual weight regardless of land area.

State	H1 2026

States not listed were not reported in this cut. That is different from a share near zero, and the map shows it differently.

XR dataset · H1 20268 states reportedIllinois stated as “~5%”

Overall commercial production volume was down 25% nationwide from 2019 to 2025, as brands and agencies continue to deal with the new economics of cross-platform advertising and creative production.
Through H1 2026, nationwide commercial production volume was down 2% vs. H1 2025, following a roughly flat Q1 and a modest pullback in Q2 - signalling the market has levelled off after years of contraction, though a rebound has not yet materialised.
California remained dominant with 42.2% market share of full commercial production for FY 2025, even without commercial production incentives that match other up-and-coming states. According to FilmLA, commercial shoot days were level year-over-year in Q4 2025.
Through H1 2026, California’s share held near 42% - essentially flat vs. FY 2025 - maintaining its position at the centre of the market even as overall volume growth remained well below pre-pandemic levels.
California’s commercial market looks less bleak than its entertainment sector: Los Angeles filming overall trails its five-year average by roughly 36%, with feature production down nearly 20% year-over-year even after the state expanded its film and TV tax credit programme (The Hollywood Reporter), while XR data shows the state’s national commercial production share has held firm near 42% through H1 2026.

Georgia is the only state in this cut that gained share.

FY 2025 → H1 2026, percentage share of national commercial production.

Table view

State	FY 2025	H1 2026	Δ pts

XR datasetCalifornia stated as “near 42%”; plotted at 42.0

New York fell to 16.5% share in FY 2025, down more than 10 points since 2019. The decline continued and accelerated into 2026, falling further to 14.2% through H1 2026 - widening the gap with California to nearly 28 percentage points.
Texas became the largest heartland production hub, with +29% growth in production volume from 2019 to 2025 and the #3 market share overall at 6.7%. Share held roughly steady at 6.5% through H1 2026.
Florida reached 6.1% market share in FY 2025; share held steady at 5.9% through H1 2026.
Georgia was the most notable mover among regional markets, with share rising from 2.3% in FY 2025 to 3.0% through H1 2026 - an early signal worth watching in the quarters ahead.
Similarly, Missouri’s share has nearly tripled since 2019 (0.7% → 1.9% through H1 2026), and Ohio has climbed to its highest share of the period (0.9% through H1 2026) - both smaller-scale but consistent, multi-year gainers.

Illinois: a two-point share story hiding a fifty-percent volume story.

Long the traditional third-largest hub, Illinois has eroded faster than New York on a relative basis. Share and volume are different measures with different denominators, so they are shown on separate tracks rather than forced onto one axis.

XR dataset · 2019 → todayshare stated as “~5%”

The market contracted first. The redistribution happened inside a smaller box.

National commercial production volume, indexed to 2019. Frames are scaled by area, so the side length is the square root of the ratio.

XR datasetframes scaled by area

Part 2

Production is becoming more specialised

Different types of production are moving for different reasons.

4 in 10

California still anchors the most complex shoots.

Four in ten commercials involving on-camera production take place in the Golden State.

XR dataseton-camera shoots only

Florida is growing as a filming hub, with +28% on-camera production volume from 2019 to 2025 and +40% growth year-over-year from 2024 to 2025. That growth held through H1 2026, with on-camera’s share of Florida’s production essentially unchanged at 33%, matching FY 2025.
Texas is also expanding, with overall production volume growing from 2019 to 2025 across both on-camera (+23%) and voiceover work (+31%). Through H1 2026, that mix shifted further toward on-camera work, which paced 16% above its 2025 level, while voiceover work pulled back.
Growth in both Florida and Texas appears to be driven by incentives and infrastructure - the markets are large, local talent and crew bases are growing, and governments are looking to maximise production.
Meanwhile, New Jersey is seeing a surge in voiceover work, likely driven by new investments in filming and production studio facilities in the region, its proximity to New York’s talent base and advertising agencies, and aggressive production incentives offered by the state.
Georgia’s growth is driven by both on-camera and voiceover production, pacing meaningfully ahead of FY 2025 levels through H1 2026, thanks in part to more available sound stages and professional production studios.

The fastest growth rates sit on the smallest bases.

Every percentage change below is shown with the base it was computed on. These are real gains - and they are not the same size as they sound.

+386%New Jersey voiceover, 2019–2025 - from a small base, alongside new studio investment and proximity to New York +178%Missouri on-camera, 2019–2025, pacing roughly +42% above that through H1 2026 - state share still 1.9% of national production +29%Texas total volume, 2019–2025 - on a #3 national base of 6.5% share

XR dataset · 2019–2025bases from H1 2026 share

Method & sources

Where these numbers come from

Production share and volume figures are drawn from XR’s own payments dataset, which covers talent and crew payments across commercial productions in the United States. Share is calculated as a state’s portion of national commercial production; volume is the absolute count of productions. The two are reported separately throughout, because they move independently.

Two figures in this report are external and attributed inline: Los Angeles filming levels from FilmLA, and feature production trends from The Hollywood Reporter.

One approximation. Illinois’ H1 2026 share is stated as approximately 5%. Every other share figure in this report is exact. It is flagged wherever it appears.

The contraction has levelled off. The redistribution has not.

Production is expanding beyond the coasts

Production is becoming more specialised

Where these numbers come from

Talk to XR Pay about your production footprint