Hollywood production was even slower this summer than it was during last year’s strikes because of a staggering decline in reality TV shoots, according to a new report.

Overall production levels were down 5% in the third quarter of 2024 compared with the same stretch in 2023, per data released Wednesday by FilmLA, a nonprofit organization that tracks on-location shoot days in the Greater Los Angeles area. FilmLA logged 5,048 total shoot days from July 1 to Sept. 30, making this the weakest quarter of 2024 so far.

The hardest-hit sector was reality TV, which wasn’t as badly affected by the walkouts because most unscripted projects were not struck; at the same time, scripted production came to a near standstill last summer. During the third quarter of 2024, however, reality TV production plummeted by 56.3% to 946 shoot days compared with the same period in 2023.

Scripted TV production rose to 758 shoot days by the end of the third quarter while still lagging 55.5% behind the five-year average. Feature film production was up 26.6% from last year with 476 shoot days in the third quarter, which is 48% lower than the five-year average.

Commercial production during the third quarter of 2024, with 814 shoot days logged, was 7.4% higher than last year and 32.6% lower than the five-year average.

All forms of production have been sluggish to rebound amid an ongoing industry contraction that predates the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes.

“Only a few months ago, the industry hoped we’d see an overall on-paper gain in the third quarter, due to the strike effect,” FilmLA President Paul Audley said in a statement. “Instead, we saw a pullback and loss of forward momentum, heading into the fall season that will make or break the year.”

Audley once again used FilmLA’s latest update as an opportunity to call for an expansion of California’s film and TV tax credit program — which industry experts and insiders overwhelmingly agree is not generous enough to compete with incentives offered by other states and countries.

Earlier this month, FilmLA reported that California’s share of the global production market fell from 22% to 18% judging by the amount of homegrown projects released in 2022 versus 2023.

In a recent interview, Audley recommended that California’s tax credit program be expanded to cover commercials, animation and reality TV production.

“California’s film incentive is a proven jobs creator that studies show provides a net positive return on every allocated dollar,” Audley said Wednesday in a statement.

“What the program lacks is funding and eligibility criteria that reflect the outputs of the industry in 2024. … just as our competitors continue to innovate, California must do the same.”

Meat producer BrucePac is recalling nearly 10 million pounds of meat and poultry products sold at Trader Joe’s, Target, Kroger and other retailers because they might be contaminated with listeria.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the sweeping recall last week. It includes hundreds of ready-to-eat items that were produced from June 19 to Oct. 8 and distributed to restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses around the country.

The outbreak was discovered after government inspectors performed routine testing of products containing poultry produced by BrucePac, and found them to be positive for listeria. Additional investigation identified BrucePac’s ready-to-eat chicken as the source of the bacteria.

There have been no confirmed reports of people becoming sick from consuming the products, which should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

What are some of the recalled products?

The affected products include prepackaged salads, chicken wraps and bowls, and frozen entrees from brands such as Michelina’s and Rao’s.

Target is recalling its Good & Gather salads and other products. At Trader Joe’s, the recall includes its White Meat Chicken Salad, Harvest Salad With Grilled Chicken, Pacific Salad With Chicken, Chicken Enchiladas Verde and Curried White Chicken Deli Salad.

Can I see the full list?

The USDA released a 326-page document showing the food labels of affected products.

The agency said products subject to the recall have the establishment numbers 51205 or P-51205 inside or under the USDA mark of inspection. But BrucePac on Friday noted that those numbers are found only on the packages shipped directly to its customers; consumers will not find them on their retail packages.

What is listeria and why is it dangerous?

Consumption of food contaminated with the bacteria can lead to listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects adults 65 and older, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and newborns, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Others can be infected with listeria, but they rarely become seriously ill.

Listeria can cause invasive illness and intestinal illness, the agency said. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal issues.

What is BrucePac?

Founded in 1949, family-owned BrucePac produces precooked proteins that it sells to other companies, which repackage or use the products as ingredients in other foods.

The company operates two USDA processing facilities — in Woodburn, Ore., and Durant, Okla., where it is based — that have the capacity to process millions of pounds of meat and poultry per week.

“We are working closely with USDA to ensure that all necessary actions are taken to ensure a safe food supply,” BrucePac said in a statement. “We will not resume production until we are confident the issue has been resolved.”

Wasn’t there another big recall tied to listeria this year?

The BrucePac recall follows a massive recall of more than 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products by deli meat company Boar’s Head in July, also due to listeria contamination.

As a result of the multistate outbreak, which sickened dozens of people and was linked to 10 deaths, Boar’s Head permanently discontinued its liverwurst product and shut down its Jarratt, Va., facility.

What should I do if I suspect I ate contaminated food?

Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a healthcare provider. People in the higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating contaminated food should seek medical care and tell the provider about eating the recalled products.

Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at (888) MPHotline or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov.

Former President Trump said that any telephone conversations he may have had with Vladimir Putin since leaving office were a “smart thing,” though he declined to confirm the recently reported calls during an appearance at the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday.

“I don’t comment on that,” Trump said. “But I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing. If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing, in terms of a country. [Putin’s] got 2,000 nuclear weapons, and so do we.”

The comments were the latest in a long line of remarks in which Trump has praised the president of Russia, whom Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris recently called a “murderous dictator.”

Citing an unnamed source, a new book by veteran political journalist Bob Woodward reportedly says that Trump and Putin have spoken as many as seven times since Trump left office more than three years ago. Released Tuesday, the book, “War,” also reveals that Trump, while president, sent the Russian leader COVID-19 testing equipment for his own use.

When pressed on the topic by Q&A moderator John Micklethwait, editor in chief of Bloomberg News, Trump added, “I don’t talk about that. I don’t ever say it. But I can tell you what, Russia has never had a president that they respect so much.”

Speaking in front of a friendly audience over the course of roughly an hour, Trump shared his views on tariffs, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve. But he also went on meandering digressions, such as one that covered the safe return of a SpaceX Super Heavy-Starship rocket on Sunday (“I said, ‘What the hell … !’”), and even tried out a French accent while relating a squabble he’d had with Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, over a threatened import tax on wine (“He’s a wise guy”).

On the subject of tariffs, Trump championed his plan to put them on various imported items.

Tariffs, Trump said, are “for protection of the companies that we have here and the new companies that will move in, because we’re going to have thousands of companies coming into this country. … We’re going to protect them when they come in, because we’re not going to have somebody undercut them.”

The nonpartisan Tax Foundation has reported that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in 2018 and 2019 amounted to “nearly $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans.”

“I’m a believer in tariffs,” Trump said. “To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariff.’ It’s my favorite word. It needs a public relations firm.”

Later, Micklethwait invoked the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to ask Trump if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the November election.

But Trump never directly answered the question, and falsely said there had been a peaceful transfer after the 2020 election, despite the storming of the Capitol, which saw more than 100 people injured and one attendee, Ashli Babbitt, fatally shot by a law enforcement officer. “It was love and peace. And some people went to the Capitol, and a lot of strange things happened there,” said Trump, who shared other falsehoods about Jan. 6.

When Micklethwait asked the question again, Trump said of the journalist, “This is a man that has not been a big Trump fan over the years.”

Trump’s discursive appearance also saw him squabble with Micklethwait over a pejorative nickname for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and ridicule the moderator for his fiscal views. “You’ve been wrong all your life on this stuff,” Trump said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

A Harris campaign spokesperson said the interview “was yet another reminder that a second Trump term is a risk Americans simply cannot take.”

“An angry, rambling Donald Trump couldn’t focus, had to be repeatedly reminded of the topic at hand, and whenever he did stake out a position, it was so extreme that no Americans would want it,” spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement.

The former president’s campaign moved quickly to position the appearance in Chicago as a win, sending out an email that said the former president “was in his element as he spoke passionately about restoring economic growth, prosperity, and opportunity for all Americans.”

“Kamala could NEVER,” the message said.

Micklethwait said that the Chicago club had invited Harris — whom Trump mentioned only fleetingly — to participate in a similar conversation, but she had “declined so far.”

On Tuesday, Trump also planned to rally voters in Atlanta and spoke with conservative media host Glenn Beck for his BlazeTV online program. He argued that immigration is voters’ greatest priority.

“The biggest thing that people are going to be looking at and voting on is what’s happening at our border where murderers are allowed to come in and where drug dealers are allowed to come in and just destroy our country. Literally destroy it,” he told Beck.

Harris frequently argues that Trump killed a bipartisan immigration bill that would have increased the number of agents at the border and reduced the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. because he was more concerned about keeping the issue alive to boost his election prospects than in solving the problem.

Trump also said he was serious about tasking billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk with reeling in federal spending.

“He feels there’s tremendous fraud, waste and abuse,” Trump said. “He could save a lot of money and make lives better.”

Times staff writer Seema Mehta in Los Angeles contributed to this report.