Many in Hollywood are trying to come to terms with the flight of American film and television production companies from the country, and all the unemployed entertainment workers left in their wake. It turns out that Conan O’Brien is one of them.
The late-night podcast host extraordinaire turned his attention to offshoring American production businesses in a recent podcast appearance with executive producer Jeff Ross. When considering the discrepancy between the pool of shows available on streaming services versus the number of people they know personally who are out of work, O’Brien and Ross focused on the volume of shows being offered overseas.
“But I don’t think that’s the whole problem,” Ross said of overseas production. “I think things have gotten very expensive and out of control in this country, in this city, of all places.”
O’Brien pointed to his recent clip for the 2026 Academy Awards as a moment that stood out to him. He had a vision for a “quick and silly one” where he would be backstage during a commercial break “rolling around on the floor with nine golden retrievers.” “I’m rolling around on the floor with nine golden retrievers and the band is playing and then you hear ‘Ladies and gentlemen, once again your host, Conan O’Brien.’ Then I jump up and a whole bunch of people with giant fluff brushes roll me up really fast and I get out on stage and I say ‘Hello everyone, cinematography,’” he explained.
He says a producer quickly told him the idea would be “incredibly expensive,” because they told him, “Well, the rule is that each dog has to socialize with the other dog, so they all have to live together for about two weeks before they can go on camera together. And if they live together, all their trainers have to live with them, too.” The cost would have been approximately $30,000, Ross recalls. “I think it was more than that,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien added: “At that moment, with the golden retrievers, I thought: ‘Oh, this is a concrete example of something happening that makes me think, ‘I see why people would go to Budapest to film something.'” O’Brien added.
While these sentiments seem to be indicative of the bureaucratic culture of Los Angeles, the only problem is that there is no such clear rule. That’s according to a knowledgable Teamsters source he consulted Hollywood Reporter About O’Brien’s comment. “I don’t think this is a rule at all. Well, it’s not a regulation of any kind,” says Ed Duffy, political coordinator for Teamsters Local 399, whose union represents breeders and trainers. “I think animal trainers probably feel like this is what they have to do to make it work and train the animals safely and make sure the performer is protected.”
In other words, a trainer might request such a period of time or personally require the dogs to acclimatize and train them to do all suggested actions on cue (in this case, on live television) and maintain the safety of the performer, but Duffy was not aware of a specific federal, state, or local regulation on the books.
Less formally, the American Humane Society, which provides “cruelty-free” certification for film and television productions, calls for animals coming from different facilities or locations to be “properly acclimated and introduced to each other under supervision to prevent any stress or injury due to compatibility issues” but does not provide a timeline.
What is also true is that the United States has a strong culture of animal activism which has played a role in changing norms regarding animals on set. For example, the use of wild animals used to be more frequent in films and television, but has largely been phased out due to pressure from animal welfare groups. It is never easy (and often expensive) to use live animals in film and television production in the United States
The crux of O’Brien’s argument is that burdensome and costly rules and regulations can discourage productions from filming in any one location. “All of these things are built over time, and these are different rules,” he said. This is an issue that, at least in Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass, Council Member Adrien Nazarian and grassroots activists are addressing. It has even become an issue in the 2026 mayoral campaign.
But perhaps the most striking example of this phenomenon is the fact that until very recently, all productions, regardless of size, had to pay a flat fee of $931 per production. He advances To get a permit to film in Los Angeles, now, at least, a six-month pilot program allows the smallest productions to apply for a cool $350.
