The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously passed a motion calling on various city departments to research ways to reduce the costs of on-location shooting, adding to the statewide efforts to revive declining production rates in California.
The motion was introduced by recently elected councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who represents a district that includes North Hollywood, where many IATSE West Coast locals are headquartered. The methods the motion asks city departments to research include reducing or eliminating fees, particularly for shoots on public property and ways to streamline the process for permits.
The motion calls for the relevant departments to report back to the council in 30 days with proposed changes. Along with Nazarian, councilmembers across the political spectrum spoke out in support of the motion, from members of the council’s progressive bloc like Echo Park CM Hugo Soto-Martínez to more right-leaning members like Westside CM Traci Park, whose council district includes the wildfire-ravaged Pacific Palisades.
In a speech during the city council meeting on Tuesday, Nazarian spoke about the rapid decline in Los Angeles production as studios have moved shoots to other states and countries amidst pressure to reduce production spending and make their streaming services profitable.
“We’ve been regressing and losing so much ground,” he stated. “Now we’re losing commercials and platforms and miniseries. We can’t have this happen.”
While a handful of high-profile productions have moved to California, including NBC’s “Suits L.A.” and the second season of Prime Video’s popular “Fallout,” TV production in Los Angeles has fallen 58% from its all-time high in 2021, according to the latest quarterly report from FilmLA.
In response to this, Hollywood unions and studios, who two years ago were in conflict amid an industry-paralyzing double strike, have joined forces to lobby local and state officials to make changes that would allow California to become a more competitive production hub.
In Sacramento, a pair of bills that would expand the types of productions eligible for the California Film and Television Tax Credit have been slowly advancing through various committees. The bills have the support of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last fall called for the program’s cap to be raised from $330 million to $750 million.
Such changes will be part of what is expected to be a contentious budget debate facing state legislators next month, as California faces uncertainty over its budget due to the Trump Administration’s tariffs against China and ongoing threats to pull federal funding.
As those bills continue through the legislative process, grassroots groups like Stay in LA have made permitting costs another part of their campaign. The organization has passed out flyers at industry events comparing the fees required for Los Angeles shoots to those of other U.S. cities like New York, Chicago and Atlanta.
Among the fees required of L.A. shoots that are reduced or nonexistent in other cities include county and city fees for fire review and notification, hourly fees for public safety and fire workers and additional fees for shoots that take place on roads, including for permit applications, road inspections and closures.
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