Los Angeles City Council To Consider Film-Friendly Policy Changes

UPDATE, 12:20 PM: As expected the LA City Council today overwhelmingly passed measures to make filming in the City of Angeles easier and cheaper for productions.

In 15-0 vote, the local pols extended a waiver for filming on city property to June 30, 2019. The vote also seeks feedback on other ways the city can improve local filming for productions. First introduced in 2006, the wavier has been estimated to cost LA about $350,000 a year in direct revenue to the city. Supporters of the measure say it more than makes up for that in business activity from Film and TV production and sales taxes. If Mayor Eric Garcetti signs the measure, as the very film friendly SAG-AFTRA member is expected to do, it will be retroactive to July 1.

PREVIOUS, DEC 1 PM: The Los Angeles City Council will consider Tuesday a series of proposals designed to make the city more film friendly. The policy changes and extensions would come just in time for what many in the city and the entertainment business hope will be a boom in local TV and film production following the state’s passage of significantly larger entertainment production tax incentives.

One measure would extend for five years an existing waiver of fees charged for filming on city-owned or controlled properties, including City Hall, airports, police stations and city libraries. The city has waived $1.8 million of those fees the past five years, or $350,000 a year. The new waivers would run through fiscal year 2019.

The Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Film and TV Production Jobs has already approved the changes, which also would coordinate film permitting across all city departments, and create a customer-service survey to ensure city departments meet the needs of the film and TV industry.

“Film and TV production is essential to our city’s economy and to our cultural history,” said Councilmember Paul Krekorian, the committee chairman. “It creates tens of thousands of jobs, generates millions (of dollars) in economic activity and keeps L.A. on the map as the entertainment capital of the world. These measures that the City Council is taking up will simplify the film-permitting process; incentivize filming at city-owned properties, and show that Los Angeles is ready to improve the way it does business with the film industry.”