In the continued fight for the Los Angeles entertainment industry, FilmLA and the city of Los Angeles are working together to lower the cost of film permits for smaller-scale productions.
Mayor Karen Bass said the city is not only working to keep the industry in Los Angeles, but also to expand it, saying it’s “the backbone of our economy.” She said the industry has been part of the local economy for so long that it was taken for granted.
The nonprofit FilmLA introduced a new Low Impact Permit Pilot Program, delivering immediate cost reductions for productions that don’t have impacts on communities. “We want to make it simple and fast for them,” FilmLA CEO Denise Gutches said.
FilmLA is the film office for the City of Los Angeles and the County, working with local jurisdictions to coordinate film permitting and production.
“Because it was so much a part of our city, and we didn’t recognize that what was a part of our city could also leave our city,” Bass said.
Officials said the new program will make filming permits more accessible and affordable, targeted at smaller productions with limited budgets.
“So, from $931, which is our permit application fee, we’re going to $350,” Gutches said. The Los Angeles Fire Department will also eliminate its spot check fee for productions.
Bass noted that LA is competing with other states and countries to attract film production. “We have joined forces to more than double the California film and TV tax credit … and just last month we did several measures in the city that the industry asked us to do, such as cutting how much it costs to film in LA.”
For example, it used to cost $100,000 to film at the Griffith Observatory; now it costs $30,000, and the number of city staff required on location has also been reduced.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian said he is also working to “keep Hollywood home.” He introduced a motion to waive city fees for the middle-tier productions that are bigger than micro shoots but smaller than studio films, TV series, or big-budget commercials.
“I’m talking about shoots with crews of 50 or fewer, plus actors and actresses,” Nazarian said, calling it a citywide crisis.
FilmLA’s new program is a pilot to test the permit application volume and customer satisfaction, to see if the reduced costs can be sustained beyond six months.
Details about eligibility, pricing, and program requirements are available through FilmLA at https://info.filmla.com/general-information/low-impact-permit-pilot-program.
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