Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has received IATSE’s endorsement for reelection, just one day after discussing Hollywood jobs with TheWrap.
“Karen Bass has been fighting for film and television workers her whole career,” the California IATSE Council said in a Wednesday statement. “She wrote California’s original film and television production tax credit while she was speaker of the California Assembly, and as Mayor she’s done more to bring our jobs back to Los Angeles than anyone in city government.”
“I’m proud to receive IATSE’s endorsement, but it is indicative of many, many years of working together,” Bass told TheWrap. “But I would like to say that, and so I’m proud to receive IATSE’s endorsement, I have worked with IATSE, I have worked with SAG, I have worked with the unions and the entertainment industry, like I said, for over the last two decades.”
“Before I ever thought of running for office, I was involved in starting a program. I was on a board that ultimately started a program at West LA College to deal with diversifying the below-the-line crafts,” she continued. “When I ran for office, I committed to working on tax credits. My last term in Sacramento, I was Speaker of the House. I did the first tax credit, I got it in the budget in the middle of our great recession.”
“When I went to Washington, D.C., I served on the Judiciary Committee, working on intellectual property and copyright issues. When I came back here, I was doggedly determined to not just advocate for tax credits on the state level, but to do what we talked about in terms of filming locally,” Bass further stated. “My family, I have a family history of the entertainment industry going back three generations, and so this is not just personal to me, but I understand the industry’s role in our city and have been an advocate for a long time, and will continue to do that.”
The politician has also earned endorsement from Teamsters 399 and American Federation of Musicians Local 47 ahead of the June 2 mayoral election. A runoff election is set for Nov. 3 if there is no majority vote next month. Bass is up against 16 declared candidates, including Nithya Raman, Adam Miller, Rae Huang, Bryant Acosta and Spencer Pratt.
“I’m open to eliminating or changing or waiving whatever is in the way,” the incumbent mayor told TheWrap in regards to local film and TV production red tape on Tuesday. Read her full interview, here.
