The Los Angeles Board of Public Works approved a new five-year contract with FilmLA on Friday, despite calls from industry groups for changes to the city’s film permitting system.
The Los Angeles Board of Public Works voted 4-0 to extend FilmLA’s contract through June 2030, just days before the current deal was set to expire.
Adrin Nazarian, who represents a district that includes North Hollywood, where many IATSE West Coast locals are headquartered, previously 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.
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.
