LA City Council Passes Vote To Reduce Regulation On Filming

Making a mid-budget movie or TV series just got a little bit easier in Los Angeles.

The LA City Council has passed a motion that reduces “onerous regulations and permitting” as well as other “unnecessary fees, inconsistent safety requirements.”

The vote, which took place earlier today at City Hall, passed unanimously.

It was introduced by Councilmember Adrin Nazarian. He said, “This is about jobs that support LA families and all the small neighborhood businesses where they live and shop; the dry cleaners, the manicurists, the taquerias, the breakfast spots, the sandwich shops and the caterers. Los Angeles is hurting because film production is leaving. Covid, an unprecedented firestorm and an uncertain economic climate have made a bad situation worse, but we can do better.”

He added, “We cannot lose our signature industry to other cities, regions or countries that want to steal our original industry. They don’t have what we have. We have a city with skyscrapers, landmarks, colorful neighborhoods, mountains and beaches, and the people that are commensurate to those landmarks. We have the talent. We have the skilled crafts people. We have carpenters, we have grips, we have electricians, we have animators and cinematographers, costume, hair and makeup artists.”

Community star Yvette Nicole Brown was also on the steps of City Hall after the motion passed. “I believe in the city. I believe in what we’re all trying to build here. When I moved here from East Cleveland, Ohio, many, many years ago, the dream was to live in LA, but also to work in LA. Those of us that come here from other states and other cities, we come here because this is the mecca. This is the place where all of the magic happens, and the idea, in the last four or five years, it’s really hard to get a job in the city, and that’s heartbreaking, not just for me as an actor. I’m a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild. There’s 50,000 of us that live in this city. I used to be a board member of the Screen Actors Guild. It’s not just about the actors, though. There’s a lot of people that depend on our industries here.”

She added, “People go to eat at different restaurants at lunchtime. There’s catering that happens. All the crew members that work here. When a production leaves here and goes to another state or another country, when it first leaves, it takes the people with them. The second time they go back, they built a community in that new place, which means the cameramen and the crew people and the production designers and the hair and makeup people are left here, and they’re left in an industry that is no longer thriving. So we’re hoping that things can change, that we can shift this so that the people that moved here to bring all of their gifts and their talents to make this city great can continue to do just that.”

The idea is to keep film, television and commercial production in Los Angeles as the number of shoot days dwindles in the city following the recent wildfires, dual strikes and increased competition from other states such as Georgia and New Mexico.

Nazarian was joined at City Hall by Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, Alex Aguilar, Laborers International, Local 724, Brigitta Romanov, IATSE Local 892 and Stay in LA’s Marie Dunaway.

The motion directs the city’s Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA), and all relevant departments to report back on adjustments to city fees, permits, parking and security requirements for location shooting, filming on city-owned property and certifying new sound stages.

Nazarian proposed alternatives for reducing requirements of public safety personnel required at shoots; offering waived or reduced fees for utilizing public property as shoot locations; creating a pool of film-certified public safety officers available for rates competitive with other cities that are currently taking production away from L.A.; identifying and enforcing the price gouging of crew parking and base camps for film shoots; and recommended streamlining the film permitting review process which includes staffing and resources necessary across all departments involved and revising the stage certification process that allow for more stages to certify and limit additional expenses.