L.A. Mayor Vows to Cut Red Tape and Make It Easier to Shoot Movies and Shows In the City

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is advancing efforts to streamline film and television production in Los Angeles amid cries for policymaker intervention in the issue of runaway production.

Bass calls for a reduction in city staffers on shoots and improved access for crews to Los Angeles icons like the Griffith Observatory, the Central Public Library and the Port of Los Angeles in an executive order signed Tuesday at a press conference at SAG-AFTRA’s L.A. headquarters.

The order, which takes effect immediately, instructs departments to review all “City assets” to see if they could be utilized by film crews as locations, parking and for other uses and to offer their perspectives on how to allow night-time scouting on locations owned by the city.

“The City is taking bold action to support our legacy industry,” Bass said in a statement. “Keeping entertainment production in L.A. means keeping good-paying jobs in L.A., and that’s what we are fighting for. … Hard working people across Los Angeles are counting on us.”

It also requires the police and fire departments, among others, to meet with the mayor’s office and industry stakeholders including FilmLA on a monthly basis to solve “any ongoing issues” that shoots are encountering. Departments are ordered to provide notice to potential and upcoming public infrastructure projects that could impact filming to her office and FilmLA.

At SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday, Bass said the film industry has been complaining about “bureaucracy, bureaucracy, red tape” when it comes to filming in the city, which this order aims to resolve.

The move comes after the L.A. City Council passed a measure penned by Adrin Nazarian in late April that pushed city departments to propose efforts to reform the city’s film permitting process.

“The entertainment industry has been the reason why Los Angeles was put on the map,” Nazarian said at Tuesday’s press conference. But “over the course of the last 30-40 years, we’ve fallen asleep,” he added, by allowing production to go to other states and countries. “All we need to do is keep up with everybody else.”

Meanwhile, state legislators are currently reviewing bills that would amplify California’s film and television tax credit program after Gov. Gavin Newsom called for more than doubling the cap on the state’s program, from $330 million to $750 million.

When asked whether she thought the $750 million proposal would pass as the state faces a $12 billion budget shortfall, Bass said it was possible that figure would be reduced. Still, she said, “I think people recognize the $700 million as an investment.”

More to come.