The fight for film and TV productions is ramping up, with the Los Angeles City Council voting unanimously to cut costs and red tape to stop movies and TV shows from fleeing the region.
On Tuesday, April 29, the council approved a motion introduced by Councilmember Adrin Nazarian that directs city departments to find ways to reduce fees, ease permitting rules, and streamline filming on city-owned property, according to City News Service.
The motion also calls for changes to parking and security requirements, with city departments directed to return with recommendations in 30 days.
“This motion is focused on revitalizing local filming production, streamlining the city’s permitting process, and making it more efficient and less bogged down by bureaucracy,” said Nazarian.
Related: Why A Star On The Hollywood Walk of Fame Costs $75,000
The vote comes as productions continue to leave California for locations in Georgia, Texas, Canada, and other countries where studios can get bigger tax breaks and face less red tape.
Hollywood has struggled to rebound from back-to-back industry hits — first the pandemic, which forced a production shutdown in March 2020, and then the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023. As previously reported, those labor stoppages cost California’s economy an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion.
FilmLA, the nonprofit group that hands out filming permits for Los Angeles and other cities in the county, reported a 22 percent drop in filming days in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. The organization raised its permit fees by 4 percent in 2024, City News Service reports.
“In Los Angeles, FilmLA and other bureaucracy that we have put in place has made it too hard and too expensive for productions, especially
smaller production films here,” Councilwoman Traci Park said. “We have to fix that.”
The city proposal joins a bigger push at the state level. Backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state legislature introduced a bill earlier this year that would dramatically increase the state’s current film tax credit program from $330 million annually to $750 million each year.
According to the City of Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development Department, the entertainment industry generates more than $30 billion annually for the state and supports over 200,000 local jobs. It’s also a major draw for tourism, Fox Business reports.
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