CALIFORNIA BUSINESS MINUTE
FILMING IN LA
10-12-09
Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.
In an effort to enhance the Los Angeles business climate for film production, the
LA City Council has approved a plan that includes a long list of business incentives
in support of the film industry.
Based upon a Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation’s analysis that the
film industry will lose nearly 6,000 jobs this year alone to run-away productions
to other states, the action is meant to curb the loss.
Under the plan several incentives were outlined such as production crews will be
allowed to use parking lots around the city free of charge on evenings and weekends;
more power sources will be provided so filmmakers won't have to bring their own
generators; and the city will offer a host of tax credits even for the owners of
buildings being used as film locations and a refund of sales tax paid by production
companies when at least 75% of the filming is done within the city.
Additionally, the Council is also looking at identifying the top 10 locations deemed
the most difficult to film, such as the Los Angeles Zoo, so that steps can be taken
to make them more user-friendly for filming
Although the six major US studios are all based in L.A., large numbers of film
productions and television shows have been shot at other locations in states which
offer financial incentives like tax credits and rebates, such as New York City
(last year the sitcom "Ugly Betty" moved from Los Angeles to New York).
According to LAEDC and FilmLA, the film/television industry business brings in
$57 billion to the area, but use of film locations in California has tumbled by
as much as 50 percent since 1996. FilmLA says on-location feature-film shoots
dropped 14 percent last year alone to its lowest level since 1993.
Quoted in the LA Time, Councilman Richard Alarcon, who chaired the jobs and business
development committee that crafted the recommendations, said the steps were "for real"
and long overdue. "We are in competition with locations throughout the country as
well as Canada, and if we do not fight to keep filming in L.A. it could have a
devastating effect on our economy," he said. "Some argue that it already has."
I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.
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