City Council Approves Steps To Make LA More Film-Friendly

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday approved an extension of a five-year fee waiver for film productions shot on city property, along with other measures aimed at slowing runaway production.

The council voted 15-0 to extend until June 30, 2019, a waiver of fees charged for filming at city-owned or controlled properties, like City Hall, libraries, airports and police department facilities.

The waiver, enacted in 2006 and extended once, expired at the end of June. If signed by the mayor, the fee waiver would apply retroactively to July 1. Some properties would be exempt from the waiver, including the Convention Center, Olvera Street and the Los Angeles Zoo.

Over the years, City Hall has served as a set for TV shows such as "Scandal," "The West Wing" and "Newsroom," and movies such as "Chinatown, "Gangster Squad" and "Mission Impossible 3."

Since 2008, the city has waived about $1.8 million in costs, or about $350,000 per year, according to officials.

Councilmember Paul Krekorian, the committee's chairman, said it's critical for the city to secure a large share of returning productions now that the state has passed a tax incentive package.

"Los Angeles just needs to be prepared to make sure that we are ready for that influx and that we take as much of the market share of that increase in production as we can," Krekorian said.

Other measures approved include the coordination of film permitting across city departments and staff trained to deliver high-quality services to production companies, and providing a customer service survey to anyone who obtains a film permit in order to improve city services to the film industry.

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