L.A. Mayor Karen Bass unveiled temporary reductions in fees for film productions on Tuesday in the face of accusations of not having done enough to retain Hollywood jobs.
Bass is up for reelection, with the June 2 primary just six weeks away. Her chief opponents, Councilwoman Nithya Raman and reality star Spencer Pratt, each argued last week that the city has failed to make it easier to film.
On Tuesday morning, Bass announced a six-month pilot program to reduce fees for “low-impact” productions. She also announced that all productions would receive a 20% discount on parking at city lots for a year, matching a deal that was recently offered to help keep “Baywatch” at Venice Beach.
The standard permit fee to shoot in Los Angeles is $931. Under the pilot program, certain productions shooting for up to three days and up to three locations will pay just $350. The city will also waive a $285 fee for spot checks by the L.A. Fire Department.
The pilot is intended for “new media” shoots and other small-scale productions that have no more than 30 cast and crew on set at one time and do not require safety supervision. Feature films and TV shows — and even commercials — will generally not meet the eligibility criteria.
Last week, Raman tweeted that the city has treated Hollywood as “an inconvenience rather than an asset,” and blamed red tape for the loss of 50,000 production jobs in recent years.
“When I’m mayor, LA will be a reliable partner to film productions,” she wrote. “We’ll staff a real city film office, eliminate fees for smaller productions, simplify permitting, and get rid of ridiculous conditions that stall production.”
The Bass campaign responded by pointing out that Raman had not offered any legislation to help the film industry in her five years on the city council, and that she had recently recused herself from a vote on streamlining the permit process due to her husband’s business interests.
Pratt meanwhile offered in a podcast interview to make it “literally free to shoot.”
“What the city doesn’t understand is we need to have no fees,” he said. “It’s time to bring this business back. We need everyone to be able to work.”
The “low-impact” pilot program is being funded by FilmLA, which has pledged to make up the cost difference for the six-month duration from its operating reserves. FilmLA is an industry-run nonprofit — with board members from the major studios and unions — that handles permitting and collects fees on behalf of two dozen jurisdictions around L.A. County.
FilmLA has been the target of complaints for more than a year, largely from independent and low-budget producers who find the $931 fee a significant obstacle. Major studios have generally not complained about the fee, which represents a tiny fraction of a typical production budget.
The contraction in film and TV production has also hit places like New York and Georgia. The Entertainment Union Coalition has focused its lobbying efforts on production incentives, both at the state and federal level, to better compete with subsidies in Canada, the U.K., and elsewhere.
“I think the work the mayor is doing is important,” said Rebecca Rhine, president of the coalition and a top official at the Directors Guild of America, in an interview last week. “Every little bit helps. But at the end of the day what we need are major commitments.”
Last month, Bass cut permit fees to shoot at Griffith Observatory by 70%, and also opened up the L.A. Central Library to filmmakers.
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