Councilmember Cheers Increase in Local Film Production

Councilmember LaBonge applauded the recent increase in on-location filming, saying it shows that new incentives are helping to keep Hollywood in Los Angeles where it belongs. A quarterly report shows a 16 percent increase in area on-location filming.
"Los Angeles and the State of California are working to keep filming in Los Angeles," Councilmember LaBonge said. "This is the film capital of the world and we want to keep it that way."
Many of the nearly 16,000 entertainment industry professionals living in Councilmember LaBonge's district have been heavily impacted by the surge of "runaway filming" when production companies began to be lured to film in other cities by tax incentives and other benefits. Los Angeles City Council has passed a number of motions to combat runaway filming, including mandates to government agencies to improve relations to the film industry and increase accessibility to public spaces for filming. In 2009, the City Council voted unanimously to extend The Entertainment and Multimedia Tax Incentive to Downtown Los Angeles. The tax incentive was first issued to entertainment and multimedia businesses in the Hollywood and North Hollywood redevelopment areas in 1996 in order to stimulate economic growth in the areas.
Similar measures were enacted statewide. The California Film and Television Tax Credit introduced in July of 2009 was also implemented to encourage in-state filming.
It is advised for people in film-location areas to work with their Council offices in order to mitigate neighborhood issues.