save hollywood jobs

The problem

Los Angeles is losing Hollywood. Not because productions want to leave, but because we've made it too hard for them to stay. Cities around the world are funding dedicated agencies and offering aggressive incentives to take our film industry, and we have let them. This is a $30 billion industry for California that once supported nearly 150,000 jobs across the county. We've lost more than 40,000 of those jobs in recent years because we have treated it as an inconvenience rather than an asset.

The causes are structural. There is no real city film office — permitting is handled by a third-party nonprofit, and the mayor didn't appoint a dedicated film liaison until late 2025, years into the collapse. City permitting is slow and unpredictable, with no guaranteed timelines, departments that contradict each other, and fees that add up to thousands of dollars even on the smallest shoots. Neighborhood filming conditions have accumulated over decades and effectively made parts of the city off-limits to production. And recent improvements to California's tax incentives still can't match competitors who offer uncapped credits that cover above-the-line costs. We must do everything in our power to keep this industry here.

Our plan

  1. Staff an LA Film Office in the Mayor's Office, led by people with real industry experience, and make Los Angeles a reliable partner to productions of every size.

    1. Proactively engage studios and production companies to encourage local production, not just process permits when they come in.

    2. Coordinate with the County and other jurisdictions so productions that cross city, county, and state lines have someone tasked with resolving inter-jurisdictional issues before they derail a shoot.

  2. Guarantee faster, more predictable permitting with clear timelines. Institute real structural reforms within city permitting departments and FilmLA so that the bureaucracy is not standing in the way of keeping production in Los Angeles.

  3. Lower and eliminate fees for smaller productions so indie and mid-sized projects can afford to shoot here.

  4. Simplify neighborhood filming conditions that have accumulated over decades and made parts of the city effectively off-limits to production. 

    1. Require regular review of all filming restrictions, including Council-set special conditions and LAPD location notes, so that rules put in place after a one-time complaint don't permanently block filming on a street. Any restriction that can't be justified on current evidence should expire. 

  5. Be the loudest advocates for the most expansive possible film tax credits at the state and federal level, guaranteed multiple years into the future so that producers and studios can count on them.