City Council Greenlights Measures to Boost Hollywood Production in LA

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted to greenlight proposals aimed at improving filming conditions in the city as a room packed with Hollywood workers and union representatives erupted in applause.

All eligible councilmembers voted to approve colleague Adrin Nazarian’s seven initial motions to “keep Hollywood home.” Those include measures to speed up soundstage certification and to require city departments to report compliance with Mayor Karen Bass’ 2025 executive order on filming. They also comprise motions to launch an independent audit of L.A.’s permitting system and to usher in free “microshoots” (involving 10 or fewer people).

Additional motions from Nazarian that were passed on Wednesday will facilitate an agreement with L.A. counties and local cities to coordinate their permit regulations, will require the city’s tourism department to present a “Made in L.A.” branding campaign idea to the Council and will work to unify filming conditions across the city.

“Together, we are sending the world a message: Los Angeles is not standing still. Los Angeles is not clinging to outdated systems and we are not surrendering our signature industry without a fight,” Nazarian said at a press conference following the vote.

The measures are desperately needed, some industry workers emphasized during the public comment period. The voice of one self-proclaimed member of IATSE cracked as she said, “I’ve worked in entertainment for the last 25 years, I don’t have any other skills … and I don’t want any other skills.” She said she needed work, and “we all need work.”

Carlo Perez, the business manager for Local 755 of the plasterers, sculptors and shop hands union, recalled shooting a Fast and Furious movie in Georgia and swapping the cars’ Georgia plates for California plates. “We need to stop this, we need to cut it off while there’s still something to save,” he said.

“We have generational talent you’re not going to find in any other city,” added one self-described producer.

But there were also hints of dissent when it came to the details of the motions. While generally expressing support for the efforts to boost production in the city, several industry union representatives asked in their public comments to be included in discussions around future motions. Thom Davis, president of the California IATSE Council, asked for labor and safety standards to be considered in his public comments.

Advocates for downtown L.A., including DTLA Alliance president Suzanne Holley and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, expressed concern for how proposed reforms might impact residents and businesses in the neighborhood. “Please don’t cut the community out of this conversation,” Holley said.

In response, Nazarian promised to come to an “amicable solution” with Jurado on filming processes downtown. He added that he was listening to other concerns. “Safety standards will not be compromised,” he said.

Still, during the press conference that followed the vote, the councilmember spoke in the foreground of a crowd including union leaders, the head of the city’s film office and members of the grassroots local group Stay in L.A. — a show of unity despite the behind-the-scenes debates. The councilmember’s office has stated that his motions are the result of more than three dozen meetings with studios, unions, indie filmmakers and related businesses.

“For far too long, the conversation has been about what we are losing. today, the conversation becomes about what we are building,” he told the assembled cameras and reporters.

And Nazarian isn’t done yet. The councilmember introduced proposals earlier this month aimed at incentivizing local postproduction vendors and other businesses auxiliary to the entertainment industry, instituting a fund to boost small and midsized productions and creating production and postproduction retention programs .

Also, he launched proposals calling for amendments to the city’s contract with FilmLA to introduce new transparency and accountability measures and a pilot program to waive fees for small productions with 50 or fewer personnel.

Said Nazarian on Wednesday, ”We will continue working with labor, we will continue engaging with studios and independents, we will continue reviewing data, we will continue removing unnecessary barriers while protecting worker safety standards.”