The March 2008 debut of FilmL.A.’s web-based Online Permit System (OPS), and its subsequent introduction to filmmakers last September, is helping us improve our service to industry customers and area communities. Specifically, the streamlined OPS permit process has enabled us to increase the number of film site visits conducted by FilmL.A. staff. Every week, one of our eight production coordinators … Read More
California Finally Gets Own Filming Incentive
>After years of work by dedicated champions for entertainment industry jobs, California has a film tax incentive. On February 20, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation creating tax credits for qualified film and television productions. The funding allocation is $100 million a year for five years. The state legislature has recognized that the filmed entertainment industry is extremely mobile and that … Read More
Preventing Problems Through Production Planning
If you’re working on a feature film, television show or commercial, how do you measure on-the-job frustration? Do you measure it in hours wasted scouting locations that can’t be filmed, either because of conflicts with other productions or area filming restrictions? Or, do you measure it in earfuls of grief from community members or your producer, because the activities you meticulously planned … Read More
L.A.-Based Big-Budget Features Going, Going, Gone?
FilmL.A.’s annual production figures for 2008 are in, and the data reveal that all is not well with L.A.’s signature industry. Total on-location filming coordinated by FilmL.A. decreased 8.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, from 13,353 to 12,277 permitted days of production. By year’s end, total days had dropped 1.7 percent, … Read More
L.A. Filming Centennial Highlights What’s at Stake
This year Los Angeles’ movie industry celebrates a centennial. One hundred years ago in 1909 the first motion picture filmed entirely within Los Angeles was shot downtown at 8th and Olive. Film production became a signature industry for our region and state, as its products were exported throughout the world. Unfortunately, movie industry jobs have been exported as well. The phenomenon … Read More