{"id":590981,"date":"2026-04-18T03:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T03:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/590981\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T03:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T03:30:09","slug":"l-a-production-crisis-now-mayoral-race-flashpoint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/590981\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Production Crisis Now Mayoral Race Flashpoint"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFor a while, the streaming boom\u2019s overall content spend masked this downturn. Then came the bust. The past couple years have seen historically low levels of shoot days in L.A. The declines have been escalating<\/a> in recent months. Filming for TV shows ended 2025 over 50 percent below the five-year average, and features dropped off more than 30 percent in the same span. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLast year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom successfully raised the state\u2019s cap on incentives from $330 million to $750 million. The programs in New York and Georgia remain more generous, yet the move demonstrates a serious attempt to regain production. During an April 15 press briefing for CBS\u2019 2026-2027 primetime lineup, Paramount chair of TV media George Cheeks noted<\/a> that his company would like to shoot in California \u201cas much as possible, but we do have a financial model that we have to hit,\u201d adding that the state covering above-the-line costs with its tax credits would make it more attractive.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn March, the L.A. City Council unanimously greenlit some measures of its own to fight back. They include speeding up soundstage certification, better coordination of permit regulations, launching an independent audit of the permitting system and allowing free \u201cmicroshoots\u201d which involve just a few people. Adrin Nazarian, the councilman who proposed these efforts \u2014 his industry-oriented district includes North Hollywood, Studio City, Valley Village and Toluca Lake \u2014 is now pushing for new transparency and accountability for the filming office, as well as a pilot program to waive fees for productions with 50 or fewer personnel.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe three main mayoral candidates seem to have finally prioritized the problem, or at least understand its value as a cudgel against each other. <\/p>\n

\n\tPratt has offered a list of policy prescriptions, including slashing location fees \u201cin half,\u201d the creation of \u201ca dedicated concierge team\u201d to finesse problems, quicker permitting approvals, \u201czero on-set city staff for 90 percent of productions\u201d and public subsidies for the local filming office which are currently paid for by fees from productions. He continued, \u201cI will direct all departments to waive all location, staff and inspection fees for shoots under $2M. I will mandate LADOT\/Police\/Fire instant pre-approvals for standard street closures and safety plans.\u201d (Pratt wouldn\u2019t discuss his proposals with THR.)<\/p>\n

\n\tFor her part, during her first term Bass has streamlined some processes and, in May 2025, issued a directive<\/a> which required city departments to make iconic city properties like the Griffith Observatory more accessible and affordable for shoots by cutting review timelines and lowering certain fees. She also pushed to reduce the number of city staffers required to be on-set to just one, and to improve government-side communication about ongoing infrastructure projects around town that could impact shooting schedules.<\/p>\n

\n\tPerhaps most surprising in this discussion is Nithya Raman<\/a>, the insurgent progressive candidate who, as a city councilmember, represents an industry-heavy swath of L.A. including Sherman Oaks, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Koreatown, the Miracle Mile and the Hollywood Hills. Her initial 2020 council campaign was heavily supported by the entertainment business\u00a0\u2014 she\u2019s the former executive director of Time\u2019s Up and her husband is a seasoned TV producer (30 Rock, Modern Family).<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Nazarian, her council district neighbor, has led the way with his reform efforts, Raman has been notably quiet on the issue, focusing attention instead on her signature civic concerns, like housing affordability. At least until Baywatch became a flashpoint in the mayoral race.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Apr. 14 she wrote on the social platform X: \u201cFor too long, Los Angeles has treated Hollywood as an inconvenience rather than an asset. The result: 50,000 jobs lost. When I\u2019m mayor, LA will be a reliable partner to film productions. We\u2019ll staff a real city film office, eliminate fees for smaller productions, simplify permitting and get rid of ridiculous conditions that stall production.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking to THR, her solutions \u2014 which center on cutting governmental red tape and pushing back against NIMBY residents who dissuade shoots \u2014 aren\u2019t much different than those of her rivals. Raman\u2019s main gist: Bass has done too little, too late.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like our mayor has been fighting to keep the jobs with every tool at the city\u2019s disposal,\u201d she says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like there\u2019s changes in a timely manner. We need to respond to this issue with more urgency.\u201d As Exhibit A, Raman pointed to a dedicated city film czar who was appointed in late 2024 and began working in early 2025 \u2014 deep into Bass\u2019 term and L.A.\u2019s production emergency. \u201cThat\u2019s not good enough.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a while, the streaming boom\u2019s overall content spend masked this downturn. Then came the bust. The past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,10580,258031,201130,190894],"class_list":{"0":"post-590981","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-karen-bass","10":"tag-nithya-raman","11":"tag-production-news","12":"tag-spencer-pratt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}