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Feature filming in Southern California has dropped 50 percent from its peak in 1996 — and television documentaries are down 39 percent from their peak in 2008. In addition, the region has lost more than $3 billion dollars in entertainment production wages and the employment rate in the entertainment industry has dropped from 152,525 to 136,380 over the last decade.
“In 1997, every big-budget film but one was filmed, at least partially, in Los Angeles County; but in 2013, only two movies with production budgets higher than $100 million were filmed here,” said Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich who has authored a motion to push reforms to make California competitive with other states that have successfully lured away film and television production.
“The loss of film and television production in Los Angeles County due to the state’s failure to enact reforms is a devastating blow to our local economy and jobs,” he added, noting that the recent departure of “The Tonight Show” from Burbank to New York City resulted in the direct loss of 150 jobs – and a severe blow to those employed in ancillary industries including electricians, carpenters, caterers and countless employees that support production. “The state needs to aggressively pursue legislation that will provide greater incentives similar to Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina – even New York – which are successfully poaching production away from California by offering generous economic benefits.”
Georgia offers a 20 percent tax credit that led to a 300% increase in its share of top-grossing movies. The tax incentive program in Massachusetts propelled it from 18th place in film-production to 11th place in only five years. Louisiana’s tax incentive program added 6,145 jobs in film production between 2010 and 2012 and quadrupled its share of top grossing movies.
Supervisor Antonovich’s motion directs the Executive Officer to send a five-signature letter to the Governor and members of the State Legislature asking that they recognize the negative impacts high taxes and excessive regulations have on the entertainment industry and provide economic incentives that other states are implementing that is resulting in the loss of jobs. The Board of Supervisors will address the motion at its next meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2014.
MTA Committee OKs Antonovich-Garcetti Motion
To prevent the loss of film and television production and jobs in Los Angeles County, the MTA Executive Committee approved a motion by Directors Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti to streamline filming policies on MTA property.
“In addition to reforming our state’s burdensome regulatory and tax laws, our public sector agencies must also provide logistical incentives to counter the generous benefits other states are using to lure away our production,” said Supervisor Antonovich.
An MTA policy requiring an onsite safety expert to train key production members may ensure safety and convenience instead of the current policy which requires a Monday-only, three-hour safety training for all production crew and talent using MTA property.
The motion directs the MTA CEO to report back in 30 days with a comprehensive policy that streamlines procedures and requirements on filming on MTA owned or controlled property.
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5 Comments
Too bad you don’t do the same for all the regular businesses your ilk has destroyed through confiscatory taxes.
Too bad you don’t do the same for all the regular businesses your ilk has destroyed through confiscatory taxes.
Kali-fornia is one of the worst states for businesses. Other states offer tax incentives and draw business away and the State Legislature doesn’t wonder why, they just try to come up with new tax schemes and “fee’s” . They don’t own that, but they’re working on added incremental gas taxes under the guise of modifying people’s behavior while padding the General Fund, and camouflaging the gross mismanagement in Sacramento.
Kali-fornia is one of the worst states for businesses. Other states offer tax incentives and draw business away and the State Legislature doesn’t wonder why, they just try to come up with new tax schemes and “fee’s” . They don’t own that, but they’re working on added incremental gas taxes under the guise of modifying people’s behavior while padding the General Fund, and camouflaging the gross mismanagement in Sacramento.
It’s not ONLY the government that is driving filming out of the state, it’s the citizens that get all fussy… IE. The film trucks are blocking the street I want to go down, or the traffic they cause near my house. It’s not all that one sided. Face it our citizens are pretty selfish and have an entitled attitude. Other states are basically blackmailing CA. They build (state funded)state of the art buildings hoping to get a production companies to relocate there. They bankroll plenty. We as a state can’t compete with that. We are very lucky in SCV. Disney is going to build here and not out of state. Sure there are things we can do better as a state. It’s easy to blame the government.It’s much hard to be part of the solution. If you want to make changes it starts with you.. If you are so upset, take action and volunteer with you local Supervisor and find a answer to this problem. You all seem to know everything about taxes and how Sacramento runs, what a bonus to all of us if you fixed those problems.