The fiscal year just completed was the best ever for the Santa Clarita Film Office with 1,370 film days representing an estimated $33.5 million in local economic impact from location filming alone.

That’s up 44 percent in film permits and 28 percent in film days over the previous record set one year earlier, in FY 2012-2013.

The economic impact, or estimated money spent by film companies when filming on location, increased by 31 percent in 2013-2014 when compared to 2012-2013 when the estimated economic impact was $25,690,500.

The City is also excited to share that June 2014 was the best June on record for the Santa Clarita Film Office with 81 percent more film days and 34 percent more permits than any other previous June, representing an estimated $3.5 million in local economic impact. The Film Office recorded 141 film days and issued 39 permits in June 2014, compared to 78 film days and 29 permits in June 2013, while the economic impact increased by 7 percent when compared to June 2013, when the estimated economic impactwas $2,028,000.  “We work hard to be the best at what we do and could not be more pleased with the Film Office’s successes this past year,” said Mayor Laurene Weste. “Santa Clarita has always been a film-friendly community.”

The City of Santa Clarita began issuing film permits in 2002-2003.  Since forming its own film office, Santa Clarita as gained notoriety as one of California’s most film-friendly cities.  The area’s thousands of locations, low permitting fees, expedited permitting process, City film incentives and location within the entertainment industry’s “Thirty Mile Zone” which makes it ideal for productions looking to film in California. “Over the years, we have focused our efforts on making the film permitting process as easy as possible, while balancing the needs of production with those of the residential and business communities,” Weste said. “We were the first city in Los Angeles County to offer a Film Incentive Program and remain committed to doing everything we can to ensure our position as a top choice for filming in California.”

Santa Clarita is home to more than 6,000 entertainment industry professionals, dozens of sound stages, thousands of varied locations and the city can double as almost any place in the world, which is a big benefit for production.

Other factors that have contributed to the success of filming in Santa Clarita include the continuation of the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program and the City’s own Film Incentive Program.  Both programs were implemented in 2009 and are aimed at retaining and increasing feature and television production.

The City of Santa Clarita is currently home to some of television’s most-watched programming, including “NCIS,” “Switched at Birth,” “The Bridge,” “Jennifer Falls,” “Chasing Life,” “Franklin and Bash,” “Justified,” “Utopia” and “Wipeout.”  Nearly half of the location filming days for 2013-2014 were attributed to television production alone.

Other shows that regularly film in Santa Clarita include “CSI,” “Criminal Minds,” “Modern Family,“ “The Mentalist,” and “Sons of Anarchy.”  Feature films such as Earth to Echo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dumb and Dumber To, Fast and Furious 7 and Saving Mr. Banks also filmed scenes in Santa Clarita.

Santa Clarita also sees a substantial economic benefit from filming that takes place on certified sound stages, which does not require a film permit and is not included in the reported numbers.

For more information about the Santa Clarita Film Office please visit FilmSantaClarita.com or contact the Film Office at (661) 284- 1425.