Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reiterates her commitment to strengthening the local entertainment industry. In a recent announcement captured by mayor.lacity.gov, Bass outlined the steps her administration is taking to make it easier and more cost-effective to operate film and television production in the City of Angels. Together with City Council member Adrin Nazarian, the mayor is pushing a number of initiatives designed to support not only major studios, but also independent filmmakers and emerging creators.
“Los Angeles is the creative capital of the world, and city leaders know that City Hall must commit to keeping entertainment production jobs here at home,” Mayor Bass said in a statement obtained by mayor.lacity.gov. Following a series of motions recently introduced by Nazarian, Bass praised him for his work to support local production jobs and highlighted several updates intended to pave the way for local productions, including a tiered permit fee structure for low-impact productions and longer hours with the LA Department of Transportation.
City Hall has identified and made progress on cost-saving measures for productions, such as reducing review times for filming applications at the Port of Los Angeles and developing a proposal to reduce fees for filming at Griffith Observatory. Councilman Nazarian spoke about the importance of these proposals: “We have been developing these proposals for a year in meetings with studio executives and producers, as well as hundreds of rank-and-file production staff,” Nazarian told mayor.lacity.gov.
In addition to these improvements, the appointment of Steve Kang, president of the Board of Public Works, as the mayor’s liaison to the film and television industry has resulted in the offering of a concierge service to meet production needs. The aim of these efforts is to ensure that productions receive timely funding and that the city projects a film-friendly image. The LAPD has also come on board and has identified activities and locations where staff deployments can be reduced or eliminated entirely.
Rounding out the list of incentives, Mayor Bass welcomed the return of productions like the Baywatch reboot following Governor Newsom’s expansion of the film and TV tax credit program. A program she has long championed, having overseen the rollout of the tax credit during her tenure as speaker of the state Assembly. Given all of these developments, Mayor Bass is committed to making Los Angeles an optimal environment for storytellers to bring their visions to life. A pilot permitting structure for low-impact productions, as mentioned in the landmark policy, is scheduled to begin in March 2026, according to mayor.lacity.gov.
