Council Votes to Slash Permits to $1 in Effort to Save Local Filming
Los Angeles approved new measures to lower barriers for small productions as quarterly shoot days fell 11 percent.
By David Marshall ·
The Los Angeles City Council voted on Wednesday to reduce costs for local filmmakers, passing two measures designed to counter a sharp decline in production activity. The actions aim to make the city more accessible for student crews, documentary teams, and low-budget projects that have struggled with rising expenses.
Councilmember Adrin Nazarian introduced both motions. The first creates a free microshoot permit for projects with ten or fewer personnel. This change removes the fee for on-location filming, directly lowering the financial barrier for ultra-small productions working within city limits.
The second motion targets city-owned infrastructure. It allows film and television productions to use municipal parking lots, yards, civic properties, and staging areas for a daily rate of one dollar. This initiative seeks to make base camps and crew parking significantly more affordable for productions that require low-impact space.
“Today marks a major milestone for the Keep Hollywood Home campaign,” Nazarian said in a statement. “With these latest actions, all Phase 1 motions have now been approved by the City. This progress demonstrates the impact of the Ad Hoc Committee and our commitment to keep up the pressure for real reforms.”
The vote follows recent data from FilmLA, the city film office. The agency reported that shoot days for film and television fell from June to September. Despite local and state efforts to attract production, activity dropped nearly 5 percent compared to the same period in 2025. The decline represented an 11 percent drop from the previous quarter.
These local moves sit within a larger financial shift in the state. California increased its annual film and television tax credit funding from $330 million to $750 million in 2025. Mayor Karen Bass also issued an executive order in 2025 to streamline the permitting process. The full Council previously approved seven initial motions from Nazarian earlier this year to improve filming practices.
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