By Michaela Gordoni
Last week, CA United called on nonprofit FilmLA to help change LA’s permitting process or else get its contract revoked, but its efforts flopped.
“There is a wide consensus among producers — both locally and nationally — that L.A.’s permitting process is cumbersome, costly, and complex,” said SirReel Studios CEO Wes Bailey, who leads CA United with Pamala Buzick Kim, Mavenverse founder.
“The City Council and Mayor’s Office are already advancing meaningful reforms. At this critical moment, we believe FilmLA is uniquely positioned to join all of us in confronting the very issues that make filming in Los Angeles difficult,” Bailey said. “We would welcome their advocacy to reform the process and help bring production back to the city.”
Despite CA United’s uproar, the city renewed Film LA’s contract.
FilmLA President Paul Audley explained the nonprofit has no authority when it comes to setting policies and is more oriented toward helping filmmakers navigate them.
“We should be working together to make change instead of dividing those who are the natural partners to make change,” he said.
City heads have made some recent efforts to reduce the red tape.
LA City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian has been working on changing the process. Last month, LA Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive order that asked city departments to develop ways to make it easier for filmmakers to shoot.
Related: Production Permits on the Rise in Los Angeles as Filmmakers Return to Work
“The onerous regulations and permitting required by the City are significant obstacles to production companies,” Nazarian said. “Bureaucratic permitting, expensive and often unnecessary fees, inconsistent safety requirements, and lack of City personnel and resources dedicated to filming requests are among the most significant hurdles to our entertainment industry. Prompt action is necessary to bring film, television and commercial production back to Los Angeles.”
FilmLA recently gave an annual report to the city suggesting modifications, and it also recommended 17 reforms with Nazarian.
Audley said, “We’re a contractor, and our job is to help the industry navigate the things the city says need to happen and to make change. And we’re doing that every day.”
“There is a fight to be had, but this is not the fight,” said Robert Paulsen, an experienced location manager. “I understand your frustrations with the lack of work and the slowdown in filming, and I too am unemployed. But $900 permits are not what is causing productions to flee L.A. That is just a drop in the bucket.”
CA United asked for three conditions in order for FilmLA’s contract to be renewed, including making permitting tiers that would create separate timelines for separate parts of production. This would help produce “real outcomes” — for example, the number of shoot days and jobs in-state.
“We hope the City will apply pressure to every employee, department, and contractor that touches this critical industry,” Bailey stated, “because restoring these disappearing jobs will require every part of the system to adapt — and fast.”
However, Audley says FilmLA’s contract doesn’t concern any of the key permitting concerns that CA United is talking about. Variety reported Friday that CA United lost the fight — FilmLA won a five-year contract renewal with the city.
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