Councilman Wants to Turn Around Runaway Production
A lack of tax incentives and upset residents may keep productions from coming back
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City officials have been trying to convince film crews to come back to LA, but the runaway production train may have already left the station.
City Councilman Richard Alarcon plans to outline 17 initiatives he hopes will slow down the trend. But he faces an uphill battle. Even though the city may lose as many as 6,000 jobs, some locals wouldn't mind if production stayed away.
Production professionals have been complaining to the city council about the difficulties of shooting in Los Angeles. Lack of tax incentives, high fees and parking problems for crew members were among the gripes according to an article in the Daily News.
In a report due out this week, Alarcon hopes to address producers' concerns and raise awareness about the economic benefits of film production.
But some residents though don't share Alarcon's enthusiasm. Many have complained that film crews disrupt life in their neighborhoods, creating traffic and parking nightmares. Movie shoots often close busy streets, leaving frustrated residents guessing how to get around. On top of that, the city is facing tough finacial times and can't afford handing out big tax breaks.
Councilman Bernard Parks suggested the benefits of production are not always obvious.
"When you take over a community for several weeks or whatever, the community should at least have something to point at and say people see an overall benefit, instead of it just was converged on, people were inconvenienced, there was a handful of people that benefited and most of them left," he told the Daily News.
Film producers say LA just can't compete with other state's incentives. Ruben Fleicher, director of "Zombieland," received a 30 percent tax credit to film in Georgia.
"This movie would have cost twice as much if we'd done it in L.A," Fleicher told the Daily News.
Alarcon hopes to enlist FilmL.A., a shooting-permit clearinghouse for the city, as well as staffers from council district offices to persuade people on the benefits of keeping film work in Hollywood.
"I'm trying to be surgical about it," Alarcon told the Daily News. "I'm being very honest (with producers): We're not going to be able to solve all of your problems in one fell swoop, but we've got to set the tone."
