Mayor Karen Bass Launches Ambitious Plan to Save Hollywood Jobs

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass met with heavy hitters in the entertainment industry last week to form a cabinet that can advice the city on how to keep Hollywood jobs in Los Angeles after the number of productions shot in L.A. plummet.

Alarming statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that “motion picture and sound recording” jobs have grown nationwide, "but the share of workers in LA or New York," who represented half of those jobs in 2023, now make up just one-third of that number in 2024 this year," according to a Marketplace report.

Bass announced the creation of the city's Entertainment Industry Cabinet to advice city officials on ways they can streamline efforts to keep creative jobs in the Hollywood Hub. The Cabinet is a who's who of Hollywood insiders from union bosses to studio heads, agents and Motion Picture Association executives who, the Mayor says, "will urgently focus on addressing the challenges," the entertainment industry is facing in Los Angeles.

"We are bringing leaders together through the Entertainment Industry Cabinet to inform solutions that will help Hollywood better reflect Los Angeles workers and make sure that the City is an advocate rather than an impediment to local film and TV production," Bass said, adding that the city has streamlined permitting for new studios and soundstages.

“Right now, our foundational industry needs the City’s support so we will be taking further action to help keep production local and help Hollywood stabilize," Bass said.

The move the same month the nonprofit agency that issues permits to film on L.A. streets, FilmLA, raised its fees by roughly 4% July 1st, citing rising costs and the plummeting number of on-location film and TV production.  "FilmLA receives no direct financial support from state or local government for the services we provide. Like other industry vendors, FilmLA is directly affected by periods of work disruption, as well as the observed, multi-year pattern of production decline in Greater Los Angeles," the organization said.

“We would not increase fees without first finding ways to significantly reduce our operating costs, including down-sizing our office space and right-sizing our workforce, as we have already done," said FilmLA President Paul Audley. "Ultimately, these adjustments are necessary to sustain the people and programs that keep Los Angeles accessible to filmmakers, including rapid-turnaround permit processing, free production planning assistance, and comprehensive community relations including Neighborhood Notification and On-Location Monitoring.”