LA Votes to Keep Hollywood Home — Big Wins for Film Workers

<p>In a major win for LA's entertainment workforce, the City Council voted unanimously on March 4 to approve the first seven motions of Councilmember Adrin Nazarian's "Keep Hollywood Home" initiative.</p><p>The package of reforms aims to cut red tape that has been driving film and TV production to other states and countries. Key measures include:</p><ul><li><strong>Fast-track soundstage certification</strong> — Streamlined process for certifying new production facilities</li><li><strong>Free "microshoots"</strong> — Shoots involving 10 or fewer people no longer need costly permits</li><li><strong>Independent audit</strong> of LA's film permitting system to find bottlenecks</li><li><strong>Regional coordination</strong> with neighboring cities for seamless cross-jurisdiction filming</li><li><strong>Unified filming conditions</strong> framework across all city departments</li></ul><p>Nazarian said the initiative was the result of 13 meetings with labor organizations and 10 meetings with city departments. The reforms come at a critical time as LA has been losing production to states like Georgia, New Mexico, and countries like the UK and Canada.</p><p>Two additional motions are still pending, making this Phase 1 of the broader initiative to keep Hollywood's economic engine running in its hometown.</p>