LA City Council Passes Package of Film Permitting Reforms to Stop Production Decline
The Los Angeles City Council has passed a series of motions intended to reduce costs and streamline permitting processes for on-location filming in the city as production in Hollywood’s backyard has drastically decreased since the 2023 industry strikes.
The package of motions passed Wednesday were authored by Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, whose Council District 2 includes the entertainment industry-heavy neighborhoods of Studio City and North Hollywood. Nazarian held a press conference following the council meeting on Wednesday, saying that the passed motions were only the first phase of his “Keep Hollywood Home” project.
“These are the lowest hanging fruits that we can address right away: redundancies, inefficiencies, things that are within city control that we can immediately change to make the permitting system work better for the time we are in,” Nazarian told TheWrap.
Among the reforms that the motions will bring to on-location shooting include eliminating city fees on private-public property when public personnel are not required for safety issues, fast track certification of new soundstages, and establish a free permit for microshoots, which the motions classify as using handheld cameras with less than ten people and no generators or special effects included.
“When we had a lot more filming, maybe we needed to have more monitors. Maybe you needed to have all hands on deck to make sure all the protections we needed are in place,” Nazarian said. “Now that we don’t have as much filming, what are the things we need to change to better address today’s climate and to be more efficient?”
The motions also request City Controller Kenneth Mejia to perform an independent audit of the city’s permitting system, including its contract with FilmLA which was renewed last year.
Entertainment workers filled City Hall to urge support for the motions, with members and leaders from IATSE, SAG-AFTRA and LiUNA 724 among those advocating for passage. Between the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the industry strikes in 2023, the wildfires of 2025 and increased competition from other states and countries for fewer entertainment productions, the number of shoot days in Los Angeles County has fallen from 9,220 in the first quarter of 2022 to just 4,380 in the third quarter of 2025.
“Our systems simply haven’t kept up with a rapidly changing industry. When permitting procedures work well, that means that productions can choose Los Angeles, and when they choose Los Angeles that means good things for arts workers, laborers, businesses and neighborhoods across the city,” said SAG-AFTRA and Stay in LA member James Babbin.
Beyond the union front, independent producers have spoken to TheWrap about how permitting fees can be particularly prohibitive for projects that do not have the budgets and resources of major studios. One producer told TheWrap last fall that he paid over $10,000 in fees for a three-day shoot, including $4,500 for inspection from a fire safety officer that only took minutes.
“He shows up, looks around, says ‘great,’ and then spends the rest of the shoot sitting in the car doing crossword puzzles,” producer Dustin Harris said. “As a resident, I understand the need for fire protection and to preserve our parks, especially now. But there’s got to be a better way to do this. I’m paying almost $1,500 a day for a guy to sit in his car for most of the time.”
Nazarian says that more motions are on the way, including some that he says will look to institute “systemic changes” to LA’s permitting processes. Among these are business incentives and retention programs aimed at postproduction businesses as well as widening the scope of independent productions that can apply for fee waivers.
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