Los Angeles officials on Tuesday rolled out two pilot programs aimed at lowering the cost of filming in the city, including a discounted permit program for “low-impact” shoots and a 20% parking discount at more than 100 city lots, as leaders try to curb film and television job losses.
Beginning April 27, filmmakers who qualify for FilmLA’s six-month Low Impact Permit Pilot Program — which generally applies to smaller productions with minimal on-site needs — will see permit-related costs cut by 58%. The initiative lowers FilmLA’s main application fee from $931 to $350, reduces a neighborhood notification fee and waives the Los Angeles Fire Department’s $285 spot-check fee.
A second initiative would launch as a one-year pilot through the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, offering productions a 20% discount at more than 100 DOT parking lots citywide for shoots using a lot for one week or less, officials said. The program is expected to go before the Transportation Commission on May 14.
Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Adrin Nazarian announced the initiatives at Echelon Studios in Hollywood, framing them as part of a broader effort to make Los Angeles more competitive as productions leave for other states and countries with lower costs and stronger incentives.
“It’s not just about the A-listers … it’s about the workforce, the middle class jobs,” she said, pointing to workers like stagehands, caterers and makeup artists. “That is the backbone of our economy.”
The new programs target one of the industry’s biggest complaints: the cost and complexity of filming in Los Angeles, particularly for smaller and independent productions that are less able to absorb high permitting and logistical expenses.
When asked how the initiatives would be funded, Bass said the city’s fee reductions are intended as a long-term economic investment.
“This is about recapturing that loss,” Bass said, referring to productions that have left Los Angeles. “So it is, in my opinion, a short-term investment for a long-term gain to our government.”
Nazarian, who has advanced a “Keep Hollywood Home” initiative at City Hall aimed at lowering filming costs and streamlining permitting, described the pilots as part of a broader effort to retain production.
“Pilot projects work, and it’s important to collect the data for what it is and make sure that you’re pushing ahead with what works,” Nazarian said.
FilmLA officials said the low-impact permit pilot is designed for productions with limited effects on neighborhoods and city services. Qualifying shoots would generally involve 30 or fewer cast and crew members, require no direct on-site public safety oversight and avoid higher-impact or more logistically complex locations.
The pilot will be funded in part by FilmLA’s board, which has agreed to use operating reserve funds to cover staffing and technology costs for the program, officials said. The city’s contribution comes through waiving the fire department spot-check fee, further reducing overall permit costs.
“Not all jobs are created by studio productions,” FilmLA CEO Denise Gutches said. “We know that a lot of people who are here today are independent, small filmmakers … so we need to be prepared to provide that kind of support for them.”
Steve Kang, the mayor’s liaison to the film and television industry, said the city tried to structure the discount in a way that would not reduce services elsewhere.
“We don’t want to give them discounts and then have that translated into service reduction elsewhere,” Kang said.
Kang said the city does not yet have an exact estimate for the parking program’s cost because that will depend on how many productions use the discount.
Industry advocates welcomed the announcements as a meaningful step, while saying additional reforms are still needed.
Pamala Buzick Kim, co-founder of the industry advocacy group Stay in LA, said the new low-impact pilot is “well overdue,” but that the city should also move faster on a separate micro-shoot initiative aimed at very small productions, which are important for emerging and student filmmakers.
“I’m glad it’s going into effect at the end of the month, but that doesn’t mean we should be forgetting about the things that we already passed that could very easily be implemented tomorrow,” she said.
Kim added that costs like parking can quickly add up for productions.
“All of these things count, because it’s always like death by a thousand paper cuts in the city,” she said.
The push to revive local film production is also emerging as a political issue ahead of this year’s mayoral race. Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is challenging Bass, on Tuesday released a campaign plan calling for a dedicated film office within the mayor’s office, faster and more predictable permitting, lower fees for independent productions, streamlined filming rules and expanded film tax incentives.
“Los Angeles is losing Hollywood. Not because productions want to leave, but because we’ve made it too hard for them to stay,” Raman said in a written statement.
The event was held at Echelon Studios, a new Hollywood production complex now under construction. Project representatives said they expect the development to begin opening next year.