LA City Officials Approve New 5-Year Contract With FilmLA, Despite Groups Calling For Permitting Process Reform

As seen in Deadline

Los Angeles city officials voted Friday morning to renew its contract with FilmLA for another five years, despite advocacy groups pushing for reforms to the city’s permitting process.

The city’s complicated and expensive permitting process has received a fair amount of criticism this year amid discussions about how to revive California’s film and television industry, which has dwindled at the hands of runaway production over the last decade. Stay in LA, an organization committed to encouraging productions back to the area, has been among those advocating for reducing “onerous regulations and permitting” as well other “unnecessary fees, inconsistent safety requirements.”

Advocacy groups, as well as some lawmakers, had hoped to get those changes made to the contract before it was approved by the L.A. Board of Public Works. They had instead proposed that the city extend its current contract for six more months, as L.A. County recently did, to allow time for negotiations on amendments.