LA County Board

14. Long Term Supports for the Film Industry in Los Angeles County\nRevised recommendation as submitted by Supervisors Barger and Horvath:\nInstruct the Director of Economic Opportunity, in consultation with FilmLA, to\ntake the following actions: (Continued from the meeting of 9-12-23)\nRelease a Request for Statement of Qualifications (RFSQ) to identify an\neconomic development firm to study various strategies that could\nincentivize new and continued movie, commercial, and television\nproduction in the County, the chosen firm would have predictive\nanalytical capacity that will provide evidence-based recommendations to\nthe County, and the study should examine the following:\nPotential new revenue streams for the industry within Los Angeles\nCounty;\nProposed incentive packages for foreign investment to film in the\nregion based on input from the tourism and hospitality sector;\nProposed reductions in the County’s regulatory and zoning\nbarriers for the development of additional production space;\nPotential payroll tax reductions for productions that shoot in the\nunincorporated areas of the County;\nPotential local sales tax reductions for productions that shoot in the\nunincorporated areas of the County;\nPotential property tax reductions or deferments for production\nfacility capital development projects;\nThe potential creation of creative economy evergreen capital\ndevelopment fund to assist with capital development or expansion\nof emerging entertainment technologies such as Virtual Reality\nand Artificial Intelligence platforms, which could also assist smaller\nproductions with lease costs, equipment purchase, and/or other\noperational expenses; and to be additive to existing County loan\nfunds and capitalized with additional private sector or philanthropic\nfunding; and\nReport back to the Board in writing within 12 months;\nAssess a proposed fee waiver program for lower impact and/or student\nproductions that shoot in the unincorporated areas or on County property\nwhich would apply to County use fees and FilmLA permit fees, and report\nback to the Board in writing within 60 days with the estimated budget\nimpact, establishment of qualifying criteria, and proposals for new\nfunding streams to make up any loss in budget, along with proposals of\nhow “lower impact productions” and “student productions” should be\ndefined, and should also consider rebates as a way of assisting these\ntypes of productions;\nReport back to the Board in writing within 60 days on proposed ways the\nCounty could reuse vacant County properties for shared production\nspace, and assess ways to increase filming at County owned arts\nfacilities for the benefit of both the industry and performing arts, such as\na reduction of fees, and should be done in collaboration with the Chief\nExecutive Officer, through the Asset Management Division, and the\nDirector of Arts and Culture, and should prioritize those properties that\nare not applicable for housing options and could be used for filming;\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer, through the Legislative Affairs and\nIntergovernmental Relations Branch, to advocate in support of enhancing the\nCalifornia Film Tax Incentive program including, but not limited to, increasing\nthe tax credit to ensure the State can stay competitive and keep filming within\nthe County, and advocate for strengthening the program’s diversity goals, as\nwell as adding local hire and equitable workforce development requirements ;\nInstruct the Chief Engineer of the County Flood Control District to remove all\nfee and permit requirements for production scout visits to County property\nexcept for cost recovery for staff time needed to open the facility and\nescort/monitor the production team, and County Departments can recover their\ncosts for staff time if needed, to open a building or escort the production\nthrough the building for a scout visit; and\nInstruct the Director of Economic Opportunity and the Executive Director of\nRacial Equity, to explore ways to engage with studios and unions on issues of\nworkforce pipelines, to encourage youth and other priority populations to learn\nmore about jobs and be connected to paid work experiences in the\nentertainment industry. (23-3259)\nAttachments: Motion by Supervisors Barger and Horvath\nRevised motion by Supervisors Barger and Horvath\nPublic Comment/Correspondence