Los Angeles Eases Film Permits to Lure Productions

Council measures cut permit steps and parking costs for film crews as local shoot days slip.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Remote Work

Screen-print poster illustration of stacked concrete curbs and a diagonal dolly rail over a warm open lot, in mustard, teal, cream and rust. — The Los Angeles City Council passed two measures cutting film permit steps and parking costs to $1 a day to keep productions from leaving the city. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Should Los Angeles cut film permit and parking costs to keep productions from leaving?

The Los Angeles City Council passed two measures aimed at reducing costs and barriers for local film productions, part of Councilmember Adrin Nazarian's Keep Hollywood Home package. Total shoot days in the city fell 4.8% from July to September compared with the prior year, totaling 4,171 days.

Why it matters

The measures respond to concerns that permitting and other rules push film crews toward lower-cost production hubs. Activity has struggled to rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic, industry workers' strikes and streaming pressures.

Shoot days totaled 4,171 from July to September, down 4.8% from the prior year, per FilmLA. The state's expanded film tax credit accounted for 40% of scripted on-location filming in greater L.A. in the third quarter, and it remains unclear how much the new measures will change that pattern.

The players

Adrin Nazarian

Los Angeles City Councilmember who leads the Keep Hollywood Home package aimed at keeping film production in the city.

FilmLA

Film permitting office for Los Angeles that tracks local shoot-day activity and publishes production data.

The details

One measure creates a free micro-shoot permit for productions of 10 or fewer staff filming in public spaces, requiring only a short one-page application. The other sets parking at city-owned lots, yards, staging areas and civic properties to $1 a day for most productions, down from $450 a day for park base camp parking and $100 to $300 a day for crew parking. Both were among nine measures in the first phase of Keep Hollywood Home.

Feb. 17: A producer spoke in support of the Keep Hollywood Home measures at the City Council meeting.
July to September: Shoot days totaled 4,171, down 4.8% year over year.
Third quarter: The state tax credit accounted for 40% of scripted filming in greater L.A.
Last Tuesday: The City Council passed the two measures.

Remote Work Context

The Keep Hollywood Home measures sit alongside the state's expanded film and TV tax credit, which accounted for 40% of scripted on-location filming in greater L.A. in the third quarter. The city is targeting local permitting and parking costs that the credit does not address, as crews weigh cheaper production hubs.

Productions of 10 or fewer staff can now film in public spaces with a one-page application and no full permit process. Most productions parking at city-owned lots will pay $1 a day instead of the previous $450 park base camp or $100 to $300 crew parking rates.

The takeaway

Lower permitting and parking costs can change where crews choose to shoot, so local production budgets and freelance schedules may shift as the measures take effect. Watch how shoot-day totals move in the coming quarters to see whether the policy is working.

What happens next

The eight motions in the second and third phases of Keep Hollywood Home are expected to come before the Council, with Nazarian saying the next proposals would make Los Angeles more hospitable to all productions.