Los Angeles, California: Council Approves Free Permits for Small Film Shoots in Keep Hollywood Home Vote

The Los Angeles City Council passed two motions on Tuesday, October 27, aimed at making it cheaper to film in the city, with the smallest productions first in line. The votes complete the first phase of the Keep Hollywood Home campaign to slow the loss of film and television work to other states and countries.

The motions were authored by Councilmember Adrin Nazarian of North Hollywood and moved through a recently established ad hoc committee on film, entertainment and the creative industry that was created to address the flight of local production.

Free permits for the smallest shoots

The first action establishes a free micro shoot permit for public space filming by productions with crew sizes of no more than 10 people. The council file adopts an ordinance dated October 7, 2026 that amends the Los Angeles Municipal Code to create the no fee permit, and it directs the Board of Public Works, working with the fire and police departments, the transportation department and the parks department, with help from FilmLA, to report within 60 days on a plan to run the program. The plan is to be modeled on the Letter in Lieu permit system used in New York City.

The free permit is aimed at student film projects, documentaries and certain low budget microdramas. Those productions do not qualify for California's recently expanded job incentive program, and their decline in Los Angeles has added to the city's ongoing drop in on location shoot days.

City lots for a dollar a day

The second motion directs city departments to report on making all non specialized city owned parking lots, yards, staging areas and civic properties available to film and television productions for a fee of 1 dollar per day, or a legally required nominal fee. The council file lists exceptions for productions that request exclusive use of a location, productions that need city staffing such as monitors or traffic personnel, and cases where a department finds a documented safety or operational conflict.

Cheap access to city property lowers two costs that fall on every location shoot, crew parking and base camp space. Departments are also directed to report back within 120 days on usage, operational effects, community feedback and recommendations for making the fee permanent.

Production keeps slipping away

On location shoot days in Los Angeles fell 4.8 percent year over year this past quarter to 4,171 shoot days, even though 40 percent of those shoot days came from films and television shows that received tax breaks from the state incentive program. Other motions still being weighed by the council include one that would reduce certain permitting and safety inspection fees, and FilmLA has rolled out a pilot program to speed up permits for shoots that do not need major fire, police or road safety inspections.

"Today marks a major milestone for the Keep Hollywood Home campaign," Nazarian said in a statement. "With these latest actions, all Phase 1 motions have now been approved by the City. This progress demonstrates the impact of the Ad Hoc Committee and our commitment to keep up the pressure for real reforms."

Mayor Karen Bass has called on state lawmakers to uncap California's 750 million dollar incentive program when they return to session next year, and on Congress to pass a federal bill that would offer a 20 percent tax credit on labor spending for productions shot in the United States, with a further 5 percent for productions shot in federally designated disaster areas. Los Angeles County carries that designation until 2030 because of the Altadena and Palisades wildfires.