The film-friendly attitude of Los Angeles World Airports helped contribute nearly $600 million to the area economy over a four-year period through filming of motion pictures, television shows and commercials, a Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. study has concluded. Between 2002 and 2005, filming at LAWA’s four airports created jobs for 4,800 workers earning $280 million in salaries. Los Angeles collected nearly $1 million in sales tax revenue on production company spending, as well as the spending of the direct and indirect workers. The total economic output for filming on LAWA property was $590 million during the four years, the report said. However, the report’s authors said that contributions from filming were greater than stated in that the film-friendly policy keeps film production in the city. “With other states and countries offering significant incentives aimed at luring productions away from Los Angeles, easy access to shooting locations at LAWA make shooting in Los Angeles easier, and the decision to leave L.A. that much harder,” the report said. LAWA owns and operates Los Angeles International, Van Nuys, Palmdale and Ontario airports.
