Filming Fees for City Properties Waived

The city is waiving most of the fees it charges to production companies for use of city facilities to encourage more film and television productions locally. The waiver allows production companies to use city-owned facilities such as City Hall, libraries and fire department buildings free of charge. In a statement, City Council President Eric Garcetti called city properties some of the area’s biggest stars. “I’ve enjoyed seeing City Hall cast as halls of Congress or the Kremlin, and I am proud to know that our public buildings can help keep entertainment employment and its multiplier effect high,” Garcetti said. Productions contribute more than $25 billion in economic activity and employ more than 200,000 people in Los Angeles County, according to the mayo’s office. A growing number of states are aggressively courting production companies with various incentive packages. As the entertainment capital of the world, the city can no longer lose its signature industry to other states, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement. “The film industry is not just about glamour, it’s about good-paying jobs and billions of dollars to our local economy,” Villaraigosa said.