xinhuanet.com: "Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed on Tuesday to take every step necessary to stop the flight of filmmaking from the city.
'The entertainment industry is the bedrock of Los Angeles and we are taking the necessary steps to keep our signature industry here where it belongs,' Villaraigosa said.
The measures include providing a more convenient power source for filmmaking equipment and letting production crews park free in certain city-owned garages, according to the mayor."
10 comments:
This is pretty cool actually. Often you hear about venues or small locations making it easier for production companies to come in by making some sort of capital improvements. However, it is infrequent that you hear of a citywide initiative to help make things easier on production companies. I'm assuming these power nodes are just large disconnects directly tapped off transformers in convenient locations for film crews. Sounds like a great idea all around, although I don't its enough to keep films in LA if the cost of producing them elsewhere is still considerably less.
I think that this is somewhat ridiculous. Like the theater industry, the film industry must being to spread out and work in different locations. While I understand that one of LA's financial bases is the film industry, but surely it would be better for the industry itself if it were not concentrated in one location. Then the productions would be able to take advantage of location specific benefits like natural resources or certain talents. I am not saying that the industry should leave the city entirely, but I think that it is good that it spread out into different cities and locations. The industry should be allowed to follow the economy and take advantage of what prices it can find.
I'm surprised that this is such a big issue, and that the city is willing to go so far to keep the movies there. It's also surprising to me that rather than trying to build resources for the movie studios that live there, it's so concerned with location work. I do wonder how local residents feel about this. Surely opening up city facilities for free must cause some interruption to ordinary services - do people mind or think that the business is worth it?
While it might be better for the companies and productions to spread out, I don't think that LA is going to let that happen anytime soon. Sure, people make movies other places than LA, but LA has somewhat of a monopoly on movie making. This is a smart move on the part of the LA government. Not only are they getting their good PR in, they are keeping their money makers close. I doubt it will last long though, as the businesses are bound to expand beyond LA, just as everything does in America.
I wonder as to what the public reaction to these public modifications will be. While it's really cool that the city of LA is literally modifying itself to make it easier for the movie industry to work in the city, it does not change the fact that other places are now more appealing since the cities are not built around the movie industry and have made themselves appealing for different reasons. The idea that Hollywood would have access to public buildings probably just adds more to this disconnect between Hollywood and the real world.
The decline of film production in L.A. must really be bad for the mayor to be trying so desperately to keep it in the city. But it was bound to happen eventually. Film making can be very expensive, and with the current economic situation, people are finding other ways to continue making film and art without such high costs. It will be interesting to see how L.A. fares in the future, especially considering one of the other articles on this blog that says that New York has become number two in film production in the U.S.
Sorry, the comment above is mine. Forgot my name.
The decline of film production in L.A. must really be bad for the mayor to be trying so desperately to keep it in the city. But it was bound to happen eventually. Film making can be very expensive, and with the current economic situation, people are finding other ways to continue making film and art without such high costs. It will be interesting to see how L.A. fares in the future, especially considering one of the other articles on this blog that says that New York has become number two in film production in the U.S.
I agree with Ariel in that there is some sense in this. So much of LA's income gets there via tourists, and part of the appeal is the fact that so many TV shows and films are shot in LA. Although many still are, if over time LA gets the rep that it used to be the gem of Hollywood, but no longer is, the tourists will stop flowing. Already I have no idea why anyone would visit LA. It's not that Hollywood and Beverly Hills aren't nice (even though Hollywood has pretty much lost all of it's charm and is really sketchy), but I wouldn't spend 600 dollars on a roundtrip ticket just to go visit the city. Maybe if I was touring all of Southern California I would stop there, just for the history. For that reason, I think California can't afford to lose the reputation of hosting Hollywood films. I love living there, but it's really not that interesting if you're a tourist. Nonetheless, people still come to see it. So I suppose bumping the budget to support film crews will eventually bring in more money for the city. It's a gamble, considering there are FAR more pressing matters that require a lot of money, like the public schools, community college, etc., but it's not an entirely far out idea.
I think this is a really good idea. If the Los Angeles area continues to lose productions it could be somewhat of a disaster. Accomodation of film crews is a great idea, beyond just monetary support. It is interesting that New York continues to raise rates, but it is probably not a risk at all since it can provide locations unlike anywhere else. Despite LA's efforts to keep productions there, I think that branching out is essential to a degree. I love the fact that Pittsburgh has become more of a go-to place for the film industry in the past two or three years, as it opens up opportunities that weren't previously here.
In conjunction with my last comment, it's interesting how swayed this is. I think it's important to salvage your income, especially when you're in so much debt, but it's difficult when a lot of smaller states offer a lot of perks that are very enticing. The film industry, especially larger funded projects, I think will always have a larger pull to New York & Los Angeles.
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