LA City Briefs: Mayor Renews Entertainment Industy Support via Executive Directive and CD15 Land Use Update

Mayor Bass Pledges City’s Renewed Support for L.A.’s Entertainment Industry, Signs New Executive Directive

LOS ANGELES —  Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Aug. 7 pledged the city’s renewed support for L.A.’s entertainment industry by issuing her eighth executive directive to streamline and focus city department processes for local film and television production. The signing of this Executive Directive comes after Mayor Bass convened her inaugural Entertainment Industry Council to draw upon senior industry leaders’ expertise as she leads new efforts to support L.A’s entertainment industry last month.

“The entertainment industry is core to our economy and it is also core to our city’s identity and City Hall is going to do everything we can to support it,” said Mayor Bass. “This executive directive is my pledge that the City is renewing its support for the entertainment industry and is expected to provide the highest level of customer service as we work to make sure that Hollywood stabilizes.”

The executive directive is expected to improve city department processes by designating staff and resources toward supporting local production and film-permitting by requiring city departments to:

Meet with external industry stakeholders at least quarterly to address production-related challenges and solutions directly with departments. 

Designate a film liaison staff member from key departments who will participate in the quarterly meetings and be available to the external industry to provide assistance with city processes. 

Review internal department processes and make recommendations to streamline and facilitate the permitting and review process for filming.

In July, Mayor Bass joined industry and labor leaders to recognize the groundbreaking of East End Studios’ Mission Campus in the Arts District, a cutting-edge film soundstage and production studio campus that will help expand opportunities for local production. Under Executive Directive 4, Mayor Bass is working to eliminate barriers to business development, growth and creation. The city streamlined the permitting and inspection for seven new studios and soundstages to open on time and on budget. More than eight million square feet of soundstage, studios and creative space are in the pipeline. 

CD15 Land Use Policy Update

LOS ANGELES — On July 31, Los Angeles City Council approved councilmember Tim McOsker’s motion to initiate a report from the Department of City Planning, in consultation with the city attorney, to draft and present an ordinance amending land use policies. While the district has many excellent community gardens in CD15 across various zoning areas, current land use rules, likely unintentionally, prevent the sale of produce grown on-site. McOsker proposes changing this rule to permit limited sales and distribution of produce directly at the growing site. Allowing such sales would benefit both the farmers and the surrounding community. An innovative solution might be implementing a permit system for local regulatory control, which McOsker noted, while unprecedented, could be highly effective.