Greater than two and a half years after she took workplace, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has fulfilled a nagging marketing campaign promise to movie trade advocates.
She is appointing Board of Public Works president Steve Kang to function a liaison between metropolis paperwork and the movie trade, she stated Wednesday. The mayor made the announcement whereas chatting with a non-public Zoom assembly of her leisure trade council Wednesday afternoon, in response to three attendees.
Kang would be the chief movie liaison, assisted by Dan Halden — who serves as performing director of exterior relations on the metropolis’s Bureau of Road Companies (StreetsLA) — and producer Amy Goldberg.
The town’s movie liaison function was established underneath former Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Up to now, the liaison has served as the purpose particular person for movie and TV productions seeking to shoot in L.A., serving to filmmakers navigate the town’s huge paperwork.
“I’ve full confidence that President Steve Kang will ship in his function as Metropolis Movie Liaison by discovering options that defend our signature trade and be sure that native filming of TV reveals, motion pictures and commercials can efficiently proceed and develop,” Bass stated in an announcement. “With the profitable growth of the California Movie & TV Tax Credit score and our ongoing efforts to enhance native processes, our work continues to maintain manufacturing jobs right here and assist small companies who depend on the trade.”
Bass’ choice to not prioritize the appointment of a movie liaison had lengthy annoyed trade advocates. These issues have been sharpened at a second when L.A.’s future as a movie capital is in peril.
Amid a broader droop in general movie and TV manufacturing, the town has lengthy been bleeding manufacturing jobs to states and international locations that supply beneficiant tax incentives, cheaper labor and extra filming-friendly bureaucracies.
Most of these points are outdoors the mayor’s management. However some trade advocates felt that naming a movie liaison can be a simple transfer that would make capturing in L.A. rather less of a headache.
Since Bass took workplace in December 2022, these advocates have pressed the mayor’s workplace on the problem, with no clear solutions in regards to the delay.
“There’s been a transparent sense of want, and frustration that it hasn’t occurred,” stated one trade advocate, who had been current in the course of the mayor’s workplace’s common conferences with representatives from movie studios, labor teams and different trade pursuits.
Garcetti had a number of movie liaisons throughout his administration.
Members of the trade typically level to — who held the function for a number of years starting in 2015 — as an excellent mannequin, since he had deep Metropolis Corridor expertise, in addition to ties to the trade. Like Kang, James served as movie liaison whereas president of the Board of Public Works. The board governs the town’s Division of Public Works, which is accountable for StreetsLA, in addition to the road lighting, sanitation and engineering departments.
The mayor’s workplace has needed to navigate a traditionally troublesome 2025, starting with a catastrophic firestorm, adopted by immigration raids and an unprecedented navy presence within the metropolis — all of which have necessitated 24/7 disaster responses from her workplace. However the frustrations over the shortage of a named level particular person far predate the current crises.
Whereas to assist native movie and TV manufacturing in Could, Bass was requested in regards to the place and stated she deliberate to nominate somebody throughout the subsequent few days.
Greater than three months later, she lastly did.
