An impassioned rally to keep Los Angeles production at home and spotlight the blue-collar workers working in the film industry were the driving themes of the Stay in L.A. rally.
Hosted by SirReel Studio Services, hundreds of people gathered April 6 in Sun Valley, Calif., to call attention to Gov. Newsom’s proposal to increase the state film incentive to $750 million a year. Speakers including “The Pitt” executive producer Simran Baidwan, Burbank Mayor Nikki Perez and Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur rallied support for AB 1138 and SB 630, which would hike the incentive and broaden the types of productions that qualify.
Before taking the stage, Zbur told Variety that although he feels “grateful” for the support AB 1138 has gotten so far, he admits that it’s “sad” that rallies like Stay in L.A. have to even happen in the first place.
“The reason why we can get hundreds of people here on a Sunday afternoon is because people have seen these jobs lured away by other states,” Zbur said. “This is our iconic industry. It defines California. We have to protect what we invented and what is ours.”
Lawmakers also broached the subject of a nationwide film incentive — long a goal of the entertainment unions — instead of relying on a state-by-state patchwork to compete with other countries. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, said it is important to “make the case” in Congress for federal subsidies.
“The World Cup is coming up. The Olympics are coming here. These are worldwide productions,” Kamlager-Dove said. “If you want to make America great again, make America produce again. And we have to help our colleagues on the other side of the aisle impress that upon this administration.”
Kamlager-Dove also put the pressure on the most privileged actors in the industry to advocate for Los Angeles.
“Oftentimes, people are thinking about the A-List celebrities – they will be OK,” she said. “They have the influence and the power to force production to stay here. But if you don’t have those exerting that kind of influence, we will see that production go to New Zealand and Mexico. And that hurts us.”
Rep. Luz Rivas, a Democrat from the San Fernando Valley, noted there are a lot of “competing priorities” for federal funding, with the wildfires recently devastating Southern California among other pressing concerns.
“I mean they’re all important, right? There’s just so many things that are equally important,” Rivas said. “As legislators, we get into fights … But these are jobs and if people lose them, people are going to leave the state.”
Stay in L.A. is not the only coalition fighting to increase tax incentives, with the California Production Coalition and Keep California Rolling also putting pressure on lawmakers. Pamala Buzick Kim, co-president of California United and co-founder of Stay in L.A., stressed the importance of staying competitive when location decisions are being made.
“I don’t think we’re trying to be the best tax incentives out of everywhere because we don’t have the same economy as some of those other places,” she said. “We have to have the tax incentives do just enough to keep us in the conversation.”
The key, added Teamsters’ Local 399 leader Lindsay Dougherty, is to keep on being “aggressive” and “militant” and not let the fight stop.
“If we lit it slip just a little bit, that’s enough time and money going elsewhere to then building an infrastructure workforce outside of California,” Dougherty said. “That’s when we get into trouble.”
