Located in the Los Angeles headquarters of the Hollywood Actors Association, along with the Cavalry of the film industry, Mayor Karen Bass promised Tuesday that it would make it easier for producers to shoot in Los Angeles.

The mayor signed an executive directive to support local film and television work – an action that will reduce costs and simplify the process for the city to perform live shooting and improve access to legendary Los Angeles locations, including the Griffith Observatory, the Central Library and the Los Angeles Port, she said. The move was cheered by representatives of TV and radio artists from the Screen Actors Guild and other union leaders.

Since DW Griffith filmed the first film in the then-Hollywood Village, Los Angeles’ first film firmly established itself as the global capital of filmmaking.

But while the city remains synonymous with film magic internationally, it has blamed production work on other states and countries that offer generous tax incentives, cheaper labor and more friendly bureaucracy.

Now, in the decline of film and television production, the local industry is at a crossroads of existence.

Is Los Angeles still a middle class, a place where down-line entertainment workers can create, and new works can be penciled with pencils, or does the city permanently ced the ground?

Changes in the mayor's orders are relatively modest, but industry veterans hope they can relieve some of the burdens faced by production and sleek logistics.

"We take the industry for granted," Bass said. "We know that the industry is part of the DNA we are here. Sometimes, if you think it's part of your DNA, you can think it's always here."

Bass said her own family has been involved in the film industry for three generations and he also urged the state legislature to pass legislation that would increase production tax credits for film and television to make the state more competitive. When he released a revised budget proposal last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom raised his pledge to $750 million in California's movie tax credit to next year.

Los Angeles’ signature industry has been hit by a series of compound crises and headwinds in recent years, from the 1923 Covid-19 pandemic closure, which then severely cuts production to 2023’s Hollywood labor strike and has continued a lasting stagnation.

The fire in January 2025 is just the latest blow. According to industry estimates, 30 movies and TV productions were briefly shut down due to the Palisades and Eaton fires.

In the first three months of this year, on-site production in the Greater Los Angeles area fell by nearly a quarter, compared with the same period last year.

The pain goes far beyond the background of the studio. Restaurants have been trying to keep doors open, and a group of Hollywood workers left the city.

Adrin Nazarian, a MP representing the eastern San Fernando Valley, said the dwindling shooting had a wider "multiplier effect" on the local economy.

"Many people affected live in the area. This is their mortgage. If the mortgage is not paid, people lose their homes and if people don't spend disposable income or cost of living on restaurants or living expenses - raising children, raising their families, those retail taxes don't come to the city," Nazarian said.

The industry’s challenges go far beyond productions that Los Angeles has not received adequate support.

In the post-peak television era, the film and television industry has signed contracts at least temporarily.

At the height of the current streaming war, when competing subscription services unleashed a huge amount of cash and a lot of content in an attempt to disappear in terms of Netflix's market advantage.

Studios are performing less green lights and working to stand out. Generous tax incentive programs in other states and abroad have also made the economic feasibility of production in Los Angeles even more difficult.

All of this means that even if the mayor is waving his wand and making making shots on the iconic streets of Los Angeles, the work still won’t follow automatically.

But Bass’ instructions will “help direct works that already exist,” said Lindsay Dougherty, head of Teamsters Local 399, who represents more than 6,000 film teams in Hollywood, including drivers and location managers.

“All of these things matter,” Doherty said, citing the need to provide more funding for the state tax credit program and possible federal legislation. “When a production company is thinking about budgets, that’s part of that.”

The Mayor's execution directive has many components designed to reduce production costs, including reducing the number of municipal staff required to be on site at the shooting site to a single staff member.

The bass also instructs all city departments to report how their current expenses are reduced “related to on-site staff or inspections.”

The order is also designed to make it easier to photograph properties owned in many particularly outstanding cities. The city will reduce the cost of shooting at the Griffith Observatory, which film advocates say is expensive to use as a location. Filming will still be limited to hours when the observatory is not open to the public.

Bass also promised to unravel a lengthy waiting period for insurance reviews, which prevented certain productions from being able to shoot at the Port of Los Angeles and said she would reopen downtown Central Library for filming.

Industry advocates have been asking these questions in the mayor’s office over the past few years, and some have not been positive about bass shooting.

Staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to the report.