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'Stay in LA' campaign launched ahead of Sunday's Oscars

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Supporters urge more tax incentives for California

productions

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Australia, Central Europe among preferred filming

locations

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Advocates say boosting LA production will aid wildfire

recovery

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Behind the glitz of the

movie awards season that culminates with the Oscars on Sunday,

Hollywood is fighting a battle to keep its place at the center

of the global film business.

None of the 10 best picture contenders to be celebrated at

Hollywood's Dolby Theatre were filmed in Los Angeles, home to

most major film companies for more than a century. Nominee

"Wicked," for example - a prequel to the classic movie "The

Wizard of Oz" - was filmed in Britain.

Movie and TV production has been exiting Hollywood for

years, heading to locations with tax incentives that make

filming cheaper. Crew members were hoping for a rebound in Los

Angeles after strikes by writers and actors in 2023, but

statistics show the comeback has been slow.

The wildfires that destroyed sections of Los Angeles in

January accelerated concerns that producers may look elsewhere,

and that camera operators, costume designers, sound technicians

and other behind-the-scenes workers may move out of town rather

than try to rebuild in their neighborhoods.

"There are a lot of people that haven't worked in a while

because of the strikes and everything, and now the fires," said

Samantha Quan, producer of Oscar best picture nominee "Anora,"

filmed in Brooklyn, New York, and Las Vegas. "I think it's been

a good wake-up call for everyone to push for production to go

back to Los Angeles."

Advocates have launched a "Stay in LA" campaign, hoping to

capitalize on the goodwill toward Angelenos following the fires.

A petition calls for politicians to lift the cap on tax

incentives for filming in the city for the next three years as

part of the wildfire recovery effort.

They also are urging studios to commit to increasing

production in LA by at least 10% over the next three years.

Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic governor, has proposed

boosting the state's film and TV tax credits to $750 million a

year, up from $330 million annually.

Filmmaker Sarah Adina Smith, an organizer of the "Stay in

LA" campaign, said she backed that increase but called on the

state to do even more, including making permitting easier.

"We're not saying that everything should be shot in LA, but

it's almost never an option anymore," she said.

Smith said she had developed a show in which "the entire

culture of it was LA and Malibu."

"When it came time to budget that show, they had us choose

between South Africa and Australia," she said. "LA was never a

contender."

"That's the kind of thing that needs to change, because I

think it's really short-sighted of us to lose this absolutely

amazing industry and legacy we have here," she added.

More than 21,000 people have signed the "Stay in LA"

petition, including big names such as Kevin Bacon, Zooey

Deschanel, Bette Midler, Keanu Reeves and Olivia Wilde.

"I hope people realize how important it is to bring jobs to

LA," said Susan Sprung, CEO of the Producers Guild of America.

"We have the best crews in the world. We have the best producers

in the world. Most people live here. They want to work at home."

PREFERRED FILMING LOCATIONS OUTSIDE U.S.

Permitting data shows production in Los Angeles in 2024 fell

to the second-lowest level on record, ahead of only the COVID-19

year of 2020. Production dropped 5.6% from 2023 to 2024 to

23,480 shoot days, according to FilmLA.

A survey of executives by ProdPro found California was the

sixth most preferred place to film in the next two years, behind

Toronto, Britain, Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia.

While studios including Walt Disney ( DIS ) and Netflix ( NFLX )

are still based in Los Angeles, that could change, said

writer Alexandra Pechman, a "Stay in LA" organizer.

"If they don't commit to shooting projects here, where their

offices are, why are the studios here? Those jobs might pick up

and leave too," Pechman said.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director of the

SAG-AFTRA actors union, said he was optimistic after talks with

Hollywood CEOs. One executive told him they had committed to

shooting 60 projects in Los Angeles this year.

"I think that we're going to see this rebuild, but it can't

be fast enough for me," Crabtree-Ireland said. "I wish it was

immediate."

Sunday's Oscars will acknowledge the fires and celebrate the

resiliency of Los Angeles, according to organizers. Some

speakers may try to rally support for keeping production in

Hollywood, as they have at other awards shows.

At February's Critics Choice Awards, "Hacks" co-creator Paul

W. Downs urged power players in the business to insist on

filming in the city.

"The more we tell people that we shoot in Los Angeles, the

more we hear, 'you are so lucky,'" Downs said. "That shouldn't

be the case because this is an industry town, and we should have

more productions in LA."

"I feel like the people in this room have the power to make

that happen," he added, "so we need to ask to shoot our shows

here in LA."