Here’s what we face now:
The effort to save filmmaking in California, which we all feel is in turmoil if not death throes, resulted in a California tax incentive plan that should help major filmmakers.
Major. Not NonDē.
The minimum budget before one can even apply for California’s expanded and updated initiative, the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program 4.0 administered by the California Film Commission, is $1,000,000.
The process for applying is difficult. Feature film productions must apply only during specific quarterly application windows. Applications must be competitive and with very detailed documentation. They are then ranked on a jobs-ratio and other criteria. There is no guarantee that a credit will be issued. And as for that credit: it’s a blessing only after the production is completed. Its only help in fundraising is the promise, which can change, of a tax benefit for investors after the movie gets made.
For NonDē filmmakers, nothing about the program applies to us.
And then there is the Hollywood film permitting process.
Most NonDē filmmakers are very aware of the threat of the Film Permit. Without that permit, you can be shut down.
I have been on shoots myself when the LAPD MOVIE POLICE — yes, that’s precisely correct — showed up in their movie police squad cars to investigate a movie I was A.D. on because we were in a contentious neighborhood. We had the permit, but the police would show up anyway.
If you don’t have the permit, the MOVIE POLICE will shut you down.
I was on a shoot a couple of years ago when the producers lied to us that it was permitted. They lied to us, but the police did not care. They showed up and shut down the production in the middle of the scene I was shooting. That bankrupted the project before I got paid.
As much as NonDē filmmakers love the maverick seat-of-your-pants run-and-gun wild west approach to filmmaking, it does not fly in Hollywood. The risk is greater than many realize. Do you really want to burn your relationships with every crew and cast because you went bankrupt when the police shut you down?
That permit is easy to want to avoid. While most filmmakers balk at the idea that the Los Angeles Film Permit costs $931, and rightly so, that number is fiction. When a filmmaker begins to freeze up at the thought of that expense, they often lose track of the rest of it:
The Film Permit does not give a fuck about your “low budget.” (There is a brand new “LOW IMPACT PERMIT,” but it is not relevant to feature film making.
The Film Permit is for ONE WEEK. You need another one if you are shooting for more than one week.
But wait! There’s more! The Film Permit obligates you to many more expenses which, again, do not give a fuck about your low budget. You need to alert the nearby community ($250 per location); a FilmLA monitor may be required, for $44.50 per hour. Street closures, pyrotechnics, generators, parking: FEES, FEES, and more FEES.
Have you ever left Los Angeles to shoot somewhere else because it was easier and cheaper?
Are you still “a filmmaker” even with a low-budget feature film?
Have you ever wanted to come to Hollywood to make a low-budget feature film?
Right now, we have a chance to make Hollywood legal and affordable for us.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is contemplating help and validation for low-budget filmmaking in Hollywood.
“L.A. County supervisors are developing an ‘Entertainment Evergreen Fund’ aimed at independent productions under $1 million — films too small to qualify for California’s existing state tax credit.
The proposal is a grant program, not a tax incentive. Backers argue direct grants reach micro-budget filmmakers faster than credits that must be monetized.”
Here is the Los Angeles Times article “L.A. County weighs a grant fund to keep indie films from leaving“
Right now, there are consultants considering what could be proposed and acted on.
Right now is the right time for us to help shape a program that could help us.
Right now, I am personally in the situation that this proposal, an “Entertainment Evergreen Fund” aimed at independent productions under $1 million, is meant for.
I am developing the Political Noir feature film BOYLE HEIGHTS 1939 that we want to be under the SAG-AFTRA ULTRA LOW BUDGET agreement and shot in Los Angeles. We are trying to raise the quarter-million-dollar budget. That is very hard to do. Shooting a very important story about Boyle Heights outside of Hollywood seems like sacrilege. But, that happens.
From the article:
“Independent filmmaker Sylvia Ray always wanted to shoot her first feature film, “The Middle,” in California — as it’s set in Barstow, where she grew up.
Instead, she shot it in Mexico.
The math made the decision for her. Grants and incentives from the municipality of Torreón and the state of Coahuila covered 30%-40% of her production budget, which came in under a million dollars, Ray said, adding that she didn’t have to pay for film permits, on-site security or local hotel accommodations. Over 21 days in March and April, the production hired 75 local crew members and college students.
All I needed was a desert landscape and American homes. I could have definitely shot it in L.A. comfortably. Had I gotten more support and made it make sense for us financially,” Ray said. “But it just didn’t.”
Her budget was too small to qualify for any California film incentive at the time, as the state’s program doesn’t reach projects costing under $1 million. Low-budget filmmakers and producers say that gap is a major problem. California’s incentives, even after the recent expansion, are built for productions several rungs above them.”
Does that sound like YOU?
If you live in Los Angeles County, find your district and your supervisor: https://www.lavote.gov/apps/precinctsmaps
I’m in Studio City, the 3rd District, and my supervisor is Lindsey Horvath, one of the officials developing the fund. Letters to your county supervisor carry a lot of weight when something like this is being formulated.
The other co-author of the proposal is Supervisor Kathryn Barger of the 5th District.
Don’t forget the City of Los Angeles!
If you live in the city, reach out to your council member. They will be involved in this. https://lacity.gov/government/elected-officials/city-council
Organizations supporting the Entertainment Evergreen Fund include:
Larry Laboe, Executive Director, NewFilmmakers LA https://www.newfilmmakersla.com/about-us/
Jackie Brenneman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA®) and the American Film Market® (AFM®) https://ifta-online.org/leadership/
Are you a member of SAG-AFTRA? Joely Fisher, Los Angeles local president, supports the “Entertainment Evergreen Fund” https://www.sagaftra.org/LA
Are you a member of FILM INDEPENDENT? Kate Walker D’Angelo, Senior Director of Development, might support the fund. https://www.filmindependent.org/contact/
The time to frame this proposal in our best interests is right now.
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