Film L.A., the not-for-profit corporation that serves the City and County of Los Angeles as its permitting agency took home the prestigious Location Managers Guild Award for outstanding Film Commission last week, while Eva Bitar earned a California On Location Award last year for her work as Mayor Garcetti's Citywide Filming Coordinator and Industry Liaison.

With increasing competition drawing production dollars to new and exciting filming locations around the world, how does the City of Los Angeles remain relevant in this age of production globalization?

One important way has been the efforts of the City of Los Angeles to promote sustainable filmmaking and insure that a cooperative relationship is maintained between Hollywood and the communities it films in.With some 37,000 total production days logged annually, Los Angeles remains by far the largest production destination by volume in the world. Other cities may attract the sexy big budget features that take months and months of on the ground planing and shepherding of civil servants to get completed, but for the day to day operation of episodic television with a turnaround of days and hours rather than weeks and months, there's no more efficient city to film than Los Angeles, and it's agencies such as FilmLA that make it happen.

Some producers may complain that excessive regulation regarding filming in the City of Los Angeles have forced them to move to secondary areas such as Atlanta and New Orleans, however, any producer or municipality that is actually invested in preserving the delicate balance between access for Hollywood and the community in the long term would do well to heed some FilmLA's policies honed from the City's years of experience.

City residents may complain that the city is too lenient, and filming affects their quality of life, however, most fail to see the big picture and even those that believe that they are completely unaffiliated with Hollywood would probably be surprised to learn how many of their customers, neighbors, or even their favorite local stores and restaurants depend on Hollywood's continued presence in Los Angeles for their livelihood.

The City of Los Angeles' commitment to the film industry starts at the very top, with several top level staffers assigned to deal with filming, from the Mayor's outward facing film czar working the political levers in Sacramento, an inward facing film liaison dealing with the multitude of bureaucratic fiefdoms within the city itself, and the aforementioned Eva Bitar, who coordinates all the different moving pieces into a working unit. 

One of her many responsibilities include organizing a quarterly 'Citywide Film Task Force', bringing together industry advocates with city department heads to discuss everything from the paint used in bike lanes to rogue productions that fail to adhere to industry standards, and how best to accommodate various constituent issues, federal guidelines, and the industry's need for a concise, streamlined, and cost-effective process in place to accommodate filming requests. 

Through the Film Task Force, affected city departments such as Fire, Parks, Police, and Transportation can voice their concerns directly to the industry, and have a better understanding of the needs of Hollywood to assess their staffing needs to insure quick turn around of requests while also providing the best possible service to their constituents.

FilmLA plays a crucial role in the middle of all of this, negotiating the needs of the studios while protecting the citizens from over exposure in popular neighborhoods, maintaining the delicate balance between economic growth through steady employment of film crews, and preventing burnout by those unaffiliated with the studios.

Indeed, the last thing anyone wants is to come home from a long day at work to a film set in their backyard. Education of the community of the indirect advantages of Hollywood can mitigate the inconvenience caused by occasional filming in the neighborhood, however completely unregulated and unfettered use of a location can quickly escalate into an turf war between a property owner and their neighbors resulting in extortion of production companies, calls to city councilors, lawsuits, and a backlash against filming in general as experienced by frequently filmed neighborhoods in the 80's and 90's that resulted in the creation of FilmLA and the subsequent Film Task Force.

While some policies may seem prohibitive towards filming with producers constantly complaining "That's not the way we do it in New York, Atlanta, or Vancouver," more often than not, either the producer is remembering a past that is no longer applicable (as is frequently the case in other cities when LA is cited), or a city that doesn't experience the volume of work that Los Angeles faces and must proactively manage in order to prevent an uprising by its constituents.

The policies currently in place have been discussed through countless meetings in the hallowed halls of City Hall, executive suites in Hollywood, on random street corners between location managers and property owners, and everywhere else in between in order to find the best possible solution to all parties. It certainly isn't perfect, but it is consistent and manageable, which is much more than you can ask for in a secondary area that can count their monthly production days on one hand.

If you believe you have a better idea on how to best serve both the film industry and the community in accommodating filming in Los Angeles or in your own town, please reach out to your own union, guild, or city representatives to find out how you can participate in or help organize future discussions.

Congratulations to Film LA for your recognition by the LMGI in managing the unenviable job of balancing the production needs of Los Angeles.