City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who is challenging Mayor Karen Bass in the Nov. 3 election, released her first general election ad Monday, highlighting her plan to support the local entertainment industry.
Narrated by actor Bob Odenkirk of “Better Call Saul,” the 30-second spot will air twice during Monday’s pre-Emmys newscast on NBC4, then an additional time during the late-night post-Emmys newscast, and again during the “Today” show the following morning.
It emulates Hollywood’s familiar “For Your Consideration” format and introduces Raman as the candidate who will bring needed change to City Hall, make Los Angeles more affordable and bring the urgency and proactive leadership needed to keep entertainment jobs in Los Angeles.
“The entertainment industry isn’t just the creative engine of Los Angeles, it’s an economic engine for the entire city. Film and television production supports restaurants, dry cleaners, hardware stores, hotels, prop houses, rental yards, post-production shops and thousands of small businesses,” Raman said in a statement.
“City Hall should be fighting every day to keep those jobs here, instead of watching passively as Hollywood is hollowed out. As mayor, I will make Los Angeles a place where productions can stay, workers can build stable careers and the next generation of storytellers can afford to live,” Raman added.
In April, Raman announced her “Save Hollywood Jobs” plan to bolster the film and entertainment industry amid ongoing challenges. She called for staffing the LA Film Office with industry veterans to guarantee faster and more predictable permitting timelines, reducing or eliminating permit fees for smaller, independent productions and streamlining decades-old neighborhood filming restrictions that have made large parts of the city off-limits to shoots.
Raman also said she would advocate for more competitive, multi-year film tax credits at the state and federal level.
Last week, Bass joined Assemblyman Nick Schultz, D-Burbank, Councilman Adrin Nazarian and entertainment leaders to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 2319 into law, a post-production tax credit that aims to support thousands of entertainment jobs in Los Angeles.
If approved, the bill would create a first-of-it-kind post-production tax incentive. The bill is geared toward supporting the film industry’s editors, sound mixers, composers and visual effects artists. It advanced out of the state Senate on Aug. 30.
It would provide a 35% to 50% credit on qualified expenses specific to post-production in California. The state already has a film and TV tax credit program that covers post-production, but only if 75% of the filming or the overall budget is spent in the state. The new credit would not require productions to film in the state.
“Post-production and the jobs it creates is at the core of the entertainment industry, but it doesn’t qualify for our expanded Film and TV Tax Credit — that must change,” Bass said in a statement.
Bass previously signed executive directive No. 11, which reduced filming fees at the Griffith Observatory by 70%, reopened the Central Library for filming after more than a decade, and directed the city’s Department of Transportation to extend staff hours to assist with on-street signage posting requests and changes for local productions, among other things.
She also established an entertainment industry council with film industry leaders and city department representatives.