What it Will Really Take to Have Indie Films Stay in LA (part 2)
Why keeping TV production in LA is the most helpful thing for indie films!
Hello film friends!
Last time I ranted a bit about the challenges of filming in LA and promised more positivity in Part 2, so here we are!
I started my career making indie films in LA in 2012, and although there were already tax incentives in other regions, they weren’t nearly as big or competitive as they are now. The first conversation with every film project wasn’t “well, where can we film this to get the best incentive?” In fact, my first film shot entirely on location in Downtown LA, and we benefited from some of the advantages I’m about to touch on.
This was before “peak TV,” where the networks and streamers started filming 600 shows a year, but after the introduction of the RED cinema camera revolutionized indie film production. The camera we shot on, the RED Scarlet, overheated a lot and was buggy for sure, but it allowed us to make an entire film for approximately the same amount we would have spent solely on film stock and processing. Making a cinematic-looking feature for our budget would have simply been unheard of just a few years earlier.
We also benefitted greatly from the film infrastructure in LA. We filmed on a ton of standing sets on stages that no longer exist, including the *definitely* haunted DC Stages downtown, who cut us an incredible deal because we fit into a few dates they had open and they could afford to.
On this film and the next bunch I shot in LA, we also benefited enormously from the gear rental houses and prop houses who made good money renting to TV production and could afford to give us crazy deals.
We also had many young crew members who had learned the ropes on much bigger shows and now could step onto an indie set and get promoted, for example, from Prop Master to Production Designer, or Set Costumer to Costume Designer. These weren’t people straight out of film school (well, some of them were), but experienced filmworkers who were ready to step up and run a department if someone were to just give them the chance.
As film and TV production has continued to leave LA, camera houses have closed, prop houses have been struggling, and the ones that remain have less high-paying clients that make it easier to give deals to indie films.
Additionally, early in my career I worked with a lot of actors who lived in LA and shot network TV shows here. They made great money on their “day job,” and during their hiatus they could spend a few days or weeks shooting an indie for very little money because, in the best cases, they got to do something fun while still getting to see their family and sleep in their own bed. Trying to get that same actor to travel to a distant location for the same role would take a lot more effort (and usually MUCH more money!)
Actors with years of TV experience know how to shoot quickly, remember their lines, hit their marks, and just deliver. We don’t have time on an indie budget to do many takes, so having actors with that experience is beyond helpful.
Also, if a TV show is a hit, it can keep actors, crew and all of the support infrastructure employed for many, many years. Even the giant, tentpole films only shoot for a matter of months.
If you take all of this into consideration, hopefully you realize that keeping TV production in LA creates an environment where crew can get experience and mentorship, vendors can afford to help out smaller productions, and indie films can have more easy access to experienced crew and on-camera talent.
I’ve made films in distant locations with great tax incentives, but with a smaller talent base and infrastructure, and I can say firsthand that the challenges of shooting in those locations can really offset much of the financial incentive for an indie film.
That’s why I think California prioritizing incentives for bigger productions also is naturally very helpful for indie film. The more TV shows and high-paying film jobs that remain in Los Angeles, the more indie film also benefits.
So when you see headlines like this, and you see all of these huge TV shows getting tax credits for filming in (or in the case of Mr. & Mrs. Smith Season 2, relocating to) Los Angeles, I hope you also celebrate that as a win for indie film!
And I’ll leave with another classic music video filmed in LA!
Until next time…
Bay