LOS ANGELES, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Monday waived fees for filming in most city-owned facilities to try and keep entertainment producers from looking elsewhere.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made the announcement, saying "the entertainment capital of the world ... can no longer afford to lose our signature industry to other cities."
Production companies may now shoot TV shows, movies and commercials at City Hall, Library and Fire Department buildings and other city-owned structures free of charge.
"New York would never let Wall Street's banking industry be lured away, and we must refuse to allow Hollywood's entertainment industry to be lured away from Los Angeles," Council President Pro Tem Wendy Greuel, the author of the film fee waiver ordinance, said in a news release.
More than 200,000 Los Angeles area residents work in the entertainment industry, which adds more than $25 billion to local coffers each year.
Steve MacDonald of Film L.A. Inc. said the waiver will be "much appreciated" by producers and vowed to work with the city to keep "these critical jobs here in Los Angeles where they belong."
