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L.A.’s film office on Tuesday unveiled a six-month pilot program aimed at removing cost barriers for small shoots as outcry over Hollywood’s production downturn has snowballed into a political campaign issue.

FilmLA’s new “Low Impact Permit Pilot Program” will reduce the city’s typical permit fees for tiny productions with fewer than 30 cast and crew members. The program will only apply to productions that shoot for a maximum of three consecutive days and in a maximum of three locations.

For those who meet the qualifications, application fees will drop from the typical $931 to $350, and notification fees will drop from $250 per location to $156 per location. L.A. Fire Department spot check fees ($285) will also be waived for these shoots. The initiative will roll out starting April 27.

That criterion makes the program seem tailor-made for microdramas, small student films and various new media productions, but it will not apply to the majority of professional feature films, television series and commercials.

The initiative was announced during a press event at Echelon Studios, a sprawling production complex under construction in Hollywood, where Mayor Karen Bass also announced a Department of Transportation pilot program that will reduce city parking lot expenses by 20 percent for all productions — the same perk afforded to Baywatch amid its filming issues at Venice Beach. The city additionally announced that it was working with Echelon’s developers to expedite its permitting process.

The pilot program emerged out of a June 2025 Board of Public Works hearing over the renewal of FilmLA’s contract with the city. In the wake of the Palisades and Eaton fires, FilmLA had come under fire for, critics said, presenting additional barriers to filmmakers and production teams that made filming in the city too onerous and expensive.

The Board of Public Works renewed the organization’s contract for five more years, but made requests of the organization after hearing from angry production workers.

One of them was for a tiered permitting system. ”There was a lot of outcry, at the time, that there is no tiered permitting system in the FilmLA ecosystem,” said Board of Public Works commissioner Steve Kang in an interview on Tuesday. “There was a request from the Board — and of course the mayor at the time, because she’s a big champion of equity — that we should develop a tiered permitting system. So that was the impetus behind this conversation and then the big announcement today from FilmLA and its board.”

FilmLA’s board has agreed to cover the costs of the new program for up to six months through the organization’s operating reserve. In a statement, FilmLA CEO Denise Gutches — who rose to the position after FilmLA’s previous CEO retired in the fall of 2025 amid sustained controversy over the organization’s role in L.A.’s production exodus — said the organization believes that “when community impact is small, regardless of the project type or production budget, the City and FilmLA review process should be simple.”

Data will be gathered over the course of the pilot program to determine how to turn it into a longer-term commitment. But the city has larger goals than simply creating a lower-cost tier for tiny shoots, says Kang, who notes that L.A. Councilmember Adrin Nazarian is pushing a motion to remove barriers for shoots with 50 cast and crew members or fewer.

“Today was all about 30 and under, but we are also working closely with Councilmember Nazarian while the motion goes through its normal legislative process to potentially increase the threshold in the future,” Kang said.

Asked whether the ultimate ambition is to create a much more sprawling tiered permitting system that would apply to larger productions, Kang said, “Correct.”

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