L.A. Will Let Crews of 10 or Fewer Film for Free as Hollywood Production Keeps Sliding

The City Council approved a free micro-shoot permit and moved to cut fees on city-owned lots to $1 a day, finishing the first phase of the Keep Hollywood Home campaign.

By Herald Staff · Oct. 30, 2026, 8:30 AM ET

A cinema camera on a tripod and a single light stand stand ready on an empty, palm-lined Los Angeles side street of Spanish-style bungalows at golden hour, with the Hollywood Hills in the hazy distance. — Under the new ordinance, crews of 10 or fewer filming in public spaces will be able to get a city permit for free once departments set up the program.

A student filmmaker with a camera, a sound recordist and a handful of friends should soon be able to shoot on a Los Angeles sidewalk without paying the city a permit fee. The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance creating a free permit for so-called micro-shoots, productions with 10 or fewer filmmakers on site, NBC Los Angeles reported.

The council also advanced a second measure aimed at cutting what productions pay to park trucks and stage equipment on city-owned lots, yards and civic properties to $1 a day. The city now charges $450 a day for base camp parking at city-owned parks and $100 to $300 a day for crew parking, according to FilmLA figures cited by the Los Angeles Times.

"Both efforts advanced today aim to support independent shoots and attract aspiring storytellers to our city," said Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who introduced both proposals, in a statement quoted by the Times. "People need to believe that this is still the town to turn their filmmaking dreams into reality."

Who Qualifies

The micro-shoot permit is meant for low-impact filming in public spaces, such as student films, documentary crews and ultra-low-budget projects, the Times reported. Nazarian's office describes the idea on its Keep Hollywood Home page as a free permit issued within 24 hours for sets with no more than 10 people and only light equipment, with a simple registration so the city can track filming activity.

The permit is not available yet. City departments must first report back on how they will put it in place, according to Nazarian. A committee amendment in the council file asks the Board of Public Works, working with the fire and police departments, transportation, Recreation and Parks and FilmLA, to report within 60 days on a micro-shoot program modeled after New York City's "letter in lieu" permit system.

The $1 Lot Fee

The parking measure grew out of a December 2025 motion asking city departments to open non-specialized city-owned parking lots, yards, staging areas and civic properties to productions for $1 a day or a legally required nominal fee. The motion carves out exceptions when a production wants exclusive use of a site, needs city staff such as monitors or traffic personnel, or poses a documented safety or operational conflict. It notes that nearby Culver City and Santa Monica already offer free or symbolic-fee access to public lots for filming.

The council's action Tuesday moves that policy forward with a review of how far fees at qualifying city facilities can be reduced, the Westside Current reported, with the final rates still to be determined.

A Slump That Tax Credits Haven't Fixed

The votes come as on-location filming around Los Angeles keeps shrinking. FilmLA, the nonprofit that handles film permits for the region, recorded 4,171 on-location shoot days from July through September, down 4.8% from 4,380 in the same months of 2025 and about 11.5% below the second quarter, according to the Westside Current.

That decline came even though California expanded its film and television tax credit from $350 million to $750 million, the New York Post noted. Productions receiving state credits made up 40.3% of scripted on-location filming in the quarter, nearly double their share a year earlier, the Westside Current reported.

"The stark reality is that California is on the brink of losing its position as the nation's premier destination for production spending," Nazarian said at a council meeting this month, the Times reported.

What Comes Next

With Tuesday's votes, every Phase 1 motion in the Keep Hollywood Home campaign has now been approved by the city, said Nazarian, who chairs the council's Ad Hoc Committee on Film, Entertainment and the Creative Industry. "Today marks a major milestone for the Keep Hollywood Home campaign," he said.

That first phase also includes a "Made in LA" brand and business directory, a certification and fast-track path for new soundstages, a City Controller audit of the city's film permitting system and a single citywide framework to replace neighborhood-specific filming rules, according to Nazarian's office.

The Post reported that a second phase would include a pilot program to waive Recreation and Parks, Transportation and Fire Department fees for productions with fewer than 50 crew members, retention programs for post-production and visual effects companies, and daily fee caps for productions on certified L.A. soundstages. Nazarian's office has also proposed a $2 million city seed fund to help small and midsize productions cover permit, safety staffing and location costs.

For now, the next step is paperwork: city departments must bring back plans showing how a filmmaker would actually get the free permit, and what the $1 lot policy would cost the city.

Original reporting by The Los Angeles Herald, drawing on Los Angeles City Council records, the office of Councilmember Adrin Nazarian and the news outlets linked above.