Hollywood’s runaway production crisis

Hollywood has long been synonymous with the TV and film industry. But that relationship has begun to erode as other states offer generous tax breaks in order to lure filmmakers.

In his inauguration speech, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he would work with leaders at the state and county level to boost incentives to halt so-called “runaway production.”

“And I’ll set an example here by hiring a film czar at City Hall,” Garcetti said. “And we’ll work to eliminate the fees and rules that make filming here feel more like Les Misérables and less like Fast and Furious, like it oughta be. We were gonna go with Happy Feet, but, you know.”

Ted Johnson wrote about Garcetti’s efforts to keep filming in LA in this week’s issue of Variety, and he joined KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis in the studio.