by Mark McDermott
The City Council opted Tuesday night to pump the brakes on a proposal to outsource its film permitting process to FilmLA, a non-profit whose mission is to encourage more filmmaking in the region and facilitate communities’ handling of film shoots.
The council was evenly split between two members who supported a one year pilot program with FilmLA and two who opposed it. Mayor David Lesser was undecided.
Lesser, recalling one of the city’s bigger Hollywood moments decades ago, suggested Manhattan Beach today might not be as keen to appear on the silver screen.
“There was the film ‘Jerry Maguire’ that was filmed in Manhattan Beach on a narrow street,” the mayor said. “Thinking about that today and what the reaction would be of neighbors — some would be thrilled, maybe some would be less.”
The proposal would have cut daily filming rates by roughly half — from $1,500 to $750 for minor film productions on private property — and reduced the city’s administrative workload by an estimated 160 staff hours annually. FilmLA currently serves 16 jurisdictions including Los Angeles County, Culver City, and Newport Beach, and processes permits through a centralized online system called MyFilmLA.
But council members expressed reservations about inviting more production activity into the community, particularly in residential areas already impacted by ongoing construction projects and street work.
“We are stewards to our residents’ quality of life,” said Councilmember Steve Charelian, who helped establish the city’s current film permit program five years ago when he was serving as the City’s finance director. “Even inviting more filming here, in addition to the construction, the capital projects, the street projects that we have going on and the parking impacts, I feel it’s not worth it. And even the small productions — they’re worse than the big productions because they don’t have money and resources.”
Charelian questioned the fundamental goal of the initiative, as well as additional outsourcing of work usually handled by City staff.
“What’s our goal here? Is it to promote filming for a small dollar figure every year, or to protect our residents?” he asked. “This will be our third program we’ve outsourced in the last 11 months. Where are we heading?”
Mayor Pro Tem Joe Franklin echoed those concerns, drawing on his personal experience accompanying a film crew around the city. While the crew was professional and respectful, he noted they brought their own catering and didn’t patronize local hotels, limiting economic benefits to the community.
“Our residents are so good natured, and it was just a lot of fun for them,” Franklin said. “But I just don’t see the worth of it. Heaven forbid we got 10 of these going on, or 20 of them going on. Heaven forbid it be so successful in terms of quantity that it’s going to hurt the quality of our lives.”
The city currently processes 30-40 film permits annually, generating approximately $43,700 in revenue. Under the proposed rates, that figure would drop to about $24,210 if filming activity remained constant — though FilmLA representatives argued that a streamlined process and competitive fees would attract additional productions to offset the reduction.
Parks and Recreation Director Mark Leyman praised FilmLA’s approach.
“We’ve worked with FilmLA for quite some time, and we’ve really vetted them,” he said. “We have a high expectation in terms of customer service, and I think with those multiple conversations, they’ve really impressed us with how they’ve handled other [public] agencies, that high level of touch, again, that on-site coordinator, the 24/7 line.”
Amy Kradolfer from FilmLA told the council that production companies increasingly find high fees cost-prohibitive, especially as large features have fled California for states with more lucrative tax incentives.
“We’re left with a lot of these smaller productions, and what we’re hearing from filmmakers is that it’s just really cost prohibitive to shoot in locations that have some of these fees that are high and that charge per day,” she said.
Kradolfer emphasized FilmLA’s community protections, including a dedicated two-person outreach staff, 24/7 phone availability, standardized notification services delivered in uniform by staff going door-to-door within a 500-foot radius of filming sites, and on-site monitors for sensitive locations. “We handle all of the incoming concerns, and we work directly with productions to try to solve those,” she said.
Councilmembers Amy Howorth and Nina Tarnay supported the pilot program, viewing it as an opportunity to support California’s struggling film industry while potentially improving the process for residents through FilmLA’s specialized expertise.
“I don’t see it as quite the money maker. I think it’s streamlining it. It’s making it better for our staff,” Howorth said. “I see this as something that makes more time for staff to serve our residents, and I think it gives us more safeguards for our residents.”
Howorth noted that FilmLA representatives at a recent conference emphasized that filmmakers choose locations for specific reasons. “They’re not going to choose Manhattan Beach when they need a Midwestern scene,” she said, suggesting fears of overwhelming production activity might be overblown.
Tarnay agreed, citing the same conference where industry representatives discussed challenges facing California’s film sector.
“If we want to be a part of the solution, I think we have to think a little bit outside of our bubble and not say, ‘Oh yeah, we want films to be made in the US, but not in our city,'” she said.
“How do we know how to compare unless we try it?” Tarnay asked, noting the city would retain final approval authority over all permits and could terminate the agreement within the one-year pilot period if problems arose.
Tarnay said some of the benefits go beyond economics. Several movies have been partially shot in Manhattan Beach — perhaps, beyond Jerry Maguire, most famously Point Break, which featured iconic scenes at the MB Pier and whose stars Keanu Reeves and Dennis Quaid were coached by Spyder Surf’s Dennis Jarvis.
“There have been a number of films,” Tarnay said. “….My point is, I think as a community, it is also nice when we can look back to films and when we can talk about films and be a part of the production of movies and TV and be a part of the industry.”
But Charelian’s memories of Manhattan Beach’s Hollywood moments were less sanguine.
“I remember the Jerry Maguire shoot,” he said. “There was a Marine [Street] shoot at Blanche [Road], and very tight quarters and they had to go through a lot of hoops….And we’ve done other motion pictures, but every time we’ve done it, it just impacts the community.”
Lesser, seeking middle ground, requested staff return with information about specific limitations — such as caps on the number of productions, geographical restrictions, or higher fees than FilmLA recommended — before the council makes a final decision.
“I share the concerns,” Lesser said. “I’ve been around film sites before, and they can be disruptive, particularly for neighbors who moved to Manhattan Beach because it is a residential neighborhood….They moved here for serenity.”
He acknowledged potential benefits but wanted more data on public safety impacts, as Charelian noted that film permits often require police officers, community service officers, fire engines, or fire marshal involvement not fully addressed in the staff report.
The Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Business Association both expressed support for the pilot program. Chamber representative Jill Lampkin noted FilmLA’s flexibility in allowing cities to customize requirements, including mandating off-site parking and requiring catering from local restaurants. She also noted not all shoots are in areas that are disruptive.
“We do have a lot of opportunities for things like Manhattan Village and Westdrift, where it’s not going to impact our residents, but it is very positively impacting a business,” Lampkin said.
The proposal will return to council in the next few months. ER
