Danielle Robay

Santa Monica’s ditching LA's film permitting system to go solo. The beachside city is launching its own film office come September, ending its decade-long relationship with FilmLA, the nonprofit that handles permits for greater Los Angeles. The split comes just a month after LA's Board of Public Works voted to renew FilmLA's five-year contract despite industry criticism and calls for reform. Film Santa Monica will set up shop under the city's tourism office, issuing its own permits and serving as a direct liaison for productions wanting to shoot at the pier, beaches, and neighborhoods. The move arrives as LA filming continues to slide, down 32% against the five-year average, with California production spending dropping 10% to $2.78B in the first half of 2024. FilmLA has processed 7,000 Santa Monica permits since 2013. #thedailies

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It seems like California and LA might be getting their acts together to finally make homegrown production a more appealing prospect for Hollywood producers and filmmakers. LA Mayor Karen Bass announced an “executive order” (wonder where she got that idea) to cut through red tape and make filming permit in LA faster and smoother. This addresses a long-standing complaint by producers. https://lnkd.in/gb2cdFuh At the same time, our reporter Jeremy Fuster takes a deep look at the crisis of production flight in animation, a huge sector of the global box office, and another piece of business that has fled Burbank and northern California for cheaper climes. Now, he explains, the new tax incentive is going to try and bring that piece of the industry back as well. Jeremy writes: The state’s animation industry, one founded in Burbank by legends like Walt Disney and Bob Clampett and which continued through the 20th century with the rise of Pixar and DreamWorks, has ceded its cultural dominance to a global landscape. For members of The Animation Guild, IATSE’s union for animators, that has led to an increasingly untenable position stuck between the high cost of living in Los Angeles and a jobs market that has declined despite being part of a worldwide industry valued at $413 billion and estimated to more than double over the next decade, according to the guild. Lawmakers behind the proposed expansion of the California Film & TV Tax Credit program want to expand the types of films and TV shows that can qualify. That includes a section of entertainment that to this point has been closed off entirely from such tax breaks: animation. https://lnkd.in/gfMddNz4

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Murdoch-owned Fox Corporation made headlines on Wednesday when CEO Lachlan Murdoch—in a reply to an analyst question—revealed that the broadcasting giant will up the ante in the streaming space, as a streaming service targeting ‘cord-cutters’ and ‘cord-nevers’ is in the works. His announcement came on the sidelines of its second-quarter results, where the company trounced revenue and profit estimates on the back of record political ad sales. Murdoch also revealed that political ad revenue for the first-half of 2025 surpassed a record $400 million. Story for Reuters https://lnkd.in/gTSYWAz3

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PRODUCER - Maker Machina & CREE8 Announce Strategic Partnership at NAB Show Las Vegas 2025 Revolutionizing Media & Entertainment with Seamless, Cloud-Powered Workflows. Las Vegas, NV – 7 April 2025 – In an exciting collaboration, PRODUCER & CREE8 are joining forces to announce a strategic partnership at NAB Show 2025. This partnership unites two of the most innovative startups in the Media & Entertainment industry, delivering a streamlined, cloud-powered ecosystem that accelerates workflows from pre-production to post-production. The alliance between PRODUCER, leading project management and collaboration platform, and CREE8, the next-generation cloud-based workstation and storage solution, will provide creators, studios, and enterprises with unparalleled efficiency in managing and executing projects. By integrating PRODUCER’s top-of-funnel project workflow tools with CREE8’s cutting-edge cloud editing infrastructure, media professionals will be able to seamlessly transition from planning to execution — without bottle-necks,data silos, or costly local workstations. This collaboration will allow users to: - Seamlessly manage creative projects: PRODUCER’s workflow tools will now connect directly to CREE8’s high-performance storage. - Instantly spin up remote editing environments: Users can launch high-performance GPU-powered workstations in CREE8 and share deliverables directly to PRODUCER. - Enhance real-time collaboration: Integrated shared storage, metadata tagging, and CREE8’s live collaboration tools will ensure seamless file sharing and review processes between platforms – no downloads, no file transfers. - Accelerate content delivery: AI-innovations and automation tools will optimize media workflows, reducing production timelines. “This partnership represents a paradigm shift in how creative teams manage and execute media projects,” said Lisa M. Watts, Co-Founder & CEO of CREE8. “By integrating PRODUCER’s robust project management tools with CREE8’s cloud infrastructure, we are unlocking a new era of efficiency and innovation for content creators.” “PRODUCER has always been about making creative collaboration seamless. This partnership with CREE8 will allow our users to not only manage projects but execute them with industry-leading performance,” Xaver Walser Co-Founder & CEO at PRODUCER. “We are excited to bring this solution to the NAB audience and beyond.” CREE8 powers global content production with centralized, secure, and scalable workflows (SOC2 & TPN certified). Visit booth #SL9823J at NAB Show Creator Lab. PRODUCER - Maker Machina is the enterprise production management tool for content teams, streamlining workflows from development to distribution. #NABShow2025 #MediaAndEntertainment #CloudWorkflows #CreativeCollaboration #ContentCreation #FilmTech #PostProduction #RemoteEditing #ProjectManagement #DigitalProduction Lisa M Watts 🔜 NAB Show, Ali Mackani, Eli Weisman 🔜 NAB Show, Paul-Emile Joëssel

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