The Stay in LA campaign is growing.
Five days after launching the campaign – designed to encourage more production to return to the city following the devastating wildfires – the group now has over 15,000 signatures to its petition.
This now includes A-listers such as Keanu Reeves and Bette Midler.
Rian Johnson, Patty Jenkins, Joey King, Zooey Deschanel, Joshua Jackson, Olivia Wilde, Alex Winter, Kevin Bacon, Connie Britton, Charlie Hunnam, Sian Heder and Jason Reitman are among the signatories to the grassroots campaign, which was launched by Alexandra Pechman and Sarah Adina Smith.
Pechman, who has written on series such as Syfy’s Channel Zero and Hulu’s Into The Dark, and Sarah Adina Smith, who has directed episodes of Apple’s Lessons in Chemistry and FX’s Legion, started the campaign with a group of about 30 filmmakers and showrunners including Nick Antosca, Julie Plec, Michael Suscy, and Alex Winter in partnership with CA United, led by Pamala Buzick Kim, Wes Baily, and Marie Dunaway.
The group has proposed uncapping the tax incentive for productions that shoot in LA County for the next three years as part of the overall disaster relief effort as well as calling on the studios and streamers to pledge at least 10% more production in LA over the next three years.
They want to uncap mediums to also bolster short-form productions such as commercials as well as post-production work, want to reduce or eliminate permit fees to lower the cost of production and address insurance restrictions.
They have urged Governor Newsom, Mayor Karen Bass, the California State Legislature and the LA City Council to join forces on such emergency measures.
Others who have signed the petition include actors such as Jane Levy, Alison Brie, Allison Janney, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Levar Burton, Julie Benz, Jack Huston, Kyra Sedgwick, Titus Welliver, Richard Kind, Aisha Tylor, Brenda Strong, Paget Brewster, Jake Johnson, Josh Malina, Jeri Ryan, Rosemarie Dewitt, Abbi Jacobson, Troian Bellisario, Scoot McNairy, Garret Dillahunt, Aleksa Palladino, Rachel Bloom, Robin Wright and Kathryn Hahn.
It also includes filmmakers such as Lilly Wachowski, Mike Flanagan, Jeremy Saulnier, Greg Yaitanes, Niki Caro, Rachel Morrison, Erin Lee Carr, Cord Jefferson, Destin Daniel Cretton, Kay Cannon, Reed Morano, John Logan, John Hillcoat, Emmanuel Lubezki, Michael Mann and showrunners Francesca Sloane, Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello, Bryan Fuller, Marlene King, Mara Brock Akil, Nikki Toscano, Ashley Lyle, LaToya Morgan, Liz Tigelaar, Marc Guggenheim and Charmaine DeGraté.
Sarah Adina Smith said, “The fires remind us that we are nothing without each other. Los Angeles is like no place else on Earth because of the people who live here— but they can’t afford to stay and rebuild without jobs.”
Alexandra Pechman added, “Actors, HODS, writers, producers, and directors want to live here and see their families. They don’t want to go to Bulgaria or South Africa or Canada to shoot, and that brings below-the-line jobs back to LA. But we need to incentivize people to stay here and rebuild and support our small businesses. This city was built on people coming here to make movies– let’s keep them here.”
