The City of Santa Clarita announced today that location filming was at an all-time high in fiscal year 2006-2007. The fiscal year runs from July through June, resulting in more than $21 million in direct economic benefit to Santa Clarita’s businesses. Specifically, the Film Office recorded an unprecedented 852 film days, which is a 26 percent increase over the previous year, and issued 311 film permits within the City of Santa Clarita, a 9 percent increase over the previous year.
“We are proud to be one of Southern California’s most filmed and film-friendly cities,” said City of Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean. “Santa Clarita is committed to helping the film industry thrive, not only because of the economic benefits and world-wide recognition, but also because more work in our City translates to more locally based jobs for our residents who work in the industry.”
At a time when many California communities are reporting decreases in production, the City of Santa Clarita is fortunate to report substantial increases. This is a result of the Film Office’s aggressive and consistent marketing efforts since inception and commitment to creating a film-friendly environment that allows the industry to be successful.
In addition to posting record-breaking numbers in FY 06-07, the City of Santa Clarita Film Office was also honored by the California Association for Local Economic Development, CALED, which recognized the film program as the “best economic development program in the state.”
The award was among the most important for the Film Office to date because the city’s film program competed against a variety of other successful economic development initiatives throughout the state that were directed at various industries not specific to the film industry.
The City of Santa Clarita is currently home to seven television shows, including HBO’s “Big Love,” “Deadwood,” and “John from Cincinnati,” CBS’s “NCIS” and “The Unit,” Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101,” and FX’s “The Riches.” In addition to these shows that are based within the city and regularly film on location, several other television shows regularly use Santa Clarita’s array of locations. “24,” “Weeds,” “Monk,” “Without a Trace” and a host of MTV shows are among the productions that regularly film on location throughout Santa Clarita.
To help market Santa Clarita to the entertainment industry, the Film Office has increased its visibility, promoting Santa Clarita as an ideal place in which to work via newsletters, an annual film guide and online at www.FilmSantaClarita.com, in addition to regular outreach to the entertainment industry through film specific tradeshows, trade and regional media and special events.
The City of Santa Clarita’s Film Office was created to help attract and retain the filming industry, including both location filming and film-related businesses. The office currently issues permits for all location filming within the city ensuring that there is a minimal impact on residents and businesses, promotes the city as an ideal place for the film industry to do businesses and promotes the Santa Clarita Valley as a great place for location filming.
The film industry is a major economic engine of the Santa Clarita economy, providing increased revenue for Ccity programs through sales tax revenue and jobs for residents.
For more information about the Film Office, please contact Economic Development Manager Jason Crawford at 661-284-1425.