Mayor Karen Bass Appoints Board Of Public Works President Steve Kang As City Film Liaison

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has appointed Steve Kang, President of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, as her Liaison to the Film and Television Industry, her office announced today during a meeting with her Entertainment Industry Council.

Citing Kang’s deep knowledge of the L.A.’s infrastructure and permitting processes and his key relationships with department leadership, Bass said the appointee’s aim is to improve local filming experiences in the industry town.

In his position, Kang will be tasked with engaging on a comprehensive strategy to keep production in Los Angeles, including continuing the implementation of the mayor’s Executive Directives 8 and 11, passed last year and in May, respectively, which make it easier for studios and independent producers alike to shoot movies, series and commercials in the city by lowering costs and streamlining procedures for on-location filming, thus increasing access to some of the area’s most iconic locations. As liason, Kang will also engage with industry stakeholders regarding on-location filming matters, working with city departments to troubleshoot any issues that arise.

“I have full confidence that President Steve Kang will deliver in his role as City Film Liaison by finding solutions that protect our signature industry and ensure that local filming of TV shows, movies and commercials can successfully continue and expand,” Bass said in a statement. “With the successful expansion of the California Film & TV Tax Credit and our ongoing efforts to improve local processes, our work continues to keep production jobs here and support small businesses who rely on the industry.” 

Kang added: “Local filming is vital to our city’s economy and City departments must prioritize their success. I thank Mayor Bass for entrusting this role to me and will be dedicated to delivering on her vision for how we can best support local production.”

Producer Ellen Goldsmeith-Vein, chair of Bass’s Entertainment Industry Council and founder/CEO of The Gotham Group, stated: “By installing a Liaison to the Film and Television Industry, Mayor Bass is signaling her intention to continue to prioritize, support and fortify the Los Angeles film and television industry. President Kang knows the infrastructure of the city, knows the permitting process, knows how our local government works. Steve and his excellent team are ready to dive in and support Mayor Bass and her excellent team working hand-in-hand with the industry.”

In his current role as president of the Board of Public Works, Kang leads the city’s oversight body for infrastructure and essential services for residents, oversees the city’s contract with nonprofit organization FilmLA and works closely with the city’s Street Services and Special Event permits, which grants access to film production permits.

The city’s film liaison role was first established under former Mayor Eric Garcetti, who appointed Film Czar Tom Sherak in 2013 to act as a point-person for workers looking to navigate the city’s sprawling bureaucracy. Ken Ziffren was tapped for the role a year later following Sherak’s death, and currently serves as a member on the Entertainment Industry Council established by Bass last summer. Industry advocates have been pressing Bass, who took office in December 2022, to appoint such a figure, arguing a liaison would smoothly bridge the gap between filmmaking and government.

The appointment comes three months after Bass’s issuing of Executive Directive 11, the aim of which is to decrease some of the red tape surrounding local film and television production. By lessening regulations, reorganizing efforts and ensuring a “proactive, film-friendly approach to communication,” the directive hopes to make locales like the Griffith Observatory, Port of L.A. and the Central Library cheaper and easier to shoot at.

More broadly, Kang’s promotion comes amid a multi-pronged city and statewide effort to double down on keeping production in a Tinseltown that’s been pummeled by raging wildfires, strikes and pandemic-related downsizing, often hemorrhaging productions beyond state lines due to outsize costs — all of which inspired and led to the Stay in LA movement.

Earlier in the summer, California lawmakers officially secured the $750 million promised by Gov. Gavin Newsom to double the state Film & TV Tax Credit Program. In addition to the increase in funding, the new and improved Program 4.0 expands eligibility and includes other provisions aimed at creating more jobs. Since then, a slate of series have reaped the benefits to the tune of $250 million, as 22 shows gear up to return, relocate or launch production in the state.

Speaking to Deadline’s Dominic Patten last year after her passage of Executive Directive 8, Bass said of the state of L.A. production: “All these other states once again, are beating us and its slowing our local industry … L.A. has become unaffordable. This is a problem for everyone. We want people to be able to live in L.A., to work in the entertainment industry and to have a very fruitful life.”