Monrovia City Council to Consider Outsourcing Film Permits

The Monrovia City Council will vote Tuesday on a proposal to outsource the film permitting process in the city to a non-profit organization.

The city has seen a resurgence in applicants for film permits over the past two months and issuing permits can be a time consuming process for city staff, according to a council agenda report.

"Depending on the complexity of the production, some film permits can be issued with minimal staff time," the report written by Community Development Director Steve Sizemore states. "However, many require considerable hands-on involvement, including multiple site visits and responding to resident and business questions and concerns. The issuance of film permits poses unique challenges since it is impossible to predict when a request will come in or how much time issuing the permit will require, this is made more problematic by the reduction in city staff."

If the plan is approved, the permitting process would be taken over by FilmLA, a non-profit organization funded by production companies. FilmLA's services would not come at any cost to the city.

"FilmL.A. will provide for a streamlined, efficient and cost-effective way of handling filming permits," the report states. "The service will reduce the amount of staff time required to process and monitor filming permits."