Indian American Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman has outlined a comprehensive plan to bolster local film and television production and reverse the trend of projects leaving the region.
Kerala, India-born City Councilmember’s proposal, released Tuesday, calls for the creation of a dedicated “LA Film Office” within the Mayor’s Office to provide focused leadership for the industry.
Raman’s strategy emphasizes the need to accelerate the city’s permitting process and eliminate the “red tape” that often drives productions to other states or countries.
“Los Angeles is losing Hollywood,” Raman stated. “Not because productions want to leave, but because we’ve made it too hard for them to stay.”
The announcement comes as the region faces a significant downturn in production. According to data cited in the proposal, on-location shoot days in Los Angeles fell by more than 22% in the first quarter of 2025, with television production dropping 58% from its 2021 peak.
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Raman noted that the industry, once a $30 billion driver for California, has lost approximately 40,000 jobs in recent years. Her five-point plan includes staffing the new film office, making permit fees fairer for independent productions, and advocating for the removal of the $750 million cap on the state’s film tax credit program.
She argued that while other jurisdictions offer aggressive incentives to court Hollywood, Los Angeles has historically treated the industry as an “inconvenience rather than an asset.”
The councilmember’s background as an urban planner and advocate informs her approach to the crisis. Born in Kerala, Raman moved to the U.S. at age six. After earning degrees from Harvard and MIT, she returned to India to work on urban poverty and environmental issues in Chennai and Delhi before settling in Los Angeles.
Before her 2020 election to the City Council, she also served as the executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment, where she focused on labor rights and safety within the entertainment workforce.
Raman released the plan ahead of the June 2 mayoral primary, where she is challenging incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Her proposal specifically targets the “missing middle” of independent film production, seeking to create a more sustainable environment for both small-scale creators and major studio projects.
“This is about protecting the livelihoods of thousands of L.A. families,” Raman stated. “We must make the success of our local productions a priority again.”