CANOGA PARK, Calif. – According to information from film permitting agency FilmLA, only 24 permits for adult film productions in Los Angeles County have been filed as of their last report in 2013. That number is down significantly from approximately 480 permits filed by this time last year and prior to last November’s passage of Measure B , L.A. County’s controversial condom mandate for adult film productions.
This means that, at an average cost of $1,000 in fees for each permit, L.A. County has lost approximately $456,000 in revenue. Added to this loss, L.A. County is also involved in a costly lawsuit challenging Measure B, which is currently on appeal.
And, if the Measure B regulations were implemented, this would mean that L.A. taxpayers would be obligated to pay for a new local agency to serve as “condom inspectors” on adult production sets – an expensive proposition overall.
“We predicted that lost jobs and revenue would be one of the results of AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s (AHF) misguided attempts to police the adult industry,” said Free Speech Coalition CEO Diane Duke. “As a result of the passage of Measure B, hundreds of thousands of dollars in permit fees have gone elsewhere — and that does not take into consideration the jobs and vendor revenues that have followed the productions out of LA County and for some companies, out of the state of California entirely.”
The F.S.C., as usual, hits the nail right on the thumb. Yes, permits for adult shoots are virtually a thing of the past. But boo-hooing over the loss of revenues to the city’s coffers is exactly the kind of finance-based argument that failed so utterly in the campaign against Measure B. The fact is that the half million bucks lost to the public sector of this vast metropolis is chicken feed. What’s behind this statistic is something far more alarming. Does anyone believe for a minute that porn shooting has stopped in L.A. just because producers have stopped pulling permits?… Read more »
A half-million dollars is indeed chicken feed in terms of today’s budgets, and I definitely agree that this is not the be-all and end-all of arguments against Measure B, but I think at this point in time announcements like this have a place and serve a purpose. Local media such as the LA Times opposed Measure B based in part on this reasoning, and this FSC announcement allows the editorial pages to pat themselves on the back: they who opposed Measure B had it right! It’s also clear to the press by now that AHF has seriously overreached, and for… Read more »
[…] Measure B was passed, according to the porn industry trade group Free Speech Coalition, film production permits in Los Angeles County have dropped 95 percent, costing the county an estimated $450,000 in revenues, and adult film production companies have […]