When Gina Prince-Bythewood was on location in North Carolina, away from her home and family on a shoot, her husband called to say that her youngest son was missing her so much that he was having imaginary conversations with her. “It killed me,” Prince-Bythewood said. When it came time to write my next script, one of the first sentences I wrote was ‘Exterior. Los Angeles—Night.’”

Director-screenwriter Prince-Bythewood (Beyond the Lights) is one of the ten filmmakers featured in a new PSA, Stay in LA, produced by Film Independent with the support of American Airlines. Mack Sennett Studio, the Evidence Studios and FilmLA were also involved in helping to make the short. The goal of the project is to help reverse runaway production and promote the newly expanded tax incentive spearheaded by Mayor Eric Garcetti—who also appears in the PSA—as part of his long-term campaign to bring the industry back to Los Angeles. As of next month, thanks to the Mayor’s intense lobbying, the California tax credit will be increased to $330,000,000.

Stay in LA premiered on Opening Night at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and will play prior to each of the films in our Buzz section throughout the Festival. Thanks to FilmLA, the PSA also will play in theaters throughout Southern California.

“Film Independent cares deeply about keeping film production in Los Angeles,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. “The new tax credit is real boon to filmmakers here, but the fight is far from over. This PSA aims to educate the public as well as industry decision makers about the countless reasons, both economic and creative, why shooting in LA makes so much sense.”

One by one, the filmmakers in the PSA extol the benefits of LA-based production:

“LA has a bit of everything that you need,” says director-screenwriter-producer Ava DuVernay, (Selma). “Beauty, pain. It has texture, nuance. It has talented craftspeople and artists, and it has the sunshine.”

“It has kick ass crew, and you’ll be working with first-rate actors,” says director-screenwriter-producer Paul Weitz (About a Boy).

“Fifteen minutes in any direction, you can change the geography that we have here,” says Roger Mussenden, casting director (The X-Men Series)

“It’s great to be in a city full of people who understand your plight and don’t think you’re insane,” says director-screenwriter-producer Zoe Cassavetes (Day Out of Days).

“Everyone we went out to jumped at the opportunity to talk about this,” said Ryan Velasquez, a Project Involve Fellow who directed the project. “It’s a subject that’s near and dear to their hearts.”

Perhaps director of photography Daryn Okada (Mean Girls) sums it up best when he says, “It’s more than just a tax incentive. There’s creativity that exists here that you can’t buy with money.”

Pamela Miller / Website & Grants Manager