Santa Clarita finished another strong year in 2017 with on-location film and television production. The city issued 556 permits for a total of 1,385 shoot days for productions that included “Shooter,” “S.W.A.T.” and feature film “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” In 2016, the city had issued 548 permits totaling 1,366 shoot days. Evan Thomason, an economic development associate, said the city has been consistent in the number of permits given out over the last four years, always breaking the 500 mark. “We are excited about that and things are going well out here in regard to filming,” Thomason said. Thomason attributed the filming activity to a number of factors, including the city’s location within the 30-mile zone, a designation used to determine union wages for crew members. The region also has benefitted from the state’s expanded production tax incentive program. “We have many films and television shows that have been recipients of those funds and have kept them or had them relocate to California,” Thomason said. Starting in 2016, the state provided $400 million annually in incentives to keep television and feature film production here. Another reason for the strong year, was the number of locally based shows that use not only the 20 soundstages and 10 movie ranches in and around the city, but also film on location. “When a show is based out here, they are able to film on location quite a bit because we have varied looks to our neighborhoods, to our businesses and we have lots of open space,” Thomason said. “That is a real benefit to filming here.” Some locally based shows last year included “Ballers,” “Myth Busters,” “NCIS,” “Santa Clarita Diet” and “Westworld.” Other shows that have filmed in the city but not based there are “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “American Horror Story,” “Arrested Development” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” Feature films using soundstages in the city include “A Wrinkle in Time,” while on-location filming was done for “The 15:17 to Paris,” “A Star is Born” and “Horse Soldiers.” New soundstage projects are a possibility in the city. Just outside the city limits is the 800-acre Golden Oak Ranch property of Walt Disney Co. Plans have been approved by L.A. County for building up to 12 soundstages as part of the Disney ABC Studios at the Ranch project and now the industry is just waiting on the Burbank entertainment and media giant to pull the trigger, Thomason said. “That is one project that everybody has their eye on,” he added. VES Awards “Blade Runner 2049” tied for the most nominations for a feature film in the upcoming awards from the Visual Effects Society, it was announced Jan. 16. The Warner Bros.-distributed sci-fi film had seven nominations, the same as “War for the Planet of the Apes,” as chosen by the membership of the Sherman Oaks professional society. The Visual Effects Society presents awards in 24 categories, including work done for characters and environments in live-action and animated films, television series, commercials and video games. The awards will be presented Feb. 13 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. HBO series “Game of Thrones” led the field in total nominations with 11, while “Despicable Me 3,” from Universal Pictures in Universal City, was the top animated film with five nominations. “The artistry, ingenuity and passion of visual effects practitioners around the world have come together to create truly remarkable imagery in a variety of media,” VES Chairman Mike Chambers said in a prepared statement. “The VES Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding artists across a wide range of disciplines.” Actor, writer and director Jon Favreau will receive the group’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Joe Letteri will receive the Georges Méliès Award for groundbreaking work. Superhero Filmmaker Walter Hamada was promoted to president of DC Films effective Jan. 4, according to Warner Bros. Entertainment in Burbank. Hamada will oversee DC’s upcoming slate of films and will work closely with Geoff Johns, president and chief creative officer of DC Entertainment. He replaces Jon Berg, who left last month to be a partner at production company Vertigo. Prior to the DC position, Hamada had been executive vice president of production at New Line, also owned by Warner Bros. At New Line he was executive producer on hits “It” and “Annabelle: Creation.” Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Toby Emmerich called Hamada a great addition to the Warner Bros. Pictures team. “I’m confident Walter and Geoff, working with our filmmaking partners, will deliver films that will resonate with both broad global audiences as well as DC fanboys and fangirls,” Emmerich said in a prepared statement. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].