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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Filming Brings $33 Million to Santa Clarita

The City of Santa Clarita reported issuing 526 on-location film permits for its recently completed fiscal year. That makes for a sixth consecutive year the city has recorded more than 500 permits. The city hosted 1,380 film days which generated an estimated $33.4 million in economic impact from the film and television production. The city does not include in its figures the film days and economic benefit of productions using certified soundstages, which do not require a permit, or filming in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean said the reason there are so many movie trailers and crews around the city is because it is in the 30-mile zone used by union film projects to determine per diem rates and driving distances for crew members. “Not only do these local productions enhance our economy – they also provide jobs to our residents,” McLean said in a statement. “In fact, some 6,000 Santa Clarita residents are employed by the entertainment industry.” More than half of the filming days during the fiscal year, which ended on June 30, were attributed to television production. Some of the Santa Clarita-based shows filming on location include “Mayans MC,” “NCIS,” “Future Man” and “Goliath.” Other television series filming in the city include “Drunk History,” “Criminal Minds,” “Barry,” “Veronica Mars” and “Young Sheldon.” Feature films that did on-location production during the fiscal year include “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Ad Astra,” “Deadwood: The Movie” and “Lucy in the Sky.” With average expenditures of $30,000 per film day, feature films accounted for $8.1 million in economic activity for the city. Television brought in a whopping $21 million in economic activity during the fiscal year. In addition to being in the 30-mile zone, several other factors contribute to the appeal of filming in Santa Clarita. These include the city’s film incentive program and movie ranch overlay zone. The overlay zone was created by the city in 2011 as a zoning designation that eliminates property owners from having to receive a conditional use permit for filming activities, lowers the cost of filming permits and streamlines the permitting process. There are eight movie ranches located within the city boundaries, and in total, more than a dozen scattered throughout the Santa Clarita Valley. These include the Golden Oak Ranch, owned by Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. on nearly 900 acres along Placerita Canyon Road; Blue Cloud Movie Ranch; Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio; Rancho Maria and Sable Ranch; and A Rancho Deluxe on 250 acres just up the road from Golden Oak.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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