Santa Clarita Enjoys Record Year For Filming Days

Posted by: Perry Smith in Santa Clarita News July 11, 2013 - 5:01 pm 0 151 Views

The city of Santa Clarita is celebrating another banner year for its film industry, said Russell Sypowicz, who oversees the city’s Film Office.

The city saw an 18 percent increase in the number of “film days,” which looks at the number of locations that are permitted in city limits.

However, the 368 permits that were issued by the city represents only a fraction of the filming that goes on up here, Sypowicz said.

“Location filming are the only type of permits that we issue,” he said, noting that major blockbusters such as “Ironman 3,” “Hangover 3” and “2 Guns” all had portions of their movie filmed out here.

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However, the 368 permits that were issued by the city represents only a fraction of the filming that goes on up here, Sypowicz said.

“Location filming are the only type of permits that we issue,” he said, noting that major blockbusters such as “Ironman 3,” “Hangover 3” and “2 Guns” all had portions of their movie filmed out here.

However, the city of Santa Clarita has a number of movie ranches and studio spots, such as Valencia Studios, which aren’t counted in the 1,069 permitted film days, he said.

Valencia hosts “NCIS” and “Franklin & Bash,” and Melody Movie Ranch in Saugus welcomed the cast and crew of “Django Unchained” for a lengthy shoot.

These projects are included in the city’s film-permit numbers, Sypowicz said, but they all play a significant role in the film industry’s local impact.

“Santa Clarita is one of Hollywood’s first-choices for location filming, as shown by yet another strong year for location filming,” said Mayor Bob Kellar. “Filming is a big part of our business community and local economy, supporting high paying jobs and hundreds of companies involved in the industry.”

Nearly half of all location filming can be attributed to television projects, Sypowicz added, the rest coming in the form of independent and studio films, as well as commercials and related projects.

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In March 2012, the City Council approved a three-year extension of the City’s Film Incentive Program, which is dedicated to retaining and increasing feature and television production by reducing the costs of safety personnel and subsidizing permit fees, according to a city statement.

Incentives are provided for locally based productions, productions that film on location four or more times in a year, as well as those that qualified for the state of California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program.
In addition to “NCIS,” “Switched at Birth,” “Chasing Life,” ”Wipeout” and “Justified” are all filmed in Santa Clarita.

For more information about the Santa Clarita Film Office and the FilmIncentive Program, please visit FilmSantaClarita.com or contact the Film Office at(661) 284- 1425.