Latest news with #GriffithObservatory
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
June full moon 2025: When to see it in Ohio, why it's called the strawberry moon
Between northern lights being visible on June 1, perfect viewing conditions to see the Milky Way and a brilliant but short-lived "new star" nova explosion on the way, it's easy to forget about the full moon. Summer is almost here, and the warm nights make a great season for seeing celestial events, including the June full moon, the strawberry moon. The strawberry moon, June's full moon, will reach peak illumination on Wednesday, June 11, at 3:44 a.m. ET, according to Clear skies will ensure optimal viewing, so check the weather forecast and plan accordingly. As of June 2, the moon is currently in its waxing crescent phase at 42% illumination, according to The moon's phases in June, per Griffith Observatory, are: First quarter: June 2 Full moon: June 11 Last quarter: June 18 New moon: June 25 You might assume the June full moon is called the strawberry moon because it may take on a pinkish hue, but that's not the case. The nickname strawberry moon has been attributed to Algonquin peoples, a Native American tribe, according to Old Farmer's Almanac. The June full moon is called the strawberry moon to mark the ripening of June-bearing strawberries that are ready to be harvested and eaten. July's full moon, the buck moon, will peak on July 10, 2025, per Griffith Observatory. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: When and how to see June's full moon in Ohio
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
L.A. Mayor Vows to Cut Red Tape and Make It Easier to Shoot Movies and Shows In the City
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is advancing efforts to streamline film and television production in Los Angeles amid cries for further policymaker intervention on the issue of runaway production. Bass calls for a reduction of city staffers on shoots and improved access for crews to iconic Los Angeles locations like the Griffith Observatory, the Central Public Library and the Port of Los Angeles in an executive order that was signed Tuesday at the L.A. headquarters of performers' union SAG-AFTRA. The directive further enlists city departments to cut red tape and help ease basic production headaches in a bid to improve the city's friendliness to filmmakers. More from The Hollywood Reporter AI Is Disrupting Commercial Shoots, But Actors May Get New Guardrails SAG-AFTRA Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge Over Darth Vader AI Voice in 'Fortnite' Can Cannes Help California Get Its Groove Back? At SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday, Bass emphasized that Hollywood supports middle-class jobs, small businesses and the city's economy. Her executive order, she said, 'will make it far easier to film in Los Angeles movies, television shows and commercials.' Specifically, the order, which takes effect immediately, directs city departments to create a process such that 'no more than one total City staff member is required to be on-site at a filming location.' Currently, at any one time multiple municipal employees, from off-duty and retired cops to park monitors, might be on a film production as it's shooting locally. The directive further orders a reduction of filming fees at Griffith Observatory and the reopening of downtown's Central Public Library to production. The Port of Los Angeles, meanwhile, is required to cut its insurance review process from seven to four business days, while the Department of Water and Power is instructed to create 'procedures and safeguards' so filming can take place at its facilities. The mayor also calls for departments to review all 'City assets' to see if they could be utilized by film crews as locations and/or parking, among other potential uses, and to put forward proposals on how to allow night-time scouting on city-owned locations. The executive order requires police and fire departments, among others, to meet with the mayor's office and industry stakeholders including local film office FilmLA on a monthly basis to solve 'any ongoing issues' that shoots are encountering. Departments are ordered to provide notice to potential and upcoming public infrastructure projects that could impact filming to her office and FilmLA. At SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday, Bass said the film industry has been complaining about 'bureaucracy, bureaucracy, red tape' when it comes to filming in the city, which this order aims to resolve. During the press conference, various entertainment union leaders spoke to the difficulties their members have faced amid a downturn in local production. Vanessa Holtgrewe, an international vp of the crew union IATSE, said multiple Locals are facing unemployment of nearly 50 percent. Added Lindsay Dougherty, who oversees motion picture work for the Teamsters, the executive order 'could not come at a better time,' with workers and small businesses 'devastated' by the lack of local work in the industry. Jamie Patricof, a member of the grassroots advocacy group Producers United, said he's shot films all over the globe but only two in Los Angeles. (The recent release The Accountant 2, which Patricof executive produced, is one of them, having shot scenes in downtown L.A., Santa Clarita and Simi Valley.) 'This has to change and the mayor is taking right actions to do that,' Patricof said. The move comes after the L.A. City Council passed a measure penned by Councilmember Adrin Nazarian in late April that pushed city departments to propose efforts to reform the city's film permitting process. 'The entertainment industry has been the reason why Los Angeles was put on the map,' Nazarian said at Tuesday's press conference. But 'over the course of the last 30-40 years, we've fallen asleep,' he added, by allowing production to go to other states and countries. 'All we need to do is keep up with everybody else.' Meanwhile, state legislators are currently reviewing bills that would amplify California's film and television tax credit program after Gov. Gavin Newsom called for more than doubling the cap on the state's program, from $330 million to $750 million. But there are concerns that these measures might not get the green light as the state faces a $12 billion budget shortfall. When asked whether she thought the $750 million proposal would pass, Bass said it was possible that figure would be reduced. Still, she said, 'I think people recognize the $700 million as an investment.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'We've taken the industry for granted': Mayor Bass pledges to make it easier to film in L.A.
Standing in Hollywood actors guild SAG-AFTRA's Los Angeles headquarters alongside a cavalcade of film industry players, Mayor Karen Bass pledged Tuesday to make it easier for productions to shoot in Los Angeles. The mayor signed an executive directive to support local film and TV jobs — an action that she said will lower costs and streamline city processes for on-location filming, as well as increase access to legendary L.A. locations including Griffith Observatory, Central Library and the Port of Los Angeles. The move was cheered by representatives from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and other union leaders. In the 115-odd years since D.W. Griffith shot the first film in the then-village of Hollywood, L.A. firmly established itself as the global capital of film production. However, while the city remains internationally synonymous with movie magic, it has hemorrhaged production jobs to other states and countries that offer generous tax incentives, cheaper labor and more filming-friendly bureaucracies. Now, amid a broader downturn in film and TV production, the local industry finds itself at an existential crossroads. Will Los Angeles still be a place where middle class, below-the-line entertainment workers can make a living and new productions can pencil out, or has the city permanently ceded that ground? The changes ordered by the mayor are relatively modest, but industry veterans are hopeful that they will ease some of the burdens faced by productions and smooth logistical issues. "We've taken the industry for granted," Bass said. "We know that the industry is a part of our DNA here. And sometimes, if you think it's a part of your DNA, you can think it's always going to be here." Bass, who said her own family had been involved in the film industry for three generations, also urged the state Legislature to pass legislation that would increase film and TV production tax credits to make the state more competitive. When he released his revised budget proposal last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom kept his pledge to double California's film tax credit to $750 million next year. Read more: A desperate Hollywood looks to Sacramento for help in stopping runaway production Los Angeles' signature industry has been battered by a series of compounding crises and headwinds in recent years, from the COVID-19 pandemic closures that shuttered then severely curtailed production to the twin Hollywood labor strikes in 2023 and protracted stagnation that followed. The January 2025 fires were merely the latest blow. An estimated 30 film and television productions were briefly shut down due to the Palisades and Eaton fires, according to industry estimates. In the first three months of this year, on-location production in the Greater Los Angeles area declined by nearly a quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier. The pain has reverberated far beyond the studio backlots. Restaurants have struggled to keep their doors open and a stream of Hollywood workers have left the city. Dwindling filming is having a broader "multiplier effect" on the local economy, said Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who represents the eastern San Fernando Valley and introduced an earlier City Council proposal to streamline the city's film permitting process. "A lot of the folks that are impacted live in the district. So it's their mortgages. If mortgages aren't being paid, people are losing homes, if people aren't spending disposable income at restaurants or on the costs of living — raising their kids, raising their families — those retail tax dollars aren't coming to the city," Nazarian said. The industry's challenges go far beyond productions not being adequately supported in Los Angeles. Read more: Even before the L.A. fires, Hollywood jobs were hard to find. Will the work ever come back? In the post-peak TV era, the film and TV industry has, at least for the time being, significantly contracted. The recent heyday of the streaming wars, when competing subscription services unleashed a firehose of cash and a glut of content to try and chip away at Netflix's market dominance, has ended. Studios are greenlighting fewer shows and shedding jobs. Generous tax incentive programs in other states and abroad have also made it far more difficult for L.A. productions to be economically feasible. All this means that even if the mayor were to wave a magic wand and make it infinitely easier for productions to shoot on L.A.'s iconic streets, the jobs still wouldn't automatically follow. But Bass' directive will "help the immediate productions that are already here," said Teamsters Local 399 head Lindsay Dougherty, who represents more than 6,000 movie Teamsters in Hollywood, including drivers and location managers. "All these things matter," Dougherty said, while also citing the need for more funding for the state tax credit program and possible federal legislation. "When a production company is looking at budgeting, this is part of it." The mayor's executive directive has a number of components that aim to lower production costs, including reducing the number of city staff required to be on-site at a filming location to a single staff member. Bass is also directing all city departments to report back on how their current fees "associated with on-site staff or inspections" can be lowered. The order also aims to make it easier to shoot at a number of particularly illustrious city-owned properties. The city will lower fees for filming at the Griffith Observatory, which film advocates say has become prohibitively expensive to use as a location. Filming will still be limited to times when the observatory is not otherwise open to the public. Bass also pledged to unsnarl the lengthy insurance review waiting period that has prevented some productions from being able to film at the Port of Los Angeles and said she would reopen downtown's Central Library to filming. Industry advocates have been raising these issues with the mayor's office for the last couple of years and some had previously expressed frustration that Bass had not been more proactive on filming. Staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘We've taken the industry for granted': Mayor Bass pledges to make it easier to film in L.A.
Standing in Hollywood actors guild SAG-AFTRA's Los Angeles headquarters alongside a cavalcade of film industry players, Mayor Karen Bass pledged Tuesday to make it easier for productions to shoot in Los Angeles. The mayor signed an executive directive to support local film and TV jobs — an action that she said will lower costs and streamline city processes for on-location filming, as well as increase access to legendary L.A. locations including Griffith Observatory, Central Library and the Port of Los Angeles. The move was cheered by representatives from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and other union leaders. In the 115-odd years since D.W. Griffith shot the first film in the then-village of Hollywood, L.A. firmly established itself as the global capital of film production. However, while the city remains internationally synonymous with movie magic, it has hemorrhaged production jobs to other states and countries that offer generous tax incentives, cheaper labor and more filming-friendly bureaucracies. Now, amid a broader downturn in film and TV production, the local industry finds itself at an existential crossroads. Will Los Angeles still be a place where middle class, below-the-line entertainment workers can make a living and new productions can pencil out, or has the city permanently ceded that ground? The changes ordered by the mayor are relatively modest, but industry veterans are hopeful that they will ease some of the burdens faced by productions and smooth logistical issues. 'We've taken the industry for granted,' Bass said. 'We know that the industry is a part of our DNA here. And sometimes, if you think it's a part of your DNA, you can think it's always going to be here.' Bass, who said her own family had been involved in the film industry for three generations, also urged the state Legislature to pass legislation that would increase film and TV production tax credits to make the state more competitive. When he released his revised budget proposal last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom kept his pledge to double California's film tax credit to $750 million next year. Los Angeles' signature industry has been battered by a series of compounding crises and headwinds in recent years, from the COVID-19 pandemic closures that shuttered then severely curtailed production to the twin Hollywood labor strikes in 2023 and protracted stagnation that followed. The January 2025 fires were merely the latest blow. An estimated 30 film and television productions were briefly shut down due to the Palisades and Eaton fires, according to industry estimates. In the first three months of this year, on-location production in the Greater Los Angeles area declined by nearly a quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier. The pain has reverberated far beyond the studio backlots. Restaurants have struggled to keep their doors open and a stream of Hollywood workers have left the city. Dwindling filming is having a broader 'multiplier effect' on the local economy, said Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who represents the eastern San Fernando Valley and introduced an earlier City Council proposal to streamline the city's film permitting process. 'A lot of the folks that are impacted live in the district. So it's their mortgages. If mortgages aren't being paid, people are losing homes, if people aren't spending disposable income at restaurants or on the costs of living — raising their kids, raising their families — those retail tax dollars aren't coming to the city,' Nazarian said. The industry's challenges go far beyond productions not being adequately supported in Los Angeles. In the post-peak TV era, the film and TV industry has, at least for the time being, significantly contracted. The recent heyday of the streaming wars, when competing subscription services unleashed a firehose of cash and a glut of content to try and chip away at Netflix's market dominance, has ended. Studios are greenlighting fewer shows and shedding jobs. Generous tax incentive programs in other states and abroad have also made it far more difficult for L.A. productions to be economically feasible. All this means that even if the mayor were to wave a magic wand and make it infinitely easier for productions to shoot on L.A.'s iconic streets, the jobs still wouldn't automatically follow. But Bass' directive will 'help the immediate productions that are already here,' said Teamsters Local 399 head Lindsay Dougherty, who represents more than 6,000 movie Teamsters in Hollywood, including drivers and location managers. 'All these things matter,' Dougherty said, while also citing the need for more funding for the state tax credit program and possible federal legislation. 'When a production company is looking at budgeting, this is part of it.' The mayor's executive directive has a number of components that aim to lower production costs, including reducing the number of city staff required to be on-site at a filming location to a single staff member. Bass is also directing all city departments to report back on how their current fees 'associated with on-site staff or inspections' can be lowered. The order also aims to make it easier to shoot at a number of particularly illustrious city-owned properties. The city will lower fees for filming at the Griffith Observatory, which film advocates say has become prohibitively expensive to use as a location. Filming will still be limited to times when the observatory is not otherwise open to the public. Bass also pledged to unsnarl the lengthy insurance review waiting period that has prevented some productions from being able to film at the Port of Los Angeles and said she would reopen downtown's Central Library to filming. Industry advocates have been raising these issues with the mayor's office for the last couple of years and some had previously expressed frustration that Bass had not been more proactive on filming. Staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Issues Executive Directive To Reduce Red Tape On Local Film & TV Production
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive directive Tuesday aimed at removing some of the red tape surrounding local film and television production. The directive orders city departments to 'cut regulations and streamline processes' for the industry, per Bass' office. Those orders include making iconic locations like the Griffith Observatory, Port of LA, and the Central Library cheaper and easier to shoot at and instituting a 'proactive, film-friendly approach to communication' between productions and the city, particularly on matters that could impact filming schedules. More from Deadline SAG-AFTRA's 'Here's Looking At You L.A.' & Mayor Karen Bass Push For State & Federal Tax Incentives To Get Hollywood Working Again Sweetened New York Production Incentives A Go As State Budget Passes Donald Trump Tells Los Angeles Officials At Wildfire Briefing "I'm Going To Give You Everything You Want" - Update Bass is also directing the city to require only a single city staffer on set. Previously, multiple staffers including firefighters and retired or off-duty police could be required depending on the shoot. 'The City is taking bold action to support our legacy industry,' Bass said Tuesday. 'Keeping entertainment production in L.A. means keeping good-paying jobs in L.A., and that's what we are fighting for. I am taking action alongside Councilmember Adrin Nazarian to make sure L.A. is always the best place for film and TV production while we continue to champion making California's production tax credit more powerful. Hard working people across Los Angeles are counting on us.' Bass' action comes after the L.A. City Council passed Nazarian's motion to reduce 'onerous regulations and permitting' as well as other 'unnecessary fees, inconsistent safety requirements.' The motion directs the city's Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA), and all relevant departments to report back on adjustments to city fees, permits, parking and security requirements for location shooting, filming on city-owned property and certifying new sound stages. This directive from Bass appears to be the progression of those efforts. Added Nazarian: 'I'm focused on making it easier to shoot in L.A. We need to cut the red tape and roll out the red carpet for our film crews. That means lower fees, an end to price gouging, and expedited approval for film permits. Film and TV production aren't just essential to our economy, they're essential to our identity as a city. For over a century, this industry has made Los Angeles a magnet for talent and a hotbed of innovation in culture and technology. If we want Los Angeles to remain the capital of the global entertainment industry, we need to Keep Hollywood Home.' As L.A. looks for local solutions, the response to runaway production has extended all the way to the White House after Jon Voight presented a plan to Donald Trump aimed at enticing production back from overseas. California Governor Gavin Newsom has also led the charge on increasing domestic production, and his proposal to expand the state's Film & TV Tax Credit Program is also currently making its way through the Legislature. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds All The 'Mission: Impossible' Movies In Order - See Tom Cruise's 30-Year Journey As Ethan Hunt Denzel Washington's Career In Pictures: From 'Carbon Copy' To 'The Equalizer 3'
