LOS ANGELES : Council Acts to Ease Rules for Movie Location Filming

In an effort to make Los Angeles more hospitable to the entertainment industry, the City Council agreed Tuesday to cut back sharply on the use of fire safety inspectors for location filming.

Mayor Richard Riordan’s office estimated that production companies will save $2 million a year because they will be required to have fire safety officers on hand only when they are engaged in risky practices--such as filming in public, with pyrotechnics or in brush areas.

Fire safety officers will still be posted routinely on riskier shoots, while random spot checks will be made at other filming locations.

Cody Cluff, assistant deputy mayor for entertainment affairs, and Warner Bros. Vice President Lisa Rawlins said the new policy would help keep companies from moving filming to other cities.