Despite Budget Crunch, the Great Film Production Incentives Race Continues

Pornographers and filmmakers in Los Angeles took one below the belt this week when the city council approved an ordinance requiring the use of condoms in all pornographic films shot in the city. The industry had fought hard against the proposal, and now that it’s been approved, filmmakers are threatening to pull out of the city altogether, taking their projects – and the money they spend locally to produce them – to nearby cities with less restrictive laws. “Ultimately I think what they will find is people will just stop shooting in the city of Los Angeles,” Steven Hirsch of the L.A.-based erotic film production company Vivid told the Associated Press.

Though the new rule is likely to cut down the amount of porn filming in the city, there’s much more to worry about than condoms. As cities and state across the country continue their race to incentivize film projects, Hollywood’s dominance as the film capital of the world has long since started to wane.