Los Angeles Explores $5 Million Subsidy for Microdrama Production

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to explore creating a $5 million subsidy for microdramas, the short-form vertical videos enjoying a surge in popularity.

The council voted 14-0 to direct city staff to come up with public or private funding sources to support microdrama production.

“Many of these productions do not fit the needed requirements to qualify for state tax credits,” said Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who authored the motion. “This is a problem that we need to fix.”

Blumenfield got the idea from his brother Jay, a TV veteran who recently produced the microdramas “Her Heart, Held Hostage” and “Hired to Obey” for the MyDrama platform. In an interview, Jay Blumenfield said that the genre has offered a ray of hope.

“I do believe it’s one way that we can bring back the creative middle class in this town,” he said. “I think that’s been completely hollowed out by mergers and moguls and stupidity.”

But he said that tiny microdrama budgets — about $200,000 apiece — make it difficult to shoot in Los Angeles.

“If we can get $20,000, $30,000 extra, that’s the difference between being able to do it here or not,” he said.

California expanded its tax incentive from $330 million to $750 million last year. But projects must have a budget of at least $1 million to qualify. In Georgia, the minimum spend is $500,000 and producers can use multiple projects to meet that threshold.

Microdramas are generally non-union. They started in China, and many of the companies that make them are based there. Bob Blumenfield argued that Los Angeles should establish itself as a global hub for such productions.

“It’s pretty new here, but there’s a lot of American players getting in,” Jay Blumenfield said. “I still think a lot of the Chinese companies and foreign companies want to shoot here. They like the American creatives and actors and all that.”

Bob Blumenfield’s proposal calls on the city to explore reducing permit fees and to look into creating a “micro-budget concierge” that would provide a three-day permit approval process.