Final LA Mayoral Debate: Nithya Raman Questions Karen Bass’ Motivation to Back Film Tax Credits

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and opponent Councilmember Nithya Raman went head-to-head in a fierce debate Tuesday just three weeks before Election Day. Hollywood and its lack of jobs came up in the last five minutes of the debate when the candidates were asked how they would bring work back to Los Angeles. Both candidates have been open in support of state and federal film tax credit programs, but Raman claimed that Bass was behind the punch. “This mayor only started talking about this tax credit after I entered the race. I feel an urgency about this issue,” she claimed. “Oh, that’s completely untrue,” the incumbent mayor hit back. Both Bass and Raman have stated they would advocate for an uncapped film tax credit program at the state level. Bass specifically retorted that she was involved directly in advocating for the state and federal tax credits. “What we have done with the industry, we’ve done in partnership with the industry,” Bass added. “So when you thought I didn’t do anything on the tax credit, I was busy advocating in Sacramento and also participating with the industry here.” Bass received criticism for taking three years into her term for hiring a film czar. She appointed Board of Public Works president Steve Kang as film liaison in August of 2025. The incumbent mayor has previously accused Raman of having a weak legislative record — pointing the finger at the councilmember for failing to fight for Hollywood. “I did the first tax credit when I was speaker of the House. You were nowhere,” she argued. Raman said Tuesday during the NBC4 Los Angeles debate that work leaving Hollywood was personal to her because her husband is a television writer. “We see the decline of the industry impacting our own household and our community every single day in a council district for so many of my constituents,” she said. “That means making sure we have a real, fully staffed film office with people who have production knowledge in it, not a part-time person, as this mayor finally appointed three years after she started, and 10s of 1000s of jobs lost already.” As opposed to Bass’ film liaison position coming from the bureaucracy side, Raman wants a fully staffed film office that would include people with production knowledge and context from the entertainment industry. More to come…