From Rocky to Rudy to Shrek, Hollywood loves a comeback story.  After  years of disappointment and decline, the time has come for Los  Angeles–if not the entire State of California–to shoulder the hero’s mantle and reassert its frequently-challenged position as Entertainment Capital of the World.

Film Works L.A. is a stakeholder-driven education and outreach campaign centered around filming in Los Angeles.  It’s also an effort to combat the problem of runaway production, which is when film and television productions leave California to shoot in other states and/or nations.

But most of all, Film Works is about reminding ourselves how valuable the entertainment industry is to the Los Angeles region.  In no other place on Earth is this industry such a pillar of the local economy or bedrock of community life.  In large part that’s because the economic well-being of all Angelenos is tied to that of the local entertainment industry, whether or not we consider ourselves “in the biz.”

The industry’s hundreds of thousands of workers–including entrepreneurs and small business owners–are our friends, family members and neighbors.  We shop at the same supermarkets, frequent the same parks and beaches, and our children learn together in neighborhood schools.  Together, we attend local religious services, start new ventures, participate in local government, and pool our resources to help community members in need.

So what’s at stake, and for whom, when a film project leaves Los Angeles? And what’s really on the line when productions pass on California, spending billions filming out-of-state year after year?

The point is: film works in Los Angeles, and we have a shared responsibility to keep it that way.  We need to appreciate and take steps to protect local jobs that are now at risk.  We need to reach out to and sincerely thank the communities where the filming happens.

We can keep taking this treasure of an industry for granted, or we can take action to keep jobs in L.A.

Film Works is sounding the call, and we need your help to make a difference.