Longtime FilmLA executive Denise Gutches has been named the nonprofit’s new chief executive.
Gutches, who has served as FilmLA’s chief financial and operating officer since 2011, will assume her new role on Jan. 1. FilmLA President Paul Audley will retire at the end of December after a 17-year tenure with the organization, which announce the change Wednesday morning.
“We have a lot to do in this creative economy,” Gutches said in an interview. “I am definitely up for this challenge.”
The leadership transition comes as Hollywood tries to lure back film and television production that has relocated to other states and countries in search of lower costs and more generous tax incentives. Earlier this year, California increased the annual amount allocated to its own film and TV tax credit program and expanded the eligibility criteria in hopes of jumpstarting production in the Golden State.
In the most recent application period, 22 TV series were awarded tax credits amid heightened interest in the program. Eighteen of those series will film largely in the Los Angeles area.
Gutches said she is hopeful the sweetened incentives will provide a boost to the greater L.A. area, which has seen a sharp decline in production since the pandemic, dual writers’ and actors strikes and a pullback in spending from the studios.
FilmLA — which handles film permits for the city of Los Angeles and unincorporated areas of the county — is also working with government partners to smooth the process of filming in L.A., she said.
“We think that that’s highly critical to ensure that we can make the Los Angeles region more attractive with the new film and television tax credit,” she said. “Our mission is to keep filming here and streamlining it, and that’s really what we’re going to focus on.”
The transition to Gutches’ leadership began months ago when Audley asked the nonprofit’s board not to renew his contract.
His decision came after the group’s staff was cut to 74 employees from 117, reflecting industry changes and a slowdown in local production activity.
“It’s really about right-sizing the executive level staff of an organization of this size,” Audley said. “It just makes good business sense.”
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