Film commission urges Crescent City to consider incentives as Forest Moon Festival grows

Crescent City heard a report from the Del Norte/Humboldt Film Commission describing recent activity in the region’s film industry and how that work supports a growing film‑tourism economy. Cassandra, the commission’s liaison, said productions bring temporary but measurable local spending and that fan tourism from events such as the Forest Moon Festival can increase visitor numbers.

Cassandra described a case study in which a production spent about $900,000 in direct local expenditures on hotels, location fees and rentals, and said a conservative economic multiplier pushed the total local impact higher. She urged the city to consider incentives that would attract productions and smaller shoots — for example, eliminating film permit fees, offering city‑owned traffic control devices or signage at no cost, and promoting local assets through the commission’s app and map programs.

The film liaison also described outreach to Cal Poly Humboldt about a potential nearby soundstage and said the commission has increased marketing, app features and museum displays to highlight regional filming sites. She noted the Forest Moon Festival (launched in 2023) and related exhibits as tools to extend visitor stays.

Councilmembers asked for more detail on what the city could do and suggested staff follow up by email. Several councilmembers and staff said they supported studying soft incentives and building a photographic library of locations to make it easier for location scouts to assess suitability. "One of the things we could just promote better is the fact that you have low or maybe no film permit fees," Cassandra said, recommending a phased approach that begins with low‑cost incentives and scales up as results are tracked.