The Mayor of La La Land
The Hollywood Reporter|March 10 - 17, 2017

Eric Garcetti wants a second term (and backers like J.J. Abrams and Spielberg agree) as a ‘disastrous’ ballot measure to block development and his rancor toward a ‘racist’ President Trump could mean leaner times.

Peter Kiefer 
The Mayor of La La Land

Quick: Name one of the 11 candidates vying to unseat Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in the mayoral primary March 7.

Stumped? You’re probably not the only one. Not one of the challengers, who range from political strategist Mitchell Schwartz to 64-year-old stunt candidate Diane “Pinky” Harman, is polling in double digits. If Garcetti fails to capture more than 50 percent of the vote — triggering a runoff ahead of the general election May 16 — it would be a shock of Trumpian proportions to the city and Hollywood, with Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and J.J. Abrams among those who’ve donated to his campaign.

“I really feel like Hollywood has been a central part of this administration,” says the 46-year-old Garcetti, who considers both Jenji Kohan and Jill Soloway close friends. He spoke to THR in a wide-ranging Feb. 14 interview at a Koreatown coffee shop, where he touted a number of his accomplishments, not least of which was convincing state lawmakers to triple annual funding for California film and TV tax credits to $330 million. The result has been a 12 percent bump in filming in 2016, a record year since the incentive program was introduced in 2009, according to FilmL.A.

In January, Garcetti pulled off another coup when his administration announced that George Lucas has opted to locate his new billion-dollar Museum of Narrative Art in L.A., which edged out San Francisco as the host city. And with Venice-based Snap set for the largest IPO in L.A. history in March, Garcetti can make the case that Silicon Beach has transformed from a catchy moniker to a bona fide economic engine on his watch.

This story is from the March 10 - 17, 2017 edition of The Hollywood Reporter.

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This story is from the March 10 - 17, 2017 edition of The Hollywood Reporter.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.