A report unveiled by the Culver City council reveals that total direct income from the creative industries in Culver City amounted to nearly $1.1 billion in 2014.
The report, which is available to view now at culvercity.org/creativeeconomyreport, was compiled by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), and it quantifies the economic impact of creative industries in Culver City over the past decade.
“The creative economy has played an important role in Culver City since the City’s incorporation in 1917,” said Mayor Jim Clarke in the report’s introduction. “It continues to have a significant positive economic impact in the city one hundred years later with data showing that creative industries comprise over 14 percent of total employment across all industries in the city in 2014, nearly double that of the Los Angeles region… This report serves as a catalyst for considering the creative economy in future planning and programming efforts, both in private and government sectors. This report can also be used to strengthen ties via new beneficial partnerships and collaborations and to help brand Culver City as a unique and attractive cultural hub.”
The report identifies 11 industries that compose the creative economy for these purposes: art dealers, fashion, digital media, entertainment, product and industrial design, publishing and printing, fine and performing arts schools, performing arts providers, communication arts, toys, and architecture and interior design.
The research was led by Kimberly Ritter-Martinez from the Kyser Center for Economic Research at LAEDC. According to the report, digital media accounted for 31 percent of that $1.1 billion, or $330 million.
There were approximately 418,200 people in wage and salaried positions in the creative industries in the Los Angeles region in 2014, and 8,540 of them were in Culver City. That number represents 14.4 percent of total employment across the city.
Len Dickter, the Chair of the Cultural Affairs Commission, said that the indications are that there continues to be growth in the industry post-2014.
“With the rise in employers, the expansion of the downtown area, Sony, Culver Studios, and the number of restaurants and shops that are directly impacted by the industry, all signs are positive,” Dickter said.
Dickter also said that Culver City is the first small city to produce a report of this type, and it’s the first city of any size to develop an action plan based on this sort of report.
“The report is just the first step,” he said. “Now we have to take the giant second step.”