L.A. Mayor Candidate Nithya Raman Q&A: Hollywood, Olympics, Paramount Deal

Editor’s Note: In what could be one of the most consequential elections in Los Angeles‘ history, the race this year for mayor sees two former allies in an increasingly sharp bid to take over City Hall. With many issues in the contest between incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman impacting the entertainment industry, Deadline sat down with the contenders to hear their visions for the city.

“I think that she knows that she moved too slowly in her role as mayor to do the work to keep Hollywood here and to make it possible for productions to stay here,” Los Angeles mayoral contender Nithya Raman says of incumbent Karen Bass and the latter’s seemingly sudden attention to years of production decline in the City of Angels.

“I think she wants to muddy the waters,” the former Time’s Up executive director added of Bass’ attacks on Raman’s industry relief record and simultaneous lifting of some of her Hollywood proposals.

With less than a month before the June 2 primary vote, Raman and Bass are going head-to-head tonight for the first time this election. The duo will share the stage in a debate hosted by the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association. The candidates will follow that up Wednesday with another debate, this time at the Skirball Cultural Center. The May 6 meetup will include The Hills alum Spencer Pratt.

RELATED: Reality TV Star Spencer Pratt Vows To “Expose The System” As He Launches L.A. Mayoral Bid

A veteran electoral street fighter, ex-Congresswoman Bass has lashed out lately with attacks on former ally Raman and some scored odd face time with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. After getting an endorsement from Kamala Harris on Monday, Bass has also let loose with a flurry of new proposals and programs – some of which sound a lot like Raman’s plans if the latter won the election.

Meanwhile, former Pacific Palisades resident Pratt has been getting a lot of attention of late with an ad campaign highlighting the loss of his home in last year’s L.A. wildfires. Pitching his outsider status and reality TV name recognition (hmmm… who does that remind you of?), Pratt (who now rents a spread in Santa Barbara County) has been pounding on the perception that L.A.’s political elite is woefully out of touch.

Bass is presently leading in polls, with Raman and Pratt separated by only a percentage point or two for second or third place. There could be a run-off in November if no single candidate gets 50% or more on the primary vote in June. As it stands, polls show the vast majority of Angelenos are in the “don’t know” category.

With that, Raman, a two-term L.A. City Council member, sat down with Deadline to discuss the production crisis in the city, as well as job losses and other fears from Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. Married to a TV writer and producer, Raman also addressed conflict of interest accusations from the Bass camp and the up-close and personal swipes from Pratt.

DEADLINE: Let’s get the dirty business of running for office out of the way first. The Bass campaign has slammed you over your record on City Council on the film and TV industry. They called you out for recusing yourself earlier this year from four Council votes on the entertainment industry based on conflict of interest. Specifically, they point to your husband’s job as a writer and producer, and that this could impact your effectiveness on this issues if you became mayor. You’ve talked about your commitment to bring production back to LA as personal, so what is your response to this very personal attack?

NITHYA RAMAN: My husband’s employment in the entertainment industry is not a conflict of interest when it comes to engaging with general entertainment industry policy. In fact, , my personal connection to the industry actually makes me more committed to fighting for it, not less and more able to fight for it effectively That’s advocating for an uncapped state tax incentive program. That’s cutting red tape and fees here in LA. That’s working directly with the industry.

DEADLINE: Okay, so is there a restraint on your ability to oversee a citywide production policy because of your husband?

RAMAN: There are really only extraordinary circumstances where, for a citywide official, there might be conflicts. On those, there is a process in place that’s needed. But it would not impact my ability, in any way, to be the strongest advocate for this industry that this city has ever had.

DEADLINE: So, why is the Bass campaign pounding this narrative so hard?

RAMAN: I think that she knows that she moved too slowly in her role as mayor to do the work to keep Hollywood here and to make it possible for productions to stay here. I think she wants to muddy the waters.

I’ve talked about, for example, the fact that it took her nearly three years to appoint a film liaison in her office, and that ultimately, when the film liaison was appointed, it was not someone with film and television industry experience. And to me, we need to staff out a full film office in the city of LA. We need to make sure that we have staff who understand what filming means, who can coordinate, not just within the city, but actually with the industry, to make sure that the rules and regulations work for them.

DEADLINE:  You talk about incentives, Karen Bass talks about incentives, but ultimately it is the Governor and the legislature in Sacramento that hold the reigns on the program, the money and who gets what. As you and Karen Bass debate tonight, there is also another debate among the contenders to replace Gavin Newsom. How would you deal with the next governor and how would you get them to do more for LA in terms of production, jobs and getting more made here?

RAMAN: Look, the impact of the tax credits are clear.

DEADLINE: How do you mean?

RAMAN:  I’m always driven by the data, and the data here is very clear that the tax credit results in significant dollars coming back into the economy. It is very clear to me that this tax credit is a benefit for the state of California as a whole, especially in terms of the economic activity that it incentivizes and brings into being.

So, for me as mayor, I would be using the data to further that reality. Advocating very loudly and forthrightly about the need for not just for our current tax credit, but really an expansion of the tax credit – one with no cap. Incentives that are guaranteed into the future, and one that also took into account above the line costs.

DEADLINE: Why?

RAMAN: So that studios and productions could count on it.

Right now, it is still an unpredictable process, and I think if you want industry to invest in LA, you have to make it predictable for them to invest in LA. It’s that simple. That’s really, across the board, what I would be fighting for. In terms of whoever is our next governor, I would be from Day One be out there meeting with them, pushing an agenda of more production in L.A.

DEADLINE: Speaking of your plans, like an uncapped tax incentive, Karen Bass suddenly seemed to get on board with that last week and also took her strongest swipe so far at Paramount’s $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros Discovery – she said if it leads to big job losses, she’s against David Ellison owning two big studios. So, what are you doing right here?

RAMAN: (LAUGHS) Since I entered this race, the mayor has finally released a climate plan, called for a tax credit with no cap, reiterated my concerns about the Paramount-WBD merger, and issued a housing executive directive that included policies my office had been pushing for months and that are part of my campaign’s housing plan. I’m genuinely glad to see the mayor finally engaging on these urgent issues — I’ll take action over inaction any day, no matter what drives it.

DEADLINE: So, what is your take right now on the Paramount-WBD merger?

RAMAN: I think it could also be really bad for consumers and for content as well when just a handful of mega companies control the entire pipeline. It is a recipe for fewer choices, for higher subscription prices, less diversity in the stories that we get to see, and ultimately, fewer jobs and fewer productions. And none of that is a great outcome for LA.

I have real worries about that a combined company that’s going to carry that much debt, like over $75 billion,  while simultaneously trying to produce content, retain employees.

DEADLINE: Without being pedantic, what are those worries in that vein?

RAMAN: Something will have to give…

DEADLINE: Okay …

RAMAN: Historically, it’s workers and it’s productions – and that’s a problem for Los Angeles. Look, when Skydance initially bought Paramount, I think about 1000 people lost their jobs, and more job losses are predicted there. This is just what consolidation has been looking like on the ground, and that’s not acceptable anymore.

DEADLINE: On the subject, at least at the ballot box of what is and what isn’t acceptable, Spencer Pratt has really turned on you of late, even filming part of an ad outside your home attacking you for having a home while his burned down in the Palisades fire. His basic argument in you, like Bass, are part of the anemic political elite at City Hall and that what L.A. needs is an outsider to turn the city around. You’re promising to clean up all encampments by the end of your first term if elected mayor but, if the polls are any indication, people are starting to buy what Pratt’s selling …

RAMAN: Spencer is using the Trump playbook. Incendiary language, fearmongering, and political theater meant to divide and distract us. Solving our city’s homelessness crisis, improving public safety, and making this city affordable requires serious leadership, not stunts. Los Angeles doesn’t need a reality show. It needs a mayor who can actually run the city with urgency and accountability.

DEADLINE: On accountability, let’s talk 2028 Olympics …

RAMAN: The costs are a huge issue that I think we need to be paying closer attention to. LA taxpayers are on the hook for the first $275 million of cost increases from whatever LA28 doesn’t make. The state is on the hook for the next chunk, and then everything else is on us again.

DEADLINE: There’s also the issues around LA28 boss Casey Wasserman. He’s had to sell his company after previously unknown involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell came to light with the partial release of the Epstein Files. There have been widespread calls for him to resign, from you for example, but the Board are backing him. Is I an workable situation?

RAMAN: I mean, I will do whatever it takes to make a successful Olympics happen. Ultimately, the decision to retain Casey Wasserman was a decision by the LA28 board, that is where we’re at, and if he is the chair of the board, I will work with him every day to ensure that the Olympics is as successful as possible for LA.

DEADLINE: Do you still think that he should resign?

RAMAN: When the Epstein Files came out, I initially said that he should. But, again, if he’s in the role, I will do everything that I need to do in my role as mayor to ensure that the Olympics are successful.

DEADLINE: You know, both some supporters and some detractors call your LA’s Mamdani, mainly because of your Democratic Socialist background. The hit on you is that you care more about optics and virtue signaling than your constituents. So, brass tacks, are you a looney leftie? Are pro-business?

RAMAN: I love this city, I love the opportunity and mobility it gives people, it’s one of the reasons I moved to L.A.

So, when you ask if I’m pro-business, the answer is absolutely. We absolutely need business here thriving in order for the entire city to be thriving. Our tax base comes from our businesses as well as our residents. We all rise together.

As for my so-called left-wing vision, let me say this, my vision for the city is that government works and does good things for the people. That vision makes me work really hard to ensure that the programs that are being put in place actually function, and that every dollar is being used for benefits that people can feel, that is palpable around them. That’s where my progressivism takes me, and I believe that’s a vision of Los Angeles that a lot of Angelenos share.

DEADLINE: So, why is there such a strong perception that the city is in decline, not just the tens of thousands of film jobs that have disappeared in the past four years, but shuttered storefronts, garbage overflowing on the streets, crime, homelessness…this list goes on.

RAMAN: You know, I sit in City Hall every day and I feel a rudderlessness in the building. There is a lack of creative thinking. Besides all the new projects and programs suddenly being announced because there s an election, there is a lack of ambition for the future of this city.

 I am ambitious for Los Angeles. I’m ambitious about its future. It is the greatest city in the world, and I want leadership in our Mayor’s office who is out there fighting for it every single day.

DEADLINE: Yeah, but everyone says they are gong to fight for this or that, but they get elected and it is all for there pals and donors. You’ve been in City Hall since 2020, and L.A. feels like it is becoming Detroit in the 1990s with better weather and no Eminem, so what can you actually do in a city where power is so diffused?

RAMAN: I hear that, but there’s all kinds of ways that we can right now combat the bleakness of this moment.

Whether it is making our streets brighter by making sure that we’re cleaning up garbage, addressing graffiti and addressing urban blight. Whether it is instituting an effective homelessness response that actually moves significantly larger numbers of people off the streets and indoors. Whether it is investing in our commercial corridors, actually opening up some of those closed door fronts by engaging proactively with landlords, providing incentives for lease ups, actually subleasing spaces. Creating pop ups and enlivening commercial corridors that have been left to shrivel over the past few years.

 I mean, we need action, and right now at City Hall, we have not seen that from our mayor, and that is part of that is a big part of why I am in this race. I really want to take that action. I want to be that booster for Los Angeles. I want to see the city thrive into the future. I love it passionately, and I want to remind everyone about why LA is so incredible.

My radical vision of the city is a city that really works for its residents, in the entertainment industry and everyone. That’s what I promise I will put into place as Mayor.