One month after the City Council received a presentation of the Creative Economy Report of Culver City, it is available at www.culvercity.org/CreativeEconomyReport.
Compiled by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, it quantifies the economic impact of creative industries in Culver City over the past decade.
The Creative Economy Report of Culver City marks the first time this analysis has been applied by the Corporation to a single city.
“The creative economy” is defined as:
- Businesses and individuals involved in producing cultural, artistic, and design goods and services.
The report identified 11 industries that make up the creative economy of Culver City:
Art Dealers, Fashion, Digital Media, Entertainment, Product & Industrial Design, Publishing & Printing, Fine & Performing Arts Schools, Performing Arts Providers, Communication Arts, Toys, and Architecture & Interior Design.
Three specific geographic areas constitute the pillars of the city’s creative economy:
The Hayden Tract, the Culver City Arts District, and the 1.4-mile Cultural Corridor.
The city hopes these findings inspire those in both the private sector and in government to consider the creative economy in future planning and programming.
The city intends to use this knowledge to continue to help brand Culver City as a unique and attractive innovative hub.
Since 2007, the Economic Development Corporation has produced an annual Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region.
Early last year City Hall entered into an agreement with the corporation to produce a Creative Economy Report specific to Culver City.
Data compiled by the Economic Development Corporation for Culver City was supplemented with data obtained from various city sources, such as the Finance Department, the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, and the School District.
Kimberly Ritter-Martinez, an economist at the Corporation’s Kyser Center for Economic Research, led the research and analysis.
According to the report, total direct income in the creative industries of Culver City amounted to nearly $1.1 billion in 2014, with digital media contributing 31 percent, $330 million.
Findings seemed to confirm the widespread perception of Culver City as a creative hub within Los Angeles County.
Culver City’s creative industry employment level in 2014 was 14.4 percent—a full six percentage points above the Los Angeles region as a whole.
During the presentation to the City Council, speakers cited several notable creative organizations and corporations, such as Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Kirk Douglas Theatre, the Movember Foundation, the Wende Museum, and The Actors’ Gang theater company. The latter’s founding artistic director, actor Tim Robbins, was on .hand for the presentation to the Council. In the coming months, a list of short and long-term recommendations will be developed by a Cultural Affairs Commission subcommittee working with the City Council’s Economic Development subcommittee.
Ms. Byers may be contacted at christine.byers@culvercity.org