Baywatch season 2: where renewal stands — and yes, we know before release

Bit odd to see so much buzz for a series that hasn’t even hit screens yet, but Baywatch is making waves long before its official return in January. Fox’s reboot is still months off – yet you’d think a second season was already pencilled in if you listen to Los Angeles officials. Here’s what’s actually going on behind the curtain.

LA Already Gears Up

There’s nothing quite like watching politicians and studio heads flock around a project they hope will revive their bit of the industry. This week, Steve Kang, LA’s chief film liaison, popped up in front of the city council with a startling amount of confidence about Baywatch’s future. In his own words during the meeting:

I can say with confidence that they are very happy with the concierge service that we were able to provide [on Season 1], and they will be returning to Los Angeles for a second season next year.

Let’s be clear: Fox hasn’t officially renewed Baywatch just yet. Reports suggest the network will wait for hard numbers once the first episodes air in January. Even so, the city is rolling out the red carpet and openly planning for another round – which tells you just how hard LA lobbied for this production.

Baywatch is a pretty significant deal for the city, not least because it managed to snag a $21.1 million tax credit from the California Film Commission. (That’s about a 40% rebate on their production budget, for anyone keeping score.) Add in the local council bending over backwards to clear red tape — the team nabbed access to the historic Venice Lifeguard Operations Station with plenty of bureaucratic backflips — and it’s obvious LA isn’t letting this one slide away to Miami or Vancouver anytime soon.

The Baywatch reboot secured a $21.1 million state tax credit, making up 40% of its total budget.

Politics, Planning, and Permits

What’s catching attention is how the city is using Baywatch as something of a test case for keeping big productions on home turf. During the first meeting of LA’s new Ad Hoc Committee on Film, Entertainment, and Creative Industry (yes, that’s its real name), Councilwoman Traci Park cut right to the chase. She directly brought up the expectation of a Season 2 renewal and asked if the city had learned anything from Baywatch that could make operations smoother – basically, can they sweeten the deal to keep shoots local and fees lower?

Adrin Nazarian, the committee’s chair, is already making noises about streamlining permits and making LA a genuinely attractive spot for productions that might otherwise set up shop elsewhere. For Fox execs, the strong municipal support is a good sign, even if the renewal is still technically up in the air. So this is a story of public deal-brokering and political theatre, all happening before a single new episode airs.