BRITISH TOUT BENEFITS OF FILMING IN THE U.K.

Byline: Lynn Elber Associated Press 

The British, heavily represented among this year's Academy Award nominees, came to Hollywood on Thursday looking for more than Oscar gold: They want to coax movie production to the United Kingdom.

Sydney Samuelson, a member of the British Film Commission, and other Britons met with about 120 U.S. entertainment industry executives at Warner Bros. studio in Burbank to tout the value of filming in their land.

``I hope we will prove that if you're going to shoot outside your own city, if you're going to shoot in Europe, Great Britain is the place,'' Samuelson said after a breakfast that kicked off the meeting.

Ridley Scott, who gained fame directing such Hollywood hits as ``Alien'' and ``Thelma & Louise,'' debunked what he called misconceptions about using his native country as a film center.

``The (British) studios were always perceived as being a little grim, a little uncomfortable. Once you left the Savoy or Claridge's (hotels) you were definitely entering the Eastern Block,'' he said.

While conceding that British facilities might not be as posh as those in America, he said the quality of production and post-production work, including editing and special effects, are equal.

And the cost savings can be significant, said Scott, who produces films in America and his homeland.

``If you take the figure for a five-week shoot in the U.S. and apply that same figure to the U.K., you'd probably get a week free,'' Scott said, relating what one British producer told him.

Set construction, for example, is up to 40 percent cheaper, Scott said.

Walt Disney Co. executive Paul Steinke, who said his company has done at least eight movies in England in the past four years, said film budgets average about a third of what they do in the United States.

Steinke recommended that Hollywood egos be left behind in negotiating and said an association with a British producer can help.

For its part, California has worked to keep lucrative film production at home. Last fall, Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation to cut red tape and paperwork that were causing expensive delays and sending companies packing.

Producers have said aggressive efforts by Los Angeles city and county governments in recent years to simplify and speed up the permitting process has reversed the trend of production leaving the state. Entertainment production in the county rose by 27 percent in 1995 and 29 percent in 1996 and is expected to post a similar gain this year.