BURBANK MAY JOIN FIGHT TO KEEP FILMS FROM FLEEING.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

BURBANK - The city may join a broad-based coalition of entertainment industry groups working to keep film jobs in the state, with a City Council vote set for Tuesday on an Assembly bill to stem lost production.

The bill, introduced in the Assembly in February and expected to hit the Senate floor next month, would establish a 15 percent tax credit for wages paid by film, television and commercial production companies that keep at least 50 percent of production in California and where the total cost of the production's wages are between $200,000 and $10 million.

``We know that 75 percent of our work force (in Burbank) works in the entertainment industry,'' said City Manager Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom. ``So this is very important.''

Burbank is home to 700 entertainment-related businesses, which may be impacted directly or indirectly by ``runaway'' productions.

Bruce Doering, executive director of the Cinematographers Guild, is expected to speak to the City Council before Tuesday's vote.

Warner Bros. and The Walt Disney Co. are both located in Burbank, making the city ``the hub'' of the industry, Doering said Friday.

``Burbank's support is critical,'' he said.

Members of the California Coalition for Entertainment Jobs, which includes several local unions as well as the seven major guilds, are expected to attend Tuesday's council meeting, at 6:30 p.m. at 275 E. Olive Ave., to ask the council to support the bill.

``All of us are very excited that the city of Burbank is willing to look at this,'' said Kathy Garmezy, director of government affairs for the Directors Guild of America. ``We've already had an incredible depth of support.''

Last week, the Los Angeles City Council and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to support the bill.

According to a study released in May, the Center for Entertainment Industry Data and Research estimated a national loss of $4.1 billion in economic benefits associated with the entertainment industry from runaway production, with the shoots going mainly to Canada.

Runaway productions, defined as those that are developed and intended for broadcast in the United States but that are actually filmed in another country, have caused a significant drop in industry employment in Los Angeles, according to a report by the Assembly Committee on Tourism, and Internet Media.

Other states have promoted incentives as well, industry insiders say, which means California is not only competing with Canada, but with New Mexico and other states.

Last year, 16 percent of all made-for-television dramas were produced in California. About 20 percent were shot in Canada, even if the story line took place in Los Angeles, industry insiders said.