BURBANK WOOS STUDIO IN THE TRADES : OGLING OF DREAMWORKS REACHES NEW LEVEL OF GLITZ.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

The courtship of DreamWorks SKG took an offbeat turn Wednesday as the city of Burbank placed ads in entertainment trade papers inviting the fledgling studio to spurn the troubled Playa Vista project.

``Burbank, where dreams work'' said the headline of the ads in Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. The ad's ostensible purpose was to congratulate NBC on last month's approval by the Burbank City Council of NBC's master plan, which includes 1.7 million square feet of studio and office development.

But the intent of the letter, written by Mayor Bill Wiggins to NBC Vice President of Facilities Jack O'Neill, was unmistakable in terms of wooing DreamWorks, which finds itself embroiled in a variety of disputes and delays at Playa Vista.

The letter noted that NBC's plan was processed in only eight months and received ``overwhelming'' community support and that the city has processed more than 7 million square feet of entitlements for media companies in the last three years. Those include 3.3 million square feet for Warner Bros. and 1.9 million square feet for Walt Disney Co.

``Because we are home to NBC, the Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros., I believe that Burbank really is the media capital of the world,'' Wiggins said in the letter. ``I hope that you will tell your friends in the industry that Burbank is the place `where dreams work.' ''

Bud Ovrom, Burbank's city manager, has been actively wooing DreamWorks in recent months but admitted Wednesday that the city still faces long odds in its pursuit.

``I don't think this is a time to be bashful,'' Ovrom said. ``We probably won't get it but we have to try if we have any kind of shot at all.''

Burbank paid standard rates for the black-and-white ads, according to Ovrom. Daily Variety's rate is $4,300 while the Hollywood Reporter's is $3,340.

Playa Vista has become a headache for DreamWorks since Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen announced plans in late 1995 for a $200 million studio as the centerpiece of the $8 billion Playa Vista development in the Ballona Wetlands near Marina del Rey. The project is a year behind schedule due to financing problems for developer Maguire Thomas and has provoked strong opposition from some environmental groups.

Ovrom said he met recently with Katzenberg to pitch the attributes of a 103-acre parcel on Buena Vista Street and Empire Avenue, currently the site of empty Lockheed Corp. buildings. ``What I told him is that DreamWorks is clearly our first choice but we need to make a decision about the property in the not-too-distant future,'' he said.

Vestar Development wants to build a retail center with a 24-screen multiplex on the west end of the property but has agreed to wait for DreamWorks' decision before moving ahead. Ovrom said he expects DreamWorks will decide in the next 30 to 45 days, adding that several other unnamed parties are interested in developing the property, which was abandoned by Lockheed in the early 1990s.

DreamWorks had no immediate response to the ad. In recent months, DreamWorks has been noncommittal about alternatives to Playa Vista, saying it is awaiting completion of a revamped financing plan that would shift control from Maguire Thomas to Pacific Capital Group Inc.

DreamWorks is currently headquartered on the Universal Studios lot at Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and its 1,500 employees work at half a dozen locations. Some real estate experts have speculated that DreamWorks could simply decide to build its campus on Universal's unused property, now in the early stages of approval for massive development over the next two decades.

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Photo: (Color) Bud Ovrom

Hopeful but realistic