DIRECTORS SAY 'CUT' TO L.A. APRIL FILMING.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Location feature film production plunged 41 percent annually in the Los Angeles area during April, according to figures released Friday by the Entertainment Industry Development Corporation.

The EIDC recorded just 406 days of off-studio shooting last month compared with 694 days in April 2002. The figure also was 27 percent lower than the 558 days recorded in March.

The EIDC pointed out that overall feature film production for the first four months of this year is still 10 percent ahead of 2002 figures.

``One month does not really drive what the feature season is looking like,'' said Darryl Seif, the EIDC's vice president and director of operations. ``You need to take a look at the whole year but it's possible that features are on a slower cycle since we had such a busy January and February.''

The lack of feature film activity brought location filming numbers for the month down by an overall 14.7 percent when figuring in television, music video and commercial location activity.

Feature film activity has been fluctuating for the nearly two years since threatened labor strikes by the unions representing actors and writers. This resulted in accelerated production levels as studios stockpiled product. When the strikes didn't materialize, a prolonged slowdown in production followed.

``Ever since the de facto strike, the industry hasn't fallen back into what you would call a rhythm,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``What you see is that feature off-lot production is very volatile.''

Seif said May will bring some high-profile location activity to the area with the highly-anticipated sequel to ``Spider-Man'' as well as a remake of the comedy ``Cheaper By the Dozen'' starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt.

Feature films currently shooting in Los Angeles include: the thriller ``Cursed'' starring Christina Ricci, Omar Epps and Scott Foley; the romantic-comedy ``Hating Her'' starring Selma Blair and Billy Crudup; the comedy ``Eulogy'' starring Ray Romano, Kelly Preston and Debra Winger; the comedy/drama ``Johnson Family Vacation'' headlined by Cedric the Entertainer and Vanessa Williams; and the comedy/drama ``Nora's Hair Salon,'' which features Jenifer Lewis, Tamala Jones and Li'l Kim.

While production location is unusually light, Kyser called the April numbers ``a bump in the road.'' He points to more than 100 films that are currently in pre-production, many of them set to do at least some filming in Los Angeles locations.

``You just have to sit and watch to see what happens,'' Kyser said. ``It looks like it will pick up. But there's a different mind-set at the studios; they are being much more cautious about what they produce and how many films they produce.''