Everyone likes movies - but 'not in my back yard'; some wealthy areas strongly oppose location filming.

One of the reasons many movie-makers are bolting the L.A. area to do their shooting is that some of the best film locations in the county are not "film-friendly," according to many industry executives.

Indeed, the most unfriendly film locations in the county are the richest -- Beverly Hills, Hancock Park and Hermosa Beach, according to Stephanie Liner, head of the Los Angeles County film permit office. And, ironically, wealthy and photogenic Malibu, home to many stars and directors, is among the most hostile communities to film crews.

Although Malibu city officials have been generally supportive of issuing film permits, residents -- many of whom are people in the film industry -- complain about film crews, Liner said. That causes many location managers to be gun-shy about filming in Malibu, she noted.

Liner said she has been working for more than a year to change the situation but film industry executives living in Malibu are fighting to keep film crews out.

For moviemakers to shoot in Malibu, homeowner groups must give their OK to city officials before a permit can be issued for filming in the neighborhood. The most common complaint involves parking because the large movie trailers take up space, according to Kimberly Collins, Malibu's city services coordinator.

Often an affluent Hollywood producer will nix the permit by going to his or her neighbors and lobbying against a permit request, Liner said.

"About 50 percent of the problem is coming from people who work in the industry," Liner said. "In the two years we have been working on this problem, not one person who works in the industry and lives in Malibu has stepped forward and said, 'I want filming here.' I think that would be the key to it."

Without naming names, Liner said she has gotten one call from a producer who lives in Malibu "screaming" about a production crew in her neighborhood.

"She said when she comes home at night, she doesn't want to live with what she does during the day," Liner said. "When I looked down on my desk, I had a five-page complaint about her production which was working in Venice. She knows how bad some films crews can be and didn't want them in her neighborhood."

On another occasion, a wealthy Malibu businessman offered his neighbor $6,000 a day to not allow a film crew to work there, Liner said. The film company had offered the homeowner the same amount.

Liner said residents have told her to take productions to downtown Los Angeles or South Central Los Angeles.

She has gone to the directors and writers guilds to "re-educate" their members on the importance of allowing filming in Malibu and other affluent communities.

Meanwhile, Hermosa Beach triggered the attention of the state Film Commission after a homeowner group sued the city, claiming the film permit given to Spelling Entertainment's "Beverly Hills 90201" television series violated zoning laws. A state Superior Court Judge in Torrance ruled in the group's favor and Spelling was bounced.

In his ruling, Judge Abraham Gorenfeld said there were "many miles of seashore available" to shoot in Southern California. An irate Aaron Spelling was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, "There are great beaches in Galveston, Texas."

The threat to pull production out of Los Angeles is very real. In the last two years, film permits have been declining more than 10 percent combined as crews have gone out of state to film features and television movies of the week. The film industry spends $8 billion on production annually and $4 billion of that is now done outside of Los Angeles County, according to industry statistics compiled by the Los Angeles City and County film offices.

The California State Film Commission will seek legislation to allow filming in residential areas where zoning laws may prohibit it, according to Patti Archuletta, the director of the commission.