FILM BUREAU'S ACTIONS BOOST A.V. ECONOMY : PRODUCTIONS GOOD FOR BUSINESSES.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Movies, television shows, commercials, music videos and photo shoots pumped $22.1 million into the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley economy in 1996 - the first year the region promoted itself through its own film bureau. Hotels, caterers and building-supply firms were among the main beneficiaries, city officials said. The Antelope Valley in 1996 hosted 123 productions, ranging from a Neil Young music video and one of comic Tim Conway's ``Dorf'' videos to 48 feature films, such as ``Dante's Peak,'' scheduled to be released next month. Pat Blessing, who owns a Lancaster catering company with his wife, Alyce, estimates his business increased 20 percent as a result of the one-man film bureau's efforts. ``We've done a lot of video shoots,'' Pat Blessing said. ``We did Neil Young. We did some videos with people whose names I don't recognize.'' Last year was the first in which the city-sponsored film bureau promoted the region as a film location and kept track exactly who was filming and how much was spent in the local economy, said Lyle Norton, who oversees the film bureau as director of Lancaster's Parks, Recreation and Arts Department. Prior to 1996, there was no tracking done and no way to estimate how much film companies spent in the Antelope Valley, he said. ``The one thing we've been able to achieve is to more effectively track filming and production,'' Norton said. ``There has been filming up here for a number of years, but we haven't been able to track it.'' Movies filmed last year in the Antelope Valley include ``Nothing to Lose'' with Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American Academy Award-winning actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon, with whom he shares liberal political views. and Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence[1] (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. , ``Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag'' with George Hamilton George Hamilton may refer to:
Early life , and ``The Flood'' with Christian Slater Christian Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. Biography Early life Slater was born Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins in New York, New York, the son of Mary Jo Slater, a casting executive, and Michael Hawkins, an actor who was also known as and Morgan Freeman. Final figures aren't in on what will likely turn out to be the biggest production in the Antelope Valley in 1996 - Paramount Picture's ``The Flood.'' Filming was done inside a Rockwell Corp. hangar formerly used for production of the B-1B bomber. Jeff McNeil, Antelope Valley's film liaison, estimates the production company spent $1.5 million a month during the filming, which started in September and wrapped up last week. Antelope Valley's west side has served as Nebraska and Kansas in some productions, while the east side doubled for Arizona, Nevada and Texas, McNeil said. Four productions were done at the city's new Municipal Baseball Stadium, ``the Hangar,'' including Conway's latest made-for-video Dorf adventure, ``Dorf at the Diamond.'' The city is in discussions with a couple of movie companies about using the Hangar for filming this spring. The film bureau, which opened in February, is funded by the city of Lancaster The City of Lancaster (2002 population: 133,914) is a local government district with city status in Lancashire, England. Its main town is Lancaster, from which it obtained its city status. Other towns in the district include Morecambe, Heysham, Slyne, and Carnforth. but is tasked with representing all of the Antelope Valley. The bureau's purpose is to help the region diversify its economy and lessen less·en v. less·ened, less·en·ing, less·ens v.tr. 1. To make less; reduce. 2. Archaic To make little of; belittle. v.intr. To become less; decrease. its dependence on the aerospace industry. ``Our primary goal is to bring more dollars to the community,'' Norton said. The city has mailed brochures on Antelope Valley locations and services to production companies, put a Web page on the Internet and sent representatives to a trade show in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Lancaster estimates filming generated about $37,000 last year to the city's coffers from the transient occupancy tax Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is levied for the privilege of occupying a room or rooms or other living space in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel or other lodging (defined below) for a period of 30 days or less. charged by hotels. The film bureau was allocated $54,000 for the fiscal year that ends in June. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion