OFF LOCATION; SOME SEE ALARM IN CITY'S ABSENCE AT FILM-SITE SHOW.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer So where was L.A.? Beneath a plethora of glad-handing and giveaways at the Locations '99 trade show at the Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center (abbreviated LACC) is a convention center in downtown Los Angeles. The LACC hosts annual events such as the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, and was best known to video games fans as host to E3 until its cessation in 2006. , California and Canada battled Friday for billions of dollars doled out Adj. 1. doled out - given out in portions apportioned, dealt out, meted out, parceled out distributed - spread out or scattered about or divided up by Hollywood producers. But the city and county of 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. , which saw off-lot production activity drop 4.2 percent last year, were MIA MIA n. A member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown. [m(issing) i(n) a(ction). . California's film commissions weren't missing: Various state agencies and commissions took up 15 percent of the 330 booths at the trade show. Still, the state's largest city and county weren't among them, and Patti Stolkin Archuletta, director of the California Film Commission, said she was baffled over Los Angeles' no-show. ``I think that Los Angeles not having a presence here sends the message that it isn't worried about runaway production  An editor has expressed concern that this article or section is .Please help improve the article by adding information and sources on neglected viewpoints, or by summarizing and ,'' she added. ``The rest of the state is here in full force, which means that producers may choose to go to Imperial County, San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. or Ventura County instead. It also shows that Los Angeles isn't the only place people think of when they think of California.'' Not true, said Cody Cluff, chief of the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., which handles off-lot production permits in the city and county of Los Angeles. Cluff said the EIDC didn't put up a booth for the second consecutive year because, frankly, it's too much money for too few top Hollywood executives. ``After attending for four or five years, we found the convention was not a cost-effective way for us to market the city,'' said Cluff, who did attend Friday's opening. ``The decision-makers are all in our back yard and we meet with them on a regular basis. It doesn't do me any good to spend $30,000 on a booth when none of the people we need to contact are going to come there.'' The debate over L.A.'s role in Locations '99 comes amid several alarming signs for entertainment production in California. Among the trends that have industry officials concerned: A 4.2 percent decline in off-lot production last year in Los Angeles County. Cluff predicts 1999 is likely to remain at the same level as 1998 partly because studios are spending less money on major features. A 20 percent decline in starts on feature films last year in California. The loss of 11,500 acting jobs from California to Canada last year. A 28 percent increase in production activity last year in British Columbia British Columbia, province (2001 pop. 3,907,738), 366,255 sq mi (948,600 sq km), including 6,976 sq mi (18,068 sq km) of water surface, W Canada. Geography . Its total of $808 million (Canadian currency) in economic impact makes the province the world's third-largest production center after Los Angeles and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Canada, which has been aggressive in luring production by touting tax breaks, rebates and lower costs, has two dozen booths at the trade show arranged in a village complete with a free coffee bar and a Mountie, Sgt. Jean Legal of Winnipeg. ``Film commissioners come here because they need to keep track of what Canada and the rest of the world is doing,'' said Archuletta, who is leaving her post with the California Film Commission next week for a film marketing job. ``It reminds me of the saying, Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'' Cluff said Locations '99 represents a good opportunity for film commissioners from outside Los Angeles to contact Hollywood executives. ``I don't want to bad-mouth bad·mouth or bad-mouth tr.v. bad·mouthed, bad·mouth·ing, bad·mouths Informal To criticize or disparage, often spitefully or unfairly: the show,'' he added. ``But we can spend our resources in more effective ways.'' Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., said the nonpresence of Los Angeles at the event was understandable due to the EIDC's limited budget. On some days, the agency has to track more than 200 separate production crews. ``It's kind of puzzling that the EIDC wouldn't show up because you do have a concern over the erosion of film production but they have a lot of other things going on,'' Kyser said. ``We have to understand that they have limited resources.'' Time to schmooze The bottom line for many at the three-day show, which runs through Sunday but is open only to trade and media, is schmoozing with studio executives, scouts and production managers who make the critical decisions on where to shoot. ``I'm down here four or five times each year because I have to keep making the rounds,'' said Carole Vivier, head of the Manitoba Film Commission. Canada currently offers an 11 percent rebate on labor costs to producers but several provinces have sweetened sweet·en v. sweet·ened, sweet·en·ing, sweet·ens v.tr. 1. To make sweet or sweeter by adding sugar, honey, saccharin, or another sweet substance. 2. To make more pleasant or agreeable. that deal considerably. In late 1997, Manitoba became the first province with a 35 percent rebate on the costs of local labor; Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia (nō`və skō`shə) [Lat.,=new Scotland], province (2001 pop. 908,007), 21,425 sq mi (55,491 sq km), E Canada. Geography and New Brunswick New Brunswick, province, Canada New Brunswick, province (2001 pop. 729,498), 28,345 sq mi (73,433 sq km), including 519 sq mi (1,345 sq km) of water surface, E Canada. also have instituted similar rebates. ``Getting the rebate approved was not a tough sell,'' said Vivier, who saw production activity more than triple during the fiscal year ending March 31 to about $55 million. ``There's a lot of support because of the job-creation aspects of it.'' Vivier said she expects Manitoba's production activity to nearly double in the fiscal year beginning April 1 and hit $100 million as the province gains prominence in the entertainment world. Besides the rebate, she noted, other attractions include the favorable exchange rate and lower costs of wages, goods and accommodations. As for British Columbia, where the combined rebate is 21 percent, film commissioner Peter Mitchell Notable people called Peter Mitchell include:
``We are getting a lot of feature films shot in Vancouver,'' said Mitchell, citing ``Detox,'' ``Reindeer Games'' and ``Romeo Must Die.'' ``We're getting heavy-duty projects.'' Tax incentives? The prospect of more entertainment productions leaving California prompted two legislators - Assemblyman Scott Wildman Scott Wildman was a California State Assemblyman from 1996 until 2000. That year, he lost a State Senate primary to Dr. Jack Scott, an Assemblyman from a neighboring district. Wildman received 46.7% of the vote. , D-Glendale, and Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, D-Encino - to recently propose laws to stop runaway production. Wildman's bill calls for a 10 percent tax credit on labor taxes for California projects; Kuehl's bills create tax incentives for productions costing under $5 million and ease restrictions on set-building in coastal zones. Wildman said he has received massive support from Hollywood labor unions and production companies. ``The idea is that the labor and income generated by jobs we won't lose will be replaced by people spending money,'' he added. ``The bill is essentially revenue-neutral.'' Archuletta predicted a toned-down version of Wildman's bill could pass. ``It's the first time in a decade that the door to this idea has cracked open,'' she added. Canada was not the only place seeking to steal Hollywood's bread and butter. The state of Oklahoma, for example, was touting its 3-year-old program of offering producers a complete rebate of any sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. incurred during production. ``It's a `no questions asked' program,'' said Bud Elder, assistant director of the state's film commission. ``They just send in their receipts.'' Oklahoma, which generated $22 million in production last year, also brought out Will Rogers impersonator Gene McFall, who lured passers-by with rope tricks and comic patter pat·ter 1 v. pat·tered, pat·ter·ing, pat·ters v.intr. 1. To make a quick succession of light soft tapping sounds: Rain pattered steadily against the glass. . ``Gene came out here on his own dime, which just shows how cooperative we are in Oklahoma,'' Elder said. Foreign commissions also used a variety of come-ons with Hyderabad, India, proclaiming itself as home to the world's largest studio and the British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands A British colony in the eastern Caribbean east of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Road Town, on Tortola Island, is the capital. Population: 21,700. Noun 1. touting itself as the site of the recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated magazine. It features top fashion models wearing designer swimwear in exotic locales. New issues come out around the middle of February or later. It was first published in 1964. . ``I find it very important to let producers know about our upscale orientation,'' said Neil Blyden, president of Caribbean Film & Video Works. ``They want to stay at the best hotels.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Visitors browse booths Friday at Locations '99, an entertainment industry trade show at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Phil McCarten/Daily News |
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