SHOW-BIZ SLOWDOWN; LOCATION SHOOTING DECLINES SLIGHTLY, FIGURES REVEAL.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

Hollywood's boom in entertainment production hasn't gone bust but its days of frantic expansion are over.

One of the clearest indicators is the decline in film crews shooting on local streets, which had grown by an astounding 78 percent from 1994 through 1997. This year, August production on Los Angeles County locations outside studios was off 7.8 percent from August 1997; for the first eight months of the year it's off 0.6 percent, according to figures from the Entertainment Industry Development Corp.

The county's 1998 movie days have slid 2.3 percent, while TV days are down 7.4 percent and commercial days are off 8.4 percent. While some of the off-lot work has been absorbed by new soundstages, officials admit that the apparent lull is real.

``We are seeing a slight slowdown,'' conceded Cody Cluff, president of the EIDC. ``September's figures are going to show a continued decline in features and commercials with an increase in TV.''

Walter Roshetski, director of commercial locations for Burbank-based scouting service Universal Locations, agrees. ``We usually peak around this time and now it seems a little bit quieter,'' he noted.

Woodland Hills-based Panavision Inc., the leader in supplying cameras for movie and TV production, sounded a similar tone in August when it projected its third-quarter results would be held back by studios shooting fewer large-budget films and lower production of TV commercials.

And smaller soundstages are reporting lower levels of activity, according to Patti Archuletta, director of the California Film Commission. ``They're saying it's becoming harder to get bookings,'' she said.

A variety of factors have combined to put the brakes on the entertainment industry's local growth, including:

The possible strike by the Screen Actors Guild, averted during the spring, led to a rush to complete projects late last year and early this year. ``Whenever there's a strike threat, producers will shoot well in advance of it, so things were at a fever pitch at the beginning of the year,'' Roshetski said.

Major studios, notably Disney and Warner Bros., have trimmed releases from their schedules and focused more on moderately priced projects. ``We're tending to see films with lower budgets going into production, which means that instead of 85 or 90 days of shooting, you'll see 45 or 50,'' Cluff said.

The impact of economic problems on commercials. ``We have a tightening economy, which leads to less ad money,'' Cluff noted. ``Commercials are also affected by Asia and Latin America's problems.''

Continued enticements from the world to shift productions away from Hollywood even though California's market share of U.S. film starts edged up from 74 percent in 1994 to 77 percent in 1997.

``I am met with an increasing number of calls from individuals concerned about the steady number of jobs being exported to places like Canada and Ireland,'' Archuletta said.

Cluff notes that the increasing value of the U.S. dollar compared to the Canadian dollar has made north-of-the-border locations attractive along with incentives such as 20 percent ``labor credits'' for tax reductions. That's led to low-budget features and movies-of-the-week being lured away from Hollywood.

The threat of runaway production from California in the early 1990s led to state and local governments taking steps to retain production such as simplifying the permitting process. Archuletta admits that her agency's struggle to create a ``film-friendly'' environment through additional incentives is difficult, given Hollywood's image as a haven for excessive spending.

``We have to be vigilant about the export of jobs,'' she said.

Still, no one is terrified about an impending collapse of Hollywood.

``Nobody's in a hysterical panic when you consider the enormous increase in production since 1994,'' Archuletta said. ``It makes sense that things would level off after all that expansion.''

Added Cluff: ``Production levels are still so high compared to what we were four years ago. There's a tremendous amount of shooting going on in Venice, downtown, Hancock Park and at the beaches.''

Cluff also noted ``The X-Files'' is now shooting in Los Angeles rather than in Vancouver and that producers of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film, ``End of Days,'' plan to shoot mostly in Los Angeles rather than New York, as originally planned. He predicted TV and feature film activity in Los Angeles will pick up by the end of the year while commercials will be down slightly.

James Thompson, chief of Van Nuys-based Real to Reel location services, admitted he's heard plenty about the slowdown but stressed that his own business is booming, particularly in supplying hospital locations such as Valley Presbyterian in Van Nuys. ``We're doing well, I think, because we went out and got a lot of of new product that hadn't been used before,'' he said.

Diana Klein, head of the Malibu Locations scouting service, offers a similarly sunny view, noting her inventory of properties surged from 2,500 last year to 4,000 this year, with prime mansions renting out for as much as $5,000 a day. ``I get five calls a day from people who want to list their property,'' she said.

Klein believes the outlook is bright due partly to the explosive growth of low-cost films made by independent producers. ``Business is great; we're booking half again as much as last year and it's all over the map,'' she said. ``It feels like everybody's a moviemaker now.''

SLOWING DOWN

Entertainment production off studio lots has decreased 0.6 percent in 1998 compared to 1997.

4,543 production days in Aug. '97.

4,189 production days in Aug. '98.

SOURCE: Entertainment Industry Development Corp.

CAPTION(S):

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CHART: SLOWING DOWN (see text)

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