Officials Hope to Keep California in Movie Spotlight

State officials have ushered in what they hope is a new era of cooperation with the film industry, underscored by the planned opening Monday of a Hollywood office that is designed to cut red tape in issuing permits for making movies.

The office, to be shared by the state and the city and county of Los Angeles, is the latest and perhaps most visible sign of the state’s courtship of producers who have been leaving California for filming locations in other states.

Last year, overall production by major studios and independent producers jumped to 318 films, 28% above 1983, according to Daily Variety, a trade publication. But the number of feature-length films shot entirely in California dropped from 63 in 1983 to 56 in 1984, according to Lisa Rawlins, director of the state’s newly created film office.

That has been a disturbing trend for the Deukmejian Administration. State officials conservatively estimate that the industry pays at least $100 million a year in state and local taxes and employs 77,000 Californians.

As part of its campaign to court the film industry, the Administration last year cut its fees for filming on state property and urged departments to cooperate with movie makers seeking locations on state land.

At the same time, it worked with lawmakers to pass a bill designed to promote movie making in California and to issue permits for filming on state property--breaks the industry claimed were long overdue.

“It’s harder to get a permit to shoot in California than any other place in the world,” said Dan Slusser, vice president and general manager of Universal Studios Inc. and chairman of the Los Angeles County Filming Advisory Commission.

Ralph Alderman, president of Studio Transportation Drivers Local 399 of the Teamsters Union, said that in the past, the state “just took the industry for granted. Their attitude is no longer frozen.”

Overhauling System

The film industry legislation, which became law Jan. 1, is designed to overhaul the state’s relationship with movie makers in several ways:

--It established the state film office, budgeted at about $330,000 a year, to promote movie-making in California.

Previously, the decade-old Motion Picture Council issued permits for filming on state property and attempted to boost filming in the state. But the council, an independent agency, operated on a budget of $140,000 a year, made up of fees charged to production companies for filming on state property. The new law places the film office under the state Department of Commerce and, for the first time, sets aside state general funds to promote the film industry.

--Restructures the council as the policy-making body for the film office. The 17-member group is made up of representatives of various segments of the industry.

--Sets in motion a study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments on the feasibility of creating a regional film permit center, not only for Los Angeles County but for all six Southern California counties.

State Funding Possible

SCAG is surveying cities and, if enough interest is shown, it could receive $100,000 in state funds to get the program off the ground.

Eventually, SCAG could join the one-stop permit office and expedite permits for filming in outlying areas.

Rawlins, who was the Administration’s liaison with the film community before becoming director of the film office, said she is optimistic that these steps can begin to stem runaway productions.

Rawlins said her main task will be “getting to companies and film makers before they decide to film outside of California.

“If we could turn around one (feature-length) production a year, we’d be successful,” she said.

Her job could be made easier because the industry is in a boom period.

In Los Angeles, for example, the city granted more filming permits last year than ever before--more than 3,100 permits for filming movies and TV shows, nearly 16% above 1983, according to the city motion picture office.

Yet in some parts of West Los Angeles and other regularly filmed communities, residents are often at odds with motion picture companies over how much filming should be allowed.

Richard Buttrick, deputy executive director of the County Supervisors Assn. of California, said that tensions could be eased if the state promoted filming in other parts of California.

“I can’t imagine a single location site appropriate . . . that can’t be found in California,” he insisted.

But others say that audiences, especially of feature-length films, demand realistic locations. Joel Smith, director of the Texas Film Commission, explained that the public does not want to spend $5 to see a movie about Texas which is not filmed in Texas.

Still, he said, he thinks that California’s fears about losing the industry are overblown.

“You’ve got the movie industry there,” Smith said. “What more of a plus could you have? Los Angeles is the center of the international film industry . . . and I don’t see that changing.”