Advice Rejected : Burbank Picks Dark Horse to Run Starlight

Businessman Tim Pinch has been given approval to boldly go where others have failed--to attempt to make a success of Burbank’s historically unsuccessful Starlight Amphitheatre.

Going against the recommendations of officials who oversee the city-owned facility, the Burbank City Council voted 5 to 0 Tuesday to award Pinch, 32, of Burbank the exclusive right to manage the Starlight during its summer season next year.

Pinch, a producer who has staged concerts and television shows, was selected over two other bidders--the Los Angeles Pops Orchestra, a nonprofit organization that wanted to stage dance, jazz and pops concerts, and Kevin Singerman, who wanted to book major entertainers. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department, which is responsible for the Starlight, had recommended that the orchestra be awarded the contract.

Pinch has proposed staging events “ranging all the way from Glen Campbell to a live UNICEF radio benefit.”

Plan Considered Compromise

Council members said they felt that Pinch’s plan represented a compromise between the orchestra’s proposal and Singerman’s desire to turn the Starlight, which can accommodate 6,000 spectators, into a venue competing with the Greek Theatre and Universal Amphitheatre.

“We wanted all kinds of entertainment, and we don’t want a grand kind of huge schedule at the Starlight, so Pinch was a compromise,” Mayor Mary Lou Howard said Wednesday in an interview.

In youth and experience, Pinch bears many similarities to Tom Griffin, the last promoter for the Starlight. Griffin, now 27, had never managed a major entertainment facility when the city awarded him a contract to run the Starlight in early 1984.

Although Griffin was able to stage three youth-oriented concerts during the summer of 1984, city officials considered the season a failure. Early last April, he filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws. He and the city agreed to cancel his contract in June after he was unable to secure financial backing for another season. The amphitheater went unused most of last summer.

Like Griffin, Pinch has no experience managing an entertainment facility. He formed a production company in 1983, which has recorded and produced rock concerts and benefit shows. He also heads up Tim Pinch Recording, which he says has provided live audio for television and radio specials, as well as concerts featuring the Jacksons, the Police and the Eagles. He said his firm also provided audio for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics.

Although Pinch appears to have more extensive experience in the entertainment field than Griffin did, Howard said she was still bothered by the council’s decision and uneasy with her own vote.

“I feel very uncomfortable, and I’m not happy with any of what has happened,” Howard said Wednesday. “Tim Pinch is very young and very, very inexperienced. It’s going to take a lot of staff time to help him work out things up there. I hope the city watches this very closely.”

When the awarding of a management contract for the Starlight came before the council last week, Howard was the only council member to support the staff’s recommendation to award the contract to the pops orchestra, which wanted the Starlight as its permanent home.

Although orchestra officials said they would try to attract outside acts, city officials said the orchestra would most likely “not generate a significant amount of revenue.”

Only two council members last week voiced support for Pinch, who said he would allay fears of traffic jams in the neighborhoods near the Starlight by imposing an attendance lid of 3,500 to 4,000.

He added that he would subcontract the theater to outside promoters, putting the burden of staging shows on them and lessening his own risk.

When the council failed to agree on a bidder last week, the vote was delayed. Howard said she switched her support to Pinch this week after talking to several people over the weekend.

“I was comfortable with the pops orchestra, and I felt that was the best way to go,” she said. “But the people in the community wanted to have all kinds of concerts at the facility, and they wanted more than what the pops orchestra could offer. It’s what the people wanted. I don’t regret my vote, but I’m uncomfortable with the whole deal.”

Pinch said during an interview Wednesday that he understood the city’s skepticism about his ability. “I think everyone is nervous, but that doesn’t stop me,” Pinch said. “I know the basics of the industry and of what works. I’ll just apply that expertise to a different area. I just don’t believe that this place can’t work and be a wonderful place to come. I feel very confident I can make it work.”

Pinch added that, although he would not necessarily exclude hard-rock groups from the Starlight’s schedule, “my first concern is for the residents of Burbank and what will fit into the community. A heavy-metal group like Motley Crue wouldn’t play the Ahmanson theater or the Music Center because that is not the right place for them. I would take the character and residents of Burbank into consideration.”

City officials said it will take about 60 days to make the contract with Pinch final. Howard said she was concerned that the season would start late or not at all. “Other promoters have used that excuse that we finalized arrangements too late for them to get a head start on booking artists,” she said.

The Starlight’s previous failures also have been attributed to the city’s interference with promoters who wanted to book rock groups at the Starlight.

Pinch said he expects to stage his first show sometime early next summer. He said he hopes that the pops orchestra will stage concerts during the season. But orchestra officials said they wanted to see what arrangements Pinch would make before committing themselves to any performances.

The Starlight was the focus of considerable controversy during the 1970s when the city barred its leaseholder, Cinevision, from staging some rock concerts. A Los Angeles Superior Court jury this year ruled that the ban was unconstitutional and ordered the city to pay $4.6 million to Cinevision.