Panel Proposed to Lure Back Movie and TV Productions

A city task force studying ways to stem the tide of “runaway” film and television production is recommending creation of a film commission to sell Los Angeles as an ideal location for shooting movies.

Such a commission, to be composed of six high-level leaders in the industry, the mayor, City Council president and the council member representing Hollywood, would be patterned after similar panels in more than 200 cities and states around the country, according to Bill Chandler, press deputy for Councilman Michael Woo. Woo, who represents Hollywood, is the council’s most vocal supporter of the measure. In recent years, film makers have increasingly been wooed to locations outside of California.

Ruth Engelhardt, past president of the Los Angeles Film Development Committee, a 15-year-old volunteer mayoral advisory group, said that while her organization has had some success lobbying for simpler and quicker regulation procedures, it does not have the governmental powers to attract and keep production companies in Los Angeles that the proposed commission would have.

“I think the city of Los Angeles has taken the movie and television industry for granted because we’ve been here so long,” she said. Engelhardt, vice president of the William Morris Agency, was one of several speakers Tuesday appearing before a joint meeting of the Industry and Economic Development Committee and the Governmental Operations Committee to support the measure.

While members of the two committees agreed that the city has to put the brakes on runaway production, several members raised questions about the task force proposal and requested that additional information be presented at a July 12 meeting.

Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores and Councilman Robert Farrell asked the task force, headed by Board of Public Works President Edward Avila, to explain how the proposed commission would work with the various departments in the city that already regulate the industry.

“The clock is ticking and we need to do something,” Flores said, adding that she thinks Los Angeles can do something to stop runaway production. “Some of the things that are being done elsewhere can be done here.”

“What we are trying to do is to make it as easy to shoot in the city as we possibly can,” Avila said.

According to the task force proposal, the members of the film commission would make the decision as to where a film would be made, representing such areas as: independent film production, major studios, television and commercial production.