Councilman Urges Help for Film, TV Firms : Entertainment: Woo says city should stop driving ‘hometown’ productions out of the Southland. Other cities offer less regulation, lower costs.

Lamenting Hollywood’s loss of billions of dollars and thousands of entertainment industry jobs to other cities and regions, Los Angeles Councilman Michael Woo called Thursday for city officials to develop ways to give the film and television companies more favorable treatment.

“It’s time for us to stop chasing away our hometown industry with crippling regulation and unresponsive bureaucracy and find a way to keep these jobs right here where they belong,” Woo said at a news conference held on a vacant Hollywood sound stage.

Flanked by several industry executives, Woo outlined some of the frustrations that have driven movie makers from Los Angeles: strict building and safety regulations hinder speedy construction of sets, overly stringent parking policies prevent production companies from having live audiences for shows and the city offers few tax incentive for entertainment firms.

Woo, chairman of the council’s Governmental Efficiency Committee, said he will order a city audit to determine how effective Los Angeles has been in promoting, regulating and retaining entertainment industries.

Woo, who represents Hollywood, said the city urgently needs to stop the economic drain caused by the exodus. Last year alone, he said, California lost $3 billion in potential production revenues to other areas, with the bulk of that coming from Los Angeles.

“The entertainment capital of the world is now competing with places like New Orleans, Arkansas and Wyoming, which lure the industry with tax rebates, free permits, low-cost locations--even free hotel rooms, free government helicopters and other perks,” Woo said.

Closer to home, cumbersome regulations are driving many production companies to neighboring cities such as Culver City, West Hollywood, Burbank and Santa Clarita, where they are “welcomed with open arms.”

“The least we can do is offer them the most efficient process possible for getting their work done in L.A.”

Some city officials welcomed the idea.

“There are some procedures that can certainly be improved upon, no question about it,” said Charles M. Weisenberg, the city’s director of motion picture and television affairs. For instance, the city needs a computer to process the film permits it issues and to keep various departments informed of needs during filming projects, he said.

Los Angeles already is taking steps to improve relations with the film industry. Plans include hiring the city’s former building and safety chief, Frank Kroeger, to act as a liaison with motion picture, television and commercial production firms.

Kroeger said Thursday that he will work as “a buffer,” trying to resolve many issues that caused tension in the past.

In addition, city officials met last week with more than 150 entertainment industry staff members and executives.

Nevertheless, problems continue, according to Woo, industry executives and some city officials.

Robert Burton, chief engineer of Audio Rents Inc., moved his equipment rental firm to West Hollywood 10 years ago because of restrictive Los Angeles regulations. He is now heading a letter-writing campaign among entertainment industry executives seeking an overhaul in city policies.

“We want to come back to Hollywood,” Burton said of his firm, “but we can’t until we know we won’t suffer the same harassment that made us move.”

Complaints about the vastness of the city bureaucracy are common, and run the gamut from building and safety and fire and police issues to permit policies, said Kathleen Milnes, government affairs director for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Although corrective measures may be forthcoming, “It’s a very slow process,” said Milnes, “and I’m not sure a lot of our members can wait.”

Already, 200 film commissions from around the country are trying to lure film production companies away from Los Angeles, Milnes said. Louisiana urges film companies to “shoot the other LA,” and the Florida Film Commission spends 10 weeks a year in Los Angeles telling film makers to take advantage of “Hollywood (Fla.) weather without the Hollywood overhead,” she said.

California has lost 42% of all feature films, half of all made-for-TV movies, 46% of all commercial production and 13% of television series production to other locations, Milnes said.

In his motion requesting the audit by City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie, Woo said city departments are not always adequately staffed, nor are they sensitive to the unusual requirements of the entertainment industry. “And those departments that are designed to assist,” Woo said, “are not empowered to do so effectively.”

The audit does not require full council approval, said Woo. Comrie said he plans to report back to Woo in 60 days, as the councilman requested.