Fear of Terrorism Affects Film Schedules

Amid heightened concerns about terrorism, it’s business as usual in Hollywood . . . almost.

Although Tri-Star is going ahead with filming on “City of Joy” in India this weekend and Fox has already started production on “Alien 3” in London, at least one other overseas production, Fox’s “Naked Lunch,” is being rerouted from its original shoot in Tangiers. Others could follow if the war worsens, studio executives say.

In the Middle East, where production already was slow because of past hostilities, “there’s concern about the difficulty of transportation, the possibilities of a shut-down, and, of course, Scud missiles,” says Lindsley Parsons, executive vice president of Film Finances Inc., a completion bond company.

In Europe, Parsons adds, studios are rethinking their plans because of fears of terrorism. “The main thing is that people don’t want to risk transportation by air,” he says. Most of the studios have issued directives asking their employees not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

At the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, officials are acutely aware that the upcoming Academy Award ceremonies on March 25--seen by an estimated 1 billion viewers around the world each year--is an uncomfortably visible event. “You have a lot of very prominent people at an event that is prominent throughout the world,” says academy executive director Bruce Davis, adding, “No one knows what makes a target attractive to terrorists.”

Academy officials plan to step up security measures and are already in touch with the Los Angeles Police Department as well as federal agents, Davis says.

At the Berlin Film Festival, which starts Saturday, the show is going on as planned but with tighter security, says festival director Moritz de Hadeln. “Attendance looks extremely good,” he insists. “Very few people canceled.”

The main problem for the festival--which attracts about 7,000 people--is that new airport security measures are preventing broadcast journalists from bringing along their cameras and other equipment. “So we’re trying to supply equipment on the spot,” De Hadeln says.

Attendance is up 8% at this year’s American Film Market in Los Angeles, officials say. That event runs Feb. 28-March 8.

This spring’s Cannes Film Festival also appears to be proceeding normally. “So far I haven’t noticed a diminished number of requests for applications,” says Jenny Benidt, director of the Unifrance film office in Los Angeles.

In 1986, many American producers and stars dropped plans to attend Cannes because of terrorist threats made in the wake of the U.S. air raid on Libya. Many Europeans also stayed away, making that year’s festival the least attended in decades. There were no incidents.