Ex-Studio Exec Named to ‘Film Czar’ Position : Entertainment: Mayor Bradley hopes the appointment of Beth B. Kennedy will keep the disgruntled movie industry filming in L.A.

In a move designed to stem the exodus of movie and television productions from Los Angeles, Mayor Tom Bradley announced Thursday the appointment of a former veteran Universal Studios executive to the newly created post of executive director for entertainment industry affairs.

Beth B. Kennedy, 42, who serves as a consultant for interactive media projects for the Kaizen Heron Group, spent 15 years at MCA Inc., ultimately rising to the position of senior vice president of planning and development for Universal. She is also a lawyer and screenwriter.

Describing her as “an ideal choice to help encourage the industry to keep their productions here in our city,” Bradley said Kennedy was selected from 240 applicants for the so-called film czar position.

The appointment of Kennedy, who will report directly to the mayor, caps years of struggle and bureaucratic infighting over whether Los Angeles should follow the example of cities such as San Francisco and New York in creating this type of position. The entertainment industry has long complained that the city places unnecessary obstacles in the path of filmmakers, thereby enhancing the attractiveness of other, more hospitable communities.

But some city officials warned that the film czar, whose $70,000-a-year salary will be paid through an increase in permit fees, would actually serve as an in-house industry lobbyist.

Seeking to allay that fear, Bradley said the industry had sought not a lobbyist but rather a high-level official to “serve their needs, interpret for them and help get through the bureaucratic obstacles that may exist in our various departments.”

Speaking to reporters, Kennedy described her goal as ensuring “that L.A. stays the world’s entertainment capital.” She said she would strive to make the permit process less cumbersome and to develop a package of financial incentives to encourage more production in Los Angeles. She did not offer details.

“My highest priorities are to make sure that cooperation and service are provided to those who come to work in L.A.,” she said. “And if the perception is that L.A. is hard to work with, then that perception’s got to change.”

At present, permits are issued through the motion picture division of the Board of Public Works. The division’s director, Charles M. Weisenberg, is a civil servant who will retain his post. It is not yet clear how his duties will change, Weisenberg said after the mayor’s news conference.

Weisenberg himself had competed for the new position. Among the other applicants was the chief executive officer of an independent film company who earns $300,000 a year, according to Kathleen A. Milnes, the lobbyist for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and a member of the selection committee.

The runner-up for the film czar post was Mee Lee, the liaison to the City Council for the Community Redevelopment Agency and a former top aide to Councilman Marvin Braude. Initially, the city had advertised for someone with both industry and City Hall experience, but the mayor acknowledged Thursday that this goal was unrealistic.

Beth Kennedy

Experience: Kaizen Heron Group since 1990, advising on business, legal and employment decisions. At MCA 1975 to 1990, was senior vice president for planning and development for Universal City Studios and a corporate management consultant to MCA, a director of Universal Pictures and Universal TV, administrator for the studio’s transportation department, assistant to the studio manager and a script reader.

Education: Juris doctorate, Southwestern University; MA, UCLA; BA, University of Michigan.

Writer: Fiction and screenplays, including “The Murph Has No Clothes” for “Murphy Brown,” 1991.

Associations: Boards of directors, General Services Life Holding Co., March of Dimes, Organization of Women Executives; member, California Senate advisory council on cost control, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Women in Film, American Bar Assn.

Languages: Familiar in French, Russian and computer languages.