VALENCIA : Fox May Consider Moving Film Studio

20th Century Fox officials said Thursday that the company may move its film studio to Thousand Oaks or Valencia if plans to expand in Century City fall through.

Oxnard and Camarillo have also expressed an interest in attracting Fox and the 4,400 employees who would work at its expanded facility.

Fox wants to enlarge facilities at its 53-acre lot in Century City but faces opposition from some neighbors who predict increased traffic problems, David Handelman, Fox senior vice president said in an interview.

Los Angeles city hearings could begin by December on the company’s bid to add 750,000 square feet of production offices to its complex, which now has 1.1 million square feet of offices, sound stages and storage rooms, Handelman said.

“Our preference is to stay where we are,” Handelman said. “If we can’t get the zoning we need in a reasonable amount of time, then we will have to consider moving.”

The expansion is a problem because the studio is in an area zoned only for residential use. The studio’s current motion picture and television production activities are allowed because the studio has operated there since 1927 and predates current zoning restrictions, Handelman said.

The $200-million expansion, initially proposed two years ago, would allow the growing studio to consolidate operations that are now scattered across the Los Angeles area, Handelman said.