NEWS ANALYSIS : Film Office Shake-Up Sounds Alarm : Movies: Entertainment industry and government officials alike worry that a recently improved relationship may suffer. The incident reveals some sticky issues in the big-money business of shooting on L.A. streets.

The abrupt firing last week of Stephanie Liner, the popular director of the county film office, has jolted the entertainment business and sounded an alarm among local government officials, who fear that her departure could stall the growing rapprochement with an industry that adds billions to Southern California’s economy.

Many industry executives hope that Liner’s departure will not reverse recent strides made in improving relations and in stemming what had become an alarming exodus of filmmakers from Los Angeles County.

In a profession that is powered by personal relationships and deals sealed with a handshake, most agree that Liner had been able to establish a high level of rapport with entertainment executives while building community support for the industry.

So far, officials with the Economic Development Corp., which runs the film office under contract with the county, have declined to comment on the reasons for Liner’s ouster.

But the firing has provided a rare glimpse of the sticky interplay between a government beholden to constituents who don’t like the disruption of film crews rumbling through their neighborhoods and an industry that--for better or worse--has come to symbolize Southern California’s quirky personality.

If Southern California depends on the entertainment industry for its image, the industry depends on local officials to ease its job by eliminating the miles of bureaucratic red tape that can slow filmmaking.

Film companies must have a permit to film on any property not zoned as a movie studio, including public buildings, parks, beaches, highways and street corners. But there are 72 different communities in the region, creating a maze of jurisdictions with often-conflicting rules.

Officials with the county film office and at the city of Los Angeles film office, both of which issue permits for location shooting, say that after several years of decline, the numbers of permits issued locally have begun to rebound.

Much of the turnaround is the result of a renewed recognition among local elected officials that television and movie production represent a valuable commodity in Southern California’s tattered economy.

“We have to make it easier for filming to be done in the Los Angeles area . . . and we have to keep other areas that are trying to woo our film production away from being successful,” said City Councilman Hal Bernson, who has pushed to consolidate local film operations into one unit.

But relations have not always been so rosy, say industry executives, who remember the bad old days when officials were more likely to hamper than help their efforts to mount productions in Los Angeles.

“Partly it was a problem of familiarity breeds contempt,” said Gini Barrett, a senior vice president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “The city and the industry grew up together and there was a tendency, frankly on both parts, to take each other for granted.”

When 30 top industry officials attended a recent meeting of the County Board of Supervisors to protest Liner’s dismissal, it may have been an unprecedented showing, culminating in a growing recognition by executives that there must be more involvement on their part if they are to win concessions that ease restrictions on filmmaking.

“I’ve never seen that many (industry) people turn out on something like this,” said Cody Cluff, Mayor Richard Riordan’s assistant deputy mayor for entertainment industry affairs. “I think there is an awareness among all elements of the industry that . . . if we don’t get involved in government and how it is treating us, we’re going to have to go somewhere else.”

Over the last several years, that is what many in the industry have done. Movie industry officials estimate that so-called runaway productions have cost the region as much as $2 billion annually. When added to the estimated $5 billion that location production contributes to the economy of Los Angeles County each year, the stakes become truly staggering.

Sobered by the recession and fierce competition from other states and countries for production dollars, county and city officials have launched an all-out drive to make the industry feel at home.

Plans are in the works to merge the city and county film offices to smooth the issuance of film permits. Next month, the Southern California Assn. of Governments will unveil an ambitious plan to create a nonprofit corporation that would consolidate film permit procedures throughout a six-county region, while working to expand film production and other economic development associated with the industry.

“I think because of the economic climate, this is now the fair-haired industry,” said Patti Archuletta, director of the California Film Commission. “For the first time, I have cities coming to me that in that past have said filmmaking is an intrusion, but now are saying, ‘How can we get some of it?’ ”

Many film executives believe their stock rose locally only when other areas began to aggressively seek their favors. According to industry and government officials, there are more than 250 film commissions outside of Los Angeles that each year spend more than $2 million on advertising and promotional displays to lure production dollars. Major studio facilities have been developed in New York, New Jersey, Texas, North Carolina, Hawaii, Chicago and Florida, and in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada.

Filmmakers say areas outside of Los Angeles and California have far fewer restrictions.

“In other areas there is not the entrenchment (of regulations) that you find here, but that may be attributable in part because they don’t get the volume of productions that L.A. does,” said Lisa Rawlins, a vice president at Warner Bros. “We’re a very mobile industry and in the past when we’ve been frustrated with filming in L.A., it was just as easy for us to move somewhere else.”

Eric Roth, who is in charge of the regional government group’s film project, said one major goal over the next two years will be to recapture 10% of runaway production dollars, which could boost employment in the area by about 8,000 jobs.

A key first step to implementing a regional film commission is consolidation of the city of Los Angeles and county film offices, Roth said. The Board of Supervisors has already approved the merger and it has Riordan’s support. Bernson said he expects the City Council to approve the move within the next few weeks.

Officials hope the new cooperative effort between government and the industry will yield more successes on the order of “Speed.” Local and state officials pulled out so many stops to get the movie made that they were as nervous as the filmmakers waiting for the initial box office returns.

“We took great chances,” said Archuletta, who helped to coordinate the filming with dozens of city, county and state agencies, including Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol. “There is no question that the film would have left L.A. and may even have left California had not everyone stepped in to make it happen.”

Jim McCabe a veteran location manager, who worked on the film “Interview With the Vampire,” said: “We needed dark streets and were able close down Vista del Mar west of the airport, and the city and county were able to shut off street and parking lights for the evening.”

“That kind of cooperation is vital, and making sure it happens is an ongoing process,” he said.

Lights, Camera, Profits

The competition for film production dollars ha become so heated in recent years that scores of cities and states outside of California have formed their own film commissions to lure television and film crews. Here’s a look at how film activity in some cities compare: City of Los Angeles Film Agency Formed: 1973 Budget: $600,000 Economic Impact: $8.3 billion a year Shot there: “Speed,” starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves *County of Los Angeles Film Agency Formed: 1981 Budget: $520,000 Economic Impact: $15 billion Shot there: “Flintstones,” starring John Goodman and Rick Moranis *Chicago Film Office Formed: 1980 Budget: $260,000 Economic Impact: $115 million Shot there: “The Fugitive,” starring Harrison Ford *New York Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting Formed: 1966 Budget: $680,000 Economic Impact: $3.2 billion Shot there: “Home Alone,” starring Macaulay Culkin

Big Spenders

Here are the top five cities in Los Angeles County for film industry expenditures in 1992, the most recent year for which data is available (in millions):

Payroll Vendors Total Los Angeles $3,297 $4,887 $8,184 Burbank $614 $1,558 $2,172 Beverly Hills $1,113 $284 $1,397 West Hollywood $335 $403 $738 Santa Monica $233 $136 $369 L.A. County total $7,012 $7,973 $14,985

Source: Individual cities Researched by CECLIA RASMUSSEN / Los Angeles Times