Countywide : Film Projects Raise More Than $2 Million During 1994-95

The county’s aggressive campaign to attract Hollywood movie makers has turned into a financial windfall, raising more than $2 million in the past year, according to a county report.

The county only reaped about $220,000 from projects filmed here during the preceding, 1993-94 fiscal year, according to the Orange County Film Commission. The commission promotes the area as the perfect setting for filmmakers and other commercial entertainment looking for something different, yet close to home.

Films, television, photography, commercial makers and others funneled $2 million into Orange County during the 1994-95 fiscal year. But an analysis of the total economic impact--from permits to buying lunch for the crew--estimates the projects brought in $6 million to Orange County’s economy.

“It looks like the efforts of the film commission in promoting film production in the county have paid off,” said film commission marketing director Debora A. Hausdorfer.

It was good news to Board of Supervisors Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez, who in 1993 formed a public-private partnership to aggressively target the entertainment industry.

“I’m just delighted,” Vasquez said. “Those numbers verify what I have been championing for many years. . . . I think Orange County has always had what it takes to attract and serve the film industry. We just had to market ourselves.”

Orange County has been angling for a piece of the action since 1988, but only in recent years has there been a concerted effort to coax Los Angeles-based filmmakers and others here. “Our locations are not quite as urbanized as Los Angeles, and we just look different,” Hausdorfer said. “Our beaches look different, we have rural areas, working cattle ranches, the Mission in San Juan. We offer a setting close to home that can duplicate other states.”

The commission helps to ease red tape by smoothing out the permit process. It also promotes the county with luncheons and tours to give filmmakers a taste of what Orange County has to offer.

Some top Orange County attractions include John Wayne Airport, which was recently used for two upcoming films: “Up Close and Personal” starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford, and “A Weekend in the Country” starring Jack Lemmon.

Scenes from “Apollo 13,” “Crimson Tide” and “Outbreak” were also filmed in Orange County, Hausdorfer said.