Film Business Seems to Be Getting a Grip

Orange County’s motion picture business is . . . well, not exactly booming. But it has gone from practically nonexistent to something, and the county’s nascent film commission is crowing about it.

Film, television and commercial production in the county contributed $5.3 million to the economy last year--$13.2 million, if you count all the extra money spent by film crews while they were here, the commission said.

That’s about as much as a low-budget independent film might expect to gross at the box office. And it’s a flyspeck next to Los Angeles County, which reaped $20 billion in direct economic impact from filmed entertainment in 1995, according to the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. (Last year’s figures for L.A. aren’t available yet.)

Still, Debi Hausdorfer, director of marketing for the Orange County Film Commission, said that when the film office was founded three years ago, industry spending in the county was a paltry $220,000.

Recently, the box-office hit “Jerry Maguire” shot some scenes here, as well as the upcoming sci-fi thriller “Starship Troopers.” The new daytime soap opera “Sunset Beach” films in the county, as well as parts of the nighttime drama “JAG.”

Hausdorfer is hoping to keep the cameras rolling. The reality-based television show “Vital Signs” has been filming at sites all over the county in the past few months. And two major studios are eyeing locations at the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station, she said.

Another good sign is the increasing number of calls she receives from location managers and producers. “They know we’re here now,” she said. “They keep calling back.”

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Patrice Apodaca covers economic issues for The Times.

She can be reached at (714) 966-5979 and at patrice.apodaca@latimes.com