Hollywood Spends Big in the Valley, Report Says

Entertainment productions spent $6.4 billion in the San Fernando Valley during 1996, underscoring the area’s growing connection to one of California’s biggest industries, a report concluded.

More than half of the money, $3.5 billion, was paid to vendors supplying productions with goods and services ranging from catering to digital effects, according to the report issued Tuesday by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley.

The money amounted to nearly one-fourth of the $27.6 billion spent by the entertainment industry statewide. The majority of those funds, $25.6 billion, was spent in Los Angeles County.

The Valley, which is part of Los Angeles, is home to a number of well-established studios, including Warner Bros., Universal Studios and The Walt Disney Co. in Burbank. The rate of growth, particularly in western Valley communities, surprised members of the alliance. In suburban Calabasas, for example, spending jumped nearly 76% to $89 million from 1992 to 1996, the report said.

“The numbers are staggering,” said William Allen, president of the alliance and former chief of MTM Studios.

“I think people are beginning to fully appreciate the significance of the San Fernando Valley’s position in the entertainment industry, but I don’t think anyone realized until now how widespread the activity was across the Valley floor,” he said.

The alliance reached its conclusions by taking statewide spending amounts compiled by the Motion Picture Assn. of America and sorting them by zip code.

The increase in production activity has led to construction of new sound stages.

One factor in the Valley’s popularity for location filming is its bounty of industrial warehouses, said Jim Thompson, head of Van Nuys-based Reel to Real location service.

“If there’s any building where they have parking and can access it, it’s almost guaranteed that we can find a production for it,” he said.