Entertainment Industry Impact

Re “Hollywood Discovers Ventura County,” Aug. 4.

Although we applaud the efforts of the Ventura County Film Council to promote filming in Ventura County, we want to clarify a fundamental misunderstanding in this article.

The article accurately quoted the figure of $351 million from our recent economic impact report as the contribution made by the entertainment industry to Ventura County. But it was followed by an anonymous opinion attributed to the Ventura County Film Council, saying the figure was “inflated because it includes the salaries of stars who do not live in the county.” This is not correct and represents a significant misunderstanding of our data.

Our data report the number of dollars spent on production in each county and are composed of two components: payroll dollars and vendor dollars. The payroll dollars reflect dollars earned by entertainment industry employees who actually live in those counties. We do not report payroll dollars according to where people work.

Our report, released in 1998 with data from 1996, did not include Julia Roberts’ salary for “Erin Brockovich.” In any future report, her salary for this 1999 production would never be reported as payroll dollars in Ventura County. However, the payroll paid to any crew members, actors, extras and any others working on the production who live in Ventura County would be reflected; vendor dollars would include all of the location fees and other money paid to Ventura County businesses providing support to the production.

We praise Ventura County leaders for their establishment of the Ventura County Film Council. It will make filming in Ventura County more efficient, economical and easier.

MELISSA PATACK

Motion Picture Assn. of America

Hollywood