Group Urges Action to Keep Film, TV Jobs in L.A.

Petitions bearing more than 75,000 signatures urging Gov. Gray Davis to help stop the flow of film productions to Canada were forwarded to the governor on Monday by a local assemblyman and an interest group tied to the film industry.

At a press conference at the Burbank Airport, members of the Film and Television Action Committee--an umbrella group representing film workers--unveiled the petitions. The group said most of the signatures came from production assistants, stunt performers and other film industry workers.

Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles), who appeared with the group, said the petitions support three measures pending in the Legislature, including a bill he wrote that offers a 10% tax rebate to firms that keep production in California.

The tax break is meant to help close the cost gap between filming here and filming abroad, which can run 25% cheaper, he said.

Wildman estimated that the tax break would cost $27 million in state revenue but he said the economic impact of keeping more than 100,000 film-related jobs in the California would more than offset that amount.

Wildman referred to a report by Monitor Co., an independent consulting firm, that estimated $2.8 billion production dollars and 23,500 entertainment jobs went north in 1998. Figures weren’t available for 1999.

According to the firm, those lost jobs set in motion an economic ripple effect on 131,400 people employed indirectly in the industry.

“The nuts and bolts of the film industry are being pulled away from California,” said Jack DeGovia, president of the action committee. “Workers like art directors can go to Canada with the productions. But we’re leaving behind all the prop makers and painters, the salt of the earth people we’ve worked with for years.”