‘Pasadena’ Held Up as Symbol of Runaway Production

For Pasadena, a Rose City by any other name not only doesn’t smell as sweet, it stinks.

That’s the growing reaction to a cost-saving decision by producers of the new prime-time soap opera “Pasadena” to substitute Canada’s Vancouver as a stand-in when production starts Monday on the Fox network show.

“It’s very ironic and unfortunate,” said Ariel Penn, Pasadena’s filming and special events chief.

For Hollywood unions, shooting a TV show about the scandals of Pasadena society in a Canadian city 1,200 miles to the north is the perfect symbol of how bad the problem of runaway production to cheaper locales has gotten. Who would think of shooting a “Beverly Hills, 90210” or “L.A. Law” in a foreign country?

“The irony is that they are taking it to Vancouver when Pasadena is literally outside the doors of the studios,” said Bryan Unger, Western executive director for the Directors Guild of America, which unsuccessfully lobbied producers to have the show shot in Southern California.

To “Pasadena” producers, the decision was entirely about saving money. In an era when fees for fledgling TV shows are thin, Canada’s weak dollar and attractive tax incentives are a siren call, overriding any personal convenience or emotional attachment to shooting in Los Angeles.

“It is certainly not by choice. Our preference is to be shooting locally, but the economics are such that it is basically impossible to produce it in any fiscally responsible way unless we go to Canada,” said Brad Grey, who is producing the show in association with Columbia TriStar Television.

Some footage of such sites as the Colorado Street Bridge and Old Pasadena is expected to be spliced into the show as a backdrop. But officials such as Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard predict the show won’t fool the millions of people who see the city each New Year’s Day when they tune in to watch the venerable Rose Parade and Rose Bowl.

“People will be quick to identify features of the city actually used which are not authentic because they know Pasadena so well,” said Bogaard, who vows to try to get more of the show shot in Pasadena.

Mark DesRochers, director of the British Columbia Film Commission said, “If there are any problems, they could just name it ‘Moose Jaw,’ although I don’t think it would quite be the same.”

Starring Emmy-winning actress Dana Delany, “Pasadena” is about a family that owns the Los Angeles Sun, the biggest and most powerful newspaper in Los Angeles, not unlike the Chandler family that formerly owned The Times.

The show was created by Mike White, who wrote and starred in the independent film “Chuck & Buck.” Actress Diane Keaton is one of the show’s executive producers.

The pilot episode for “Pasadena” was shot in Southern California, prominently featuring Pasadena’s 74-year-old City Hall as well as the historic Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles, which served as the Sun’s headquarters. Aside from Pasadena, most of the local references in the pilot are fictitious, such as the exclusive Arroyo Alta Preparatory School attended by the family’s 15-year-old daughter, played by actress Alison Lohman.

Union officials such as Unger say they don’t blame producers for saving money. Nonetheless, they are hoping to use “Pasadena” to make their point in lobbying for federal and state incentives to keep productions in the U.S.

Hollywood workers, their unions and local film officials are launching efforts to blunt the economic incentives Canada has aggressively and successfully used to build its production base.

This week, a bipartisan group of senators announced it will push for relief in an effort to offset some of the Canadian economic incentives. In addition, Screen Actors Guild officials have just launched an information campaign aimed at top stars to persuade them to pressure companies into reducing the number of productions they take to Canada.

City film official Penn wonders what will happen when producers try to simulate Pasadena’s balmy winter in a chilly city such as Vancouver, whose mountains are regularly covered with the kind of snow Mt. Wilson hasn’t seen in decades.

The siphoning of production to Canada, particularly Vancouver and Toronto, started during the 1980s, but accelerated in recent years as Canada’s weak currency and government incentives made shooting films and TV shows as much as 25% cheaper, according to a 1999 study by the Directors Guild and SAG.

In addition, the building of Canadian sound stages and editing facilities, and the growing experience of Canadian crews have made shooting there easier. Canadian productions have included TV shows such as “Dark Angel” and the first seasons of “The X-Files,” along with scores of TV movies and such feature films as “Along Came a Spider” and “Mission to Mars.”

The study by SAG and the Directors Guild estimated that 25,000 jobs and $3 billion in direct film and TV production flees the U.S. each year, largely to Canada, with the overall economic effect as high as $10 billion if one considers how the money ripples through the economy. A Commerce Department study this year reiterated that study’s finding.

Canadian officials argue that the problem is exaggerated, and that Canadian production is dwarfed by Southern California activity. Some economists also believe the $10-billion number is too high.

Still, according to the British Columbia Film Commission, the number of TV series shot in the province doubled from 18 in 1995 to 36 last year. Total productions last year were 192, more than double the 95 in 1995.

Union and film officials warn with the costs of TV and film productions soaring, more shows will head north, even those about Southern California.

“This really shows the pressure the economics have put on the creative people. I can’t imagine from a creative perspective that they didn’t want to shoot it in Pasadena,” Unger said.