Movie Studios React to FBI Warning

Hollywood’s seven major movie studios took new security precautions Thursday after the FBI warned that they could face a potential terrorist attack.

An FBI statement said the agency received a threat that “a film studio in California could be the target of a terrorist bombing attack in retaliation for any possible bombing attacks by the United States in Afghanistan.”

A separate bulletin sent to law enforcement agencies said the information came from a “reliable” source through an unnamed foreign intelligence service.

One FBI official confirmed that the bureau sent a warning to its Los Angeles field office but cautioned against overreaction.

“A lot of these [threats] are raw intelligence data, and it’s uncorroborated,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. “There’s a lot of that stuff out there, and we don’t know what it means. But we’re being vigilant in trying to track it down and disseminate everything we’re hearing.”

Nonetheless, the FBI is taking the threat seriously enough to put the studios on high alert and work closely with the entertainment industry. Matt McLaughlin, spokesman at the FBI office in Los Angeles, said bureau officials could not discuss the nature of the threat or how the bureau learned about it.

One FBI official said the threat was received Thursday morning and the studios were notified immediately. The news was passed along to studio executives and security chiefs during a meeting Thursday at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel called by Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America. Studio officials said the FBI presented no evidence of the seriousness of the threats.

“The [terrorist] cells have been instructed to retaliate, and the FBI said motion pictures studios are on the list of targets for a suicide bomber,” said one high-ranking studio executive.

The seven major studios are Walt Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Each of the studios announced to employees that security measures will be strengthened in response to the FBI warning. DreamWorks also was reportedly warned.

Studios have been on edge since last week’s terrorist airliner attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon because of the industry’s high profile and fears that Hollywood might be targeted by Muslim fundamentalists who believe that American films and television programs promote sin.

Moments after employees at Warner Bros. Studio were informed of the FBI warning, a suspicious package was left in the lobby at the headquarters of Warner Bros. Records next door in Burbank. Security guards did not notice anyone drop off the package, but at 4:45 p.m. they noticed a box in the center of the lobby with a cryptic message scrawled in black taped on top.

The guards took the handwritten letter to the offices of a senior label executive, who immediately called police, sounded alarms and evacuated the building of about 200 employees. Burbank police arrived, searched the premises and opened the package, which was filled with broken CDs and debris.

Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer issued a memo disclosing that Warner will take extensive security measures, including arming some of its guards. Three major gates at the studio will be closed, and barricades and metal detectors also will be installed. Public screenings of movies on the lot will be canceled until further notice.

At Warner Bros., extra guards were posted around the studio’s sound stages, trailers and at all the entrances to the Burbank lot. According to extras and employees, Warner also canceled all live audiences for TV shows for the next two weeks.

Sony and Warner Bros. moved quickly to shut down tours of their lots. Sony was considering whether to suspend live audiences at the tapings of its television shows.

In a lot-wide e-mail, News Corp. chief Peter Chernin said the company, which owns 20th Century Fox studios, was installing barricades at the lot entrance and increasing the number of armed guards. Fox also limited entry to its main entrance.

In addition, Chernin said, vehicles will be searched as they enter the lot, and illegally parked cars will be towed. Chernin also said that the company will be working closely with the security staff at the Fox Plaza high-rise in Century City where the company has offices.

Paramount, like other Hollywood studios, issued a company-wide memo to its employees informing them of the threat and the heightened security.

At Universal Pictures, the company said: “We are taking this information very seriously, and the safety of our employees and guests [is] a top priority. To that end, we are tightening and increasing our security with cooperation with the FBI and local law enforcement.”

The industrywide concerns about security also affected Hollywood talent agencies. Creative Artists Agency sent an e-mail advising agents to cancel meetings with all of the studios today and inform their clients accordingly.

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Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein, Corie Brown, Claudia Eller, Matt Lait, Eric Lichtblau, Josh Meyer and Chuck Philips contributed to this report.