L.A. Film Agency: Take 2

The head of the local film-permitting office was indicted this year, accused of using public money for, among other things, yoga classes and visits to strip clubs. That, it turned out, was just one of the problems facing the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. Once the headline-grabbing scandal broke, neighborhood groups erupted with long-simmering complaints about “location burnout.” Enough with the blinding lights and noisy generators that come with turning real streets and homes into movie sets, they cried.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel drew the unhappy assignment of cleaning up the first scandal. She decided to try to fix both.

A little history: The City Council and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors created the nonprofit corporation in 1995 to streamline filming in and around L.A. But after creating the agency and appointing themselves to its board, the elected officials forgot it existed -- except when they took its generous political contributions.

The board last week accepted the advice of the panel led by Greuel and voted to remake itself. The nonprofit corporation will continue to work under contract for the city and county, but instead of politicians, its board will be made up of film, labor, business, civic and neighborhood representatives.

New financial controls, independent audits, ethical guidelines and a ban on political contributions are solutions to the first problem. Putting neighborhood representatives on the board and creating in the agency an ombudsman-like community relations department, with a community advisory committee, was Greuel’s remedy for the second.

New board members and the new department will give residents a place to turn for help, but it won’t be a one-way street. In an era when productions are fleeing to Canada, they also will try to educate neighborhoods about the jobs created by moviemaking and the benefits that location filming bring to the industry’s hometown. The best way to keep filmmakers home is to make things easier for filmmakers and the community.