Aggravation on Location

The good news is that March set a record for television series and pilots shot on locations across Los Angeles instead of chasing cheaper costs to Canada.

It’s good news, that is, unless the location in question was your neighborhood.

Paul Vandeventer, for one, was not too thrilled to hear a loud boom and see a huge fireball erupting last month in the parking lot 24 stories below his office in downtown’s City National Bank Building. He and his panicked co-workers eventually spied a film crew in the lot. The explosion was part of a pilot for a TV cop show -- but somehow word had not reached Vandeventer.

A great many production companies handle on-location filming responsibly. They monitor complaints and spread benefits, paying for the use of a driveway here or a backyard there. The film and entertainment industry employs more than 200,000 people in the L.A. area and pumps billions a year into the local economy.

And a good many L.A. residents appreciate the jobs, the money and the cachet the industry brings their hometown. They take the inevitable inconveniences of filming in stride, navigating road closings with Zen-like patience, wearing earplugs and maintaining a proper show of nonchalance when out-of-town guests gawk at the cameras.

Yet the kind of misstep that occurred downtown spurs residents to fight filming in their neighborhoods. If not addressed, such resistance will become as much a threat to the hometown industry as the tax breaks that lure filmmakers to Canada.

To tackle the threat of runaway production, city and county officials in 1995 created the nonprofit Entertainment Industry Development Corp., a one-stop film office that streamlines permits and generally tries to make it easier for production companies to film in and around L.A.

Last year, the office was plagued by scandal over the misuse of public money. It has since reorganized with a new board made up of film, labor, business, civic and neighborhood representatives. A new president starts next week. Now it’s time for a new resolve to make life easier for those who live on location.

A task force led by City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel recommended creating an ombudsman to advocate for neighborhoods. Lisa Rawlins, a senior vice president at Warner Bros. and chair of the film office board, has named a committee to look into it. “Maybe there’s a value in having a portion of the staff be advocates of filming and then another piece of the staff focus solely on the role of making sure the neighborhoods are happy,” she said. Keeping production home, after all, shouldn’t make those who live here want to flee.