FilmL.A. unveils marketing campaign to tout the local film industry

Film industry promoters have unveiled a plan to heavily promote L.A.’s signature business at a time when much of it is leaving California.

The $135,000 marketing plan, dubbed Film Works, is designed to remind Angelenos of the “economic and cultural benefits the L.A. region receives from local filming” while underlining some of the challenges facing local businesses squeezed by runaway production.

Led by FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that contracts with the city and county to handle film permits, the two-year campaign will involve outdoor, print and Web advertising and public service spots that will run in Mann Theatres.

A new black-and-yellow Film Works logo will be displayed on billboards and kiosks beginning in January, followed by ads on the sides of film trucks to thank communities that welcome filming and highlighting jobs created by local productions.

“Our audience is all of Los Angeles, but our object is really threefold,” FilmL.A. President Paul Audley said Monday. “We seek to promote filming in Los Angeles, thank area neighborhoods for hosting filming, and renew local appreciation for filming’s economic benefits.”

FilmL.A., which consulted with a coalition of labor leaders, politicians and industry representatives, developed the plan, reported by the Los Angeles Times earlier this year, in response to growing concern that the city was not doing enough to promote its historic ties to the industry — and to stem the steady outflow of production to other locales.

L.A. County’s entertainment industry, which directly employs 140,000 people and many more whose livelihoods are tied to the film and television business, has been devastated by the flight of production to Canada and increasingly to other U.S. states.

Although California’s new film incentives have helped to slow the decline, on-location production last year suffered its steepest drop since tracking began in 1993. This reflects a long-term flight of filming not only to international rivals such as Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, but also to Louisiana, Michigan and New Mexico.

The state’s share of U.S. feature-film production plunged to 31% in 2008, down from 66% in 2003, according to the California Film Commission. And only 57% of all TV pilots were shot in L.A. in 2009, down from 81% in 2004, according to FilmL.A.

“This is much needed,” said Jordan Kitaen, president of West Hollywood-based Quixote, which operates soundstages and rents equipment and vehicles to the film industry. “The other states have launched a full frontal assault on our industry, and we’ve done very little to respond.”

Audley announced the campaign at Los Angeles Center Studios, surrounded by camera trucks and trailers and props brought in by local film-service companies. He was joined by City Council President Eric Garcetti and other local politicians who talked about steps L.A. has taken to be more film-friendly, such as offering free parking in city lots.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did not attend, but in a statement said: “Half a million people in the region depend on a thriving local film industry for their livelihoods. We can keep jobs in Los Angeles if we can find creative ways to keep filming here at home and in the state.”

richard.verrier@latimes.com