Entertainment Industry Finds Allies in Elected Officials

With Assemblyman Paul Krekorian moving to take a Los Angeles City Council seat, the entertainment industry loses one of its biggest advocates in Sacramento. As chairman of the Select Committee on the Preservation of California’s Entertainment Industry, Krekorian got through a bill for a tax incentive program for filming. Past attempts at such financial breaks had stalled. With that work done on a state level, Krekorian, an attorney, can now do the same at the city level where the discussion on runaway production is just as vital. Besides, industry experts believe that there has been traction in Sacramento to educate lawmakers there on the importance of filming for the entire state and not just for Southern California. Still in the industry’s corner is Assemblyman Cameron Smyth whose district includes the Santa Clarita Valley, a hotbed of filming activity for feature films and television series and site of a proposed soundstage facility for The Walt Disney Co. Smyth, who served on the select committee, said there will be a void with Krekorian leaving because of his knowledge of the industry. The passage of the tax incentive program, which gives breaks to feature films with budgets between $1 million and $75 million, movies of the week, and series that had previously shot all its episodes outside the state, was vital to demonstrating the importance of filming for the entire state, Smyth said. Past attempts at passing an incentive plan had trouble getting over the hurdle that production only mattered for the Los Angeles area. The California Film Commission has approved 50 projects to receive tax breaks with 36 filming in the last quarter of the year. “Now we have something tangible to point to,” Smyth said. Smyth has drawn praise as an industry supporter going back to his days as mayor of Santa Clarita. First elected to state office in 2006, Smyth will be termed out in 2012. “Once he is termed up it would be our hope to have someone who has the same support for the film industry as well,” said Jason Crawford, the economic development director for Santa Clarita. Krekorian won the council seat in a special election to represent the 2nd District. He will be sworn in as early as Jan. 5. Although it was not made official, he is expected to be named to the Jobs & Business Development Committee, which under its current chairman Councilman Richard Alarcon has been tackling the same runaway production issues that Krekorian did at the state level. “(Alarcon) has taken the lead already to send a signal that the city is serious about keeping the good production jobs here,” Krekorian said. This month, for instance, Alarcon started the process to create a Los Angeles Film Commission to market the city to production companies. The chief legislative analyst to council will look at how other film commissions and film offices operate; devise a budget; and draw up the commission’s membership and scope of its work. This move follows hearings before the Jobs & Business Development Committee on how to keep filming in the city. The closest the city has right to a film commission is Film LA, the not for profit contracted to coordinate on-location filming permits. But that group is limited in what it can do when it comes to marketing and having a dedicated budget to that would be a good investment, said spokesman Todd Lindgren. Film LA is looking to expand its role and that would include the marketing aspect, Lindgren said. But if the council does create a film commission, Film LA will gladly work with that body. “We’ll serve in whatever capacity the city wants us to serve,” Lindgren said. As for Krekorian’s former select committee, he said it will be up to the Speaker of the Assembly to appoint a new chairman. His former assembly seat will be filled through a special election. Anybody who serves that district – which includes studio and production company-heavy areas of Burbank, North Hollywood, and Glendale – would feel compelled to want to work on behalf of the entertainment industry, Krekorian said. “It would be foolish to neglect one of the most import employers in the region,” Krekorian said. This is a Test Technicolor and Testronic Labs, both in Burbank, have teamed to offer testing for Blu-Ray Disc that will reduce the time it takes to get the discs to replication. The two companies will also position themselves to begin offering verification and testing services for Blu-Ray 3D in 2010. Since 2008, Technicolor has provided testing for Blu-Ray commercial audiovisual content. Testronic tests the high-def discs for use in movie players and personal computers. The testing services offered by Technicolor and Testronic will be a value-add that will result in a better user experience with the Blu-Ray discs, said Bob Michaels, vice president of worldwide compression and authoring services at Technicolor. “Earlier this year our two companies started thinking about ways we could better serve the supply chain,” added Testronic President Seth Hallen. “We are convinced that our combined expertise brings powerful testing solutions to the Blu-ray Disc industry.” Technicolor also announced the formation of a new business unit for integrated digital content delivery and device management. Heading up this division are Greg Gudorf as general manager and Peter Lee as executive vice president of technology and strategy. They will work at Technicolor’s Burbank offices. Gordorf is a 25-year veteran of the entertainment industry who has held positions in sales, marketing, and business development. He holds 15 patents in the network and interactive TV fields. Before joining Technicolor he was chief executive for Diego Inc. Lee was previously with out-of-home video company Channel M and held senior level positions at he Walt Disney Company, Fox, and GeoVideo Networks. Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected].