Mayor: Hollywood, Silicon Valley should team on incentives

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Jon TurteltaubLos Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa believes Hollywood needs to link arms with Silicon Valley to lobby for state tax incentives to encourage job creation -- and he's vowing to try to play matchmaker between the state's key hubs of media-centric industry."We're seeing more collaboration between the digital arts and Hollywood so there needs to be some kind of grand bargain," Villaraigosa said Wednesday during a brainstorming sesh held with producers, studio execs and location managers. The confab drew about 50 participants including producers Jon Turteltaub, Albert Berger, Andy Frazier, Chris Ranta, Natalia Petrosva and Jeff Valdez, California Film Commissioner Amy Lemisch and FilmLA chief Paul Audley. The 90-minute session -- aimed at provoking suggestions to improve the showbiz climate at the ground level -- included ideas such as Turteltaub's notion to make on-location filming sites more tourist-friendly by offering specific info about the productions rather than trying to keep those details under the radar."The only people who object will be one or two stars," Turteltaub quipped during the sesh hosted at the offices of Variety and LA 411.Villaraigosa didn't offer specifics as to how to form such a Hollywood-Silicon Valley alliance other than saying that the two sectors should be working together since they're both creating jobs in a balky economy. "One of the things I've been saying is that we need to package this going into the future," he added. "We really have to exploit the power of job creation."Villaraigosa's comments stemmed from discussion about pending legislation in the state Assembly for a five-year extension of California's 3-year-old Film & Television Tax Credit Program, which has allocated $400 million in credits so far. The bill, currently awaiting approval by the Senate Appropriations Committee, faces extinction until next year's legislative sessions if it's not moved out of the panel by the end of Thursday.The mayor, who served as Speaker of the Assembly between 1998 and 2000, touted the partnership with Silicon Valley due to the problems that showbiz traditionally faces in getting Sacramento to back production incentive bills."The Northern California Democrats never saw the value of this," he noted, adding that he'd lobby Sen. Darrell Steinberg, chair of the appropriations panel, to push ahead on the bill. Steinberg's home district is in Sacramento.Audley noted that Villaraigosa's made it a priority to improve the filming environment through such efforts as making most municipal facilities, including the Mayor's City Hall office, available for filming without charge along with a free parking program. He also noted that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has also installed power utility nodes for use by film productions (instead of generators) at the Los Angeles Zoo, the Department of Water and Power John Ferraro Building and City Hall. "Entertainment production is the backbone and birthplace of our City's success," Villaraigosa said. "It represents a first-class economic anchor defined by creativity and innovation. I am committed to keeping Los Angeles film-friendly and creating more jobs within this industry." The mayor, who's in his second term, said the confab's part of his push for more jobs."We are committed to creating jobs in Los Angeles," Villaraigosa said. "Our city is one of 75 across the country facing double-digit unemployment. We cannot wait for Washington, D.C. to act. We must invest in our key industries and creating jobs here in LA with effective incentives."Lemisch, who administers the credits program, cited a study said the first three years of the tax credit program have generated $2.8 billion in economic activity, more than half of which has been in below-the-line expenditures. She noted that producers aren't able to use the credits until after post-production is completed. "So the economic impact comes first," she added. "The program's able to target productions that are at risk to leave California."Line producer Alex Moon urged the confab that fees for he'd like to see permit and fire marshal fees reduced or eliminated -- noting that there are no such fees in locations such as Rhode Island. "As a line producer, a quick fix would be to waive those kind of fees," he added. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com