The Orange County Film Commission hustled last year to find a benefactor.
“It was a struggle,” said Janice Arrington, the county’s film commissioner.
The agency typically gets funding from the county. But like tourism boards and other government-backed programs in the past few years, the film commission’s budget has been cut.
The commission’s $100,000 budget was slashed by more than half for the 12 months that started in July, Arrington said.
“I needed to go out and get funding,” Arrington said. “One company stepped up and gave me $100,000. It was a life saver.”
That company was Japan’s Nikken Inc., which makes health and nutrition products and has its U.S. headquarters in Irvine.
Nikken’s Irvine building has been featured in a number of films during the past few years, including “A View from the Top,” “Dodgeball,” and “Elizabethtown,” Arrington said.
Film producers like Nikken’s swanky offices, long hallways and glass rotunda room, she said.
“They really kept the commission going,” Arrington said.
But it’s not a wrap.
Arrington said she’ll have to continue looking for money. She said she’s already been talking with cities about getting involved.
Among them: Huntington Beach and Irvine, which get a lot of play in movies.
“Most of the cities understand that economic boon they get from filming,” Arrington said. “We’ll be working on a plan for the future.”
Still, Arrington said, “It’s a struggle.”
The commission doesn’t have an absolute “source to go to,” she said.
Post production companies in OC, which benefit from local film work, are small and “don’t have deep pockets,” she said (see related story, page 61).
Meanwhile, the commission doesn’t want to slap producers filming in OC with extra fees since it likely would turn them away, she said.
“We would lose filming,” Arrington said. “We’ve been urged by the governor to do everything in our power to keep” filming in California.
Moves on the fee front have been made.
The city of Irvine no longer charges producers permit fees for filming, Arrington said.
The state also nixed fees for using state parks and beaches, such as ones at Huntington Beach, Doheny State Beach in Dana Point and in San Clemente.
But the bulk of the commission’s films and other shows are shot on county property. And the cash-strapped county continues to charge fees, Arrington said.
OC has been getting play from filmmakers.
There were 565 productions permitted for the 12 months ended June 30, up from 414 last year.
And there were 972 shooting days in the period, up from 751 a year ago, Arrington said. She said the figures were expected to be higher once all OC cities reported results.
OC was in the backdrop of a slew of films and TV shows.
Among the biggies: Paramount Pictures shot “Elizabethtown” in November at Nikken’s headquarters and at Soka University in Aliso Viejo. The crew spent $150,000 at four hotels for the equivalent of 900-plus room nights, Arrington said.
Meanwhile, folks from NBC’s “The West Wing” spent more than $50,000 with local businesses while working in Orange in November, Arrington said.
“Half the crew was buying Christmas gifts on their breaks,” she said.
The film “Benchwarmers” also was shot in Orange in May. The crew spent $30,000 on hotels, $15,000 on permit and site fees and $5,000 on supplies, she said.
Arrington has been pitching OC for upcoming flicks.
“Everybody is scouting us right now,” she said.
One film crew is hunting for spots to shoot a film next month featuring Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson, according to Arrington.
Producers of “Mission Impossible III” also are on the hunt, she said.
Arrington, the commission’s only worker, wears a lot of hats. She tries to lure producers, handles permits and continues to look for funds.
“Each year I’m going to go back and keep asking,” Arrington said of the county’s contribution to the commission.
