COMMERCIAL SLOWDOWN:
Orange County Film Office Sees Rebound After Tough Year
By MIKE MASON
Commercial production in Orange County fell last year, although there are signs of a pick-up.
A number of factors,the slow economy, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the threat of a writers’ strike,conspired to reduce the number of commercial shooting days by about 32% to 683 vs. a year earlier, according to the Orange County Film Commission. In all, there were 347 productions shot in OC. The commission is based at California State University, Fullerton’s Center for Entertain-ment and Tourism. (The statistics are for the fiscal year ending June 30.)
But there are signs of a rebound.
“We’re picking up,” said OC Film Commissioner Janice Arrington. “We’re taking a lot more calls for TV commercials and TV series.”
The OC film office doesn’t issue permits for location shoots, but does provide information about who to contact, good locations and other production-related issues.
Permitting is handled by individual cities in the county, or the county itself.
Arrington estimates that a big-budget film brings in $60,000 to $75,000 a day to the local economy.
She cited an upcoming Dreamworks production called “Catch Me If You Can,” directed by Steven Speilberg, as an example. Speilberg rented out the Santa Ana Courthouse earlier this year for about three-quarters of a day.
Dreamworks’ costs: $32,000 for rent; $20,000 for lumber to protect the floor of the courthouse; $13,000 for crew parking; $3,000 for hotel rooms; and $3,000 in crew wages. About 25 local actors were hired.
Another film, “Anger Management,” starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, spent about $75,000 in May when it rented the ESPN Zone at Downtown Disney.
Other recent work: ABC TV series “That Was Then” and “Alias,” which rented out a private home in the hills of Orange.
