Hollywood strike could hit home

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT-MESA -- It isn’t a loss of money from film permits that has

city officials worried about the possible Hollywood writers’ strike.

After all, Costa Mesa doesn’t get a lot of the action.

“If we get a couple of requests a month, we’re booming,” said

Assistant City Manager Ann Shultz, adding that “Austin Powers” and Tom

Hanks’ “That Thing You Do” were the most recent film shoots she could

remember.

And while film crews transformed a West Coast Highway restaurant into

a Miami bar for the recently released film “Heartbreakers,” most of

Newport Beach’s busy production schedule is taken up by commercials and

still photography.

“An oil spill affects us more,” said Joe Cleary, who works as Newport

Beach’s film liaison and has managed to bring commercial producers to the

city by drastically reducing the waiting time for permits.

“A writers’ strike doesn’t affect what Nordstrom does,” Cleary said,

adding that the dot-com world slowdown had been much more significant and

reduced the number of people who come down and “do far-out commercials

here.”

But what could become a problem is the loss of sales and property

taxes as a result of a prolonged shutdown of the movie industry.

A study by the Motion Pictures Assn. of America shows that film

studios spent almost $8 million with Costa Mesa businesses and paid about

$4.5 million to employees who live in the city.

For Newport Beach, the corresponding figures are $20.2 million and

$4.8 million.

Those figures represent 1996 and have grown steadily since then, said

Orange County Film Commissioner Janice Arrington.

A loss of the movie industry’s business and employees going without

pay as a result of a strike would have a significant effect, Arrington

said. And even if a writers’ strike is avoided, the actors’ union is

scheduled to begin labor negotiations shortly. While the writers’

contract expired Wednesday, the current actors’ contract will end July 1.

In Newport Beach, city officials involved in the issue said a strike

could have a major effect on residents.

As industry employees living in the city lose out on income, it could

affect sales and property tax revenues, said Glen Everroad, who works as

the city’s revenue manager and serves on the board of directors of the

Media Alliance of Orange County.

Newport Beach charges a $200 daily fee for permits to film on public

property. Costa Mesa bills $40 an hour and no more than $200 a day.

But even if the cities would lose out on a few thousand dollars as the

result of a strike, that’s nothing compared with the loss of film-related

business and a loss in income for residents who work in the industry.

“What we get in permit fees is an economic benefit to the community

that’s not anywhere close to what we realize in benefits” from sales and

property taxes, Everroad said.

Hollywood money received by ZIP Code:

ZIP Code Business revenue Salaries

COSTA MESA:

92626: $7.64 million $3 million

92627: $304,000 $1.5 million

92628: $44,000 $40,000

NEWPORT BEACH:

92625: $5,500 $1.1 million

92658: $735,000 $67,300

92659: $25,400 $141,500

92660: $13.73 million $1.25 million

92661: $601,480 $412,60092662: $2,800

$800,000

92663: $5.12 million $1.08 million

NEWPORT COAST:

92657: $27,258 $2.75 million

Source: 1998 State of the Industry study by the Motion Picture Assn.

of America. Figures are for 1996 and rounded.