L.A. schools are learning the Hollywood game

L.A. schools are getting an education in Hollywood: It pays to be film-friendly.

Half a dozen films and TV series filmed in the Los Angeles Unified School District this summer, contributing nearly $1 million in revenue to the district. That's double the amount of film revenue the district collected this time last year, according to FilmL.A., the film permit group that has its own manager who coordinates filming in schools.

"We are seeing more family and school-situation scripts being penned and scenes filmed,'' said FilmL.A. spokesman Todd Lindgren. "School officials also are recognizing that filming revenue can offset some of their budget challenges."

The LAUSD charges $2,600 a day in use fees, with $2,000 going to the school and $600 that the district distributes among other schools. That does not include custodial fees or any donations that schools many receive from filming.

"The Secret Life of the American Teenager," the popular ABC Family drama starring Shailene Woodley, Daren Kagasoff and Molly Ringwald, will shoot a dance scene next week at John F. Kennedy High in Granada Hills (see accompanying chart). The show, in its second season, normally films exterior shots at Grant High School in Van Nuys, but the gym was booked that week, said location manager Mike Beche.

Kennedy High was eager to accommodate, Beche said. "They've moved volleyball games for us. They've gone way beyond what they should have."

"The Secret Life" is just one among several TV series that have filmed in L.A. schools this summer. Among them: "Three Rivers," the CBS drama about organ transplants;  "Men of a Certain Age," the TNT series starring Ray Romano; and the Fox comedy "Glee."  (The best-known high school TV show, "90210," mostly shoots its school scenes in Torrance and El Segundo, but also films in LAUSD schools.)  The just-released movie "Fame," an update of the 1980 musical, was shot at Le Conte Middle School in Hollywood. 

"When schools are flush with money, they are not as film-friendly," Beche said, "but all these schools need money and they know we're a great revenue source."

-- Richard Verrier

L.A. not forgotten in new Bruckheimer series

On Wednesday, Christian Slater and other stars of the new crime drama "The Forgotten" will converge on a parking lot in Echo Park that will actually stand in for a municipal tow lot in Chicago (see accompanying chart).

The latest series from Jerry Bruckheimer, which debuts on ABC tonight, is about a team of amateurs who attempt to solve unusual crimes. The story is actually set in the Windy City but is filming in various locations throughout Los Angeles.

That may seem odd, given the growing pressure producers face to keep budgets low by using out-of-state film incentives, such as 30% film tax credit offered in Illinois. That would seem all the more attractive given that "The Forgotten" wouldn't qualify for California's new film tax credit, limited to new series created for basic cable TV, or series that are returning to the state.

But Bruckheimer, whose production company is based in Santa Monica, has a long history of staying close to home. All of his TV shows, including the "CSI" series, "Cold Case" and "Dark Blue," the new crime drama on TNT, shoot in the Los Angeles area.

"I like to keep the business here,'' said Bruckheimer, who is producing the show, which has a crew of 143, with Bonanza Productions and Warner Bros. Television. "It's getting harder and harder because the economy is tough, and the studios are really squeezing us in every budget. [But] "we've got great crews here, and we love working with them."

-- Richard Verrier

L.A. to host Ray Romano's new TV series

Everybody loves Raymond, especially when he shoots in Los Angeles.

Ray Romano, star of that long-running CBS comedy, is returning to TV in a new TNT drama, "Men of a Certain Age," which will be filming in Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley this week, according to the film-permitting group FilmL.A. Inc.

The series, which debuts in December and has a 10-episode order, is a drama about the friendship of three men approaching midlife, played by Romano, Scott Bakula ("Star Trek: Enterprise") and Andre Braugher ("Homicide: Life on the Street"). Romano created the series with his writing partner, Mike Royce.

The series, which began filming last month, features a number of less glamorous locations across Southern California -- a party shop in Downey, a Chevrolet dealership in Northridge and a house in Granada Hills that serves as the home of an out-of-work actor played by Bakula, who works part time at an accounting firm.

"We wanted to show Los Angeles as people live in it, and not the Hollywood of it all,'' said Royce, an executive producer.

"Men of a Certain Age" is among at least 25 projects that have qualified to receive the state's new film tax credit, which was passed earlier this year in effort to curb the outflow of shows to cheaper locales. Among other things, the program gives producers of new TV series distributed on basic cable a 20% tax credit.

Although producers considered shooting in New York City, the California state tax credit "definitely eliminated any notion that we would shoot anywhere else," Royce said.

"It's a great thing to have a TV series locate here because they produce multiple episodes over a period of time, so the economic benefit is sustained," said Philip Sokoloski, a spokesman for FilmL.A. The series has crew of about 150, including extras, and a budget of $2 million per episode.

Notwithstanding shoots for "Men of a Certain Age," on-location TV production continues to slide compared with a year ago as the summer hiatus ends and crews return to work. Activity for on-location television filming fell 18% last week compared with the same time a year ago, according to FilmL.A. Industry officials blame the falloff partly on the fact that TV studios are shooting more on soundstages to cut costs.

-- Richard Verrier

Station fire threatens station towers

The Station fire continued its unimpeded march up Mt. Wilson, home to the bulk of transmitting towers for Los Angeles' local television stations as well as about a dozen FM radio stations.

Should the fire knock out the TV towers, only those who receive their television signals over the air and not via cable or satellite would be affected. Many stations also have auxiliary towers that would allow them to continue to transmit a signal if their primary tower is knocked out. According to Nielsen, about 14.2% of the Los Angeles TV market has access to only over-the-air television.

Some stations are also preparing to stream their content on their websites if they lose their signals. For more information on the Station fire, please visit LA Now.

-- Joe Flint

Local TV may get some relief next year

After a stormy two years, the clouds may finally start to lift a little in the local television station business next year.

According to industry research firm SNL Kagan, revenue for television stations, most of which is from commercials, will grow 5.2%  to $18.5 billion in 2010, thanks in part to political advertising and the Olympics.

That's good news for an industry that is struggling big time. This year, Kagan projects revenue for local stations to be $17.6 billion, which is a drop of 17% from 2008's $21.7-billion figure.

Local stations have been challenged for the last few years with several major broadcasters, including Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Co., Young Broadcasting and ION Media, having filed for bankruptcy. More recently, Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group warned it too may have to file for bankruptcy protection.

Their problems are felt in Hollywood as well because it means stations have less money to spend on daytime talk shows and reruns of sitcoms and dramas.

While next year may be better, there are still major issues facing the local stations. Like the broadcast networks, they need to find new revenue streams. There is some progress on that front as more cable operators are paying local stations to carry their signals. Kagan SNL is projecting that broadcasters will take in $739 million in so-called retransmission consent fees, compared with $500 million in 2008.

But ultimately, as more content migrates online, local stations will have to become less reliant on their network partners and produce more of their own programming and use their digital spectrum to create new revenue sources.

— Joe Flint

Local production: Back to the future with 'FlashForward'

Pasadena residents might glimpse the future this Friday.

That's when the new ABC TV series "FlashForward" begins filming in the area, according to a sampling of upcoming shoots from FilmL.A, which coordinates film permits for the Los Angeles region.

The drama, which debuts Sept. 24 and is adapted from Robert J. Sawyer's 1999 novel, is about the aftermath of a mysterious event that causes people to glimpse their futures.  David S. Goyer, co-writer of "The Dark Knight" and Brannon Braga ("24") are executive producers of the show, which stars Joseph Fiennes and John Cho.

The show, which is set in LA and employs 250 people per episode, will shoot on sound stages at Disney as well as various locations through the county. Producers said they wanted to remain close to studio facilities and the show's writers.

"The series is the first time I've been able to shoot L.A. for L.A., and it's like Christmas for our locations,'' said Jessika Goyer, an executive producer. "We are challenging ourselves to find looks all over the zone that haven't been shot before and really stand out."

ABC's decision to shoot "FlashForward" locally is welcome news for Los Angeles, which has been struggling to retain its bread-and-butter TV business as shows have migrated to other locales. On-location shoots for TV shows dropped 32% last week over the same period a year ago, according to the latest data from FilmL.A.

-- Richard Verrier

Fox's KTTV Los Angeles looking to make cuts

Fox's KTTV Los Angeles is preparing to cut its staff.

On Friday, the station, which is owned by News Corp., gave notice to 95 staffers that their positions could be eliminated in 60 days.

Most of the staffers are in the creative affairs area. News of the cuts was first reported by LAObserved.com.

Local stations have been particularly hard hit by the bad economy. Car dealerships are closing or struggling stay afloat and have little to spend on advertising. Many local stations are trying to save money by combining some news gathering operations and even sharing helicopters in some cases.

A person familiar with Fox's plans said the KTTV cuts are not part of a broader plan to trim staff at the company's other stations across the country.

-- Joe Flint