Bishop - Hollywood’s love affair with Inyo cools off a bit in 2008

Film crews shoot a commercial for the Nissan Xterra in the Alabama Hills earlier this year. Though there were no major productions in Inyo County in 2008, several small shoots filmed on location in the area, bringing in about $5 million. Photo by Chris Langley

Inyo County’s film industry may not be booming, but it is as healthy as the current economic climate can allow, Inyo County Film Commissioner Chris Langley reported this week.
During his year-end report to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Langley discussed some of the filming projects that came to Inyo County, how many people came to the area to work on those films, what that means for the county’s economy and plans for future filming ventures.
According to Langley, Inyo County saw 77 film projects come to the area in the past year, filming in Death Valley and other parts of Southern Inyo. That made for a total of 184 days of filming and 884 workers from out of the area coming in, buying food and renting rooms.
Langley estimates that those individuals brought the county approximately $28,000 in transient occupancy tax revenue. “But I can’t tell you if we would have made that or not anyway” through regular visitors to the area, Langley told the board.
Lodging plays a critical role in a production company’s location scouting process, and when personnel for film projects can’t find accommodations, they tend to seek the scenery they are looking for elsewhere.

That happened a couple times in Inyo County the past year.
“We lost a few productions in Death Valley this year because there were no rooms available,” Langley said. He added that he is always sorry to lose a possible production, but it is a mixed bag when a producer or director turns down Inyo because they can’t find accommodations.
On one hand, Langley said, Inyo County is doing well because local hotels and motels are filled to capacity. On the other, it misses the opportunity to showcase the area as a filming destination.
All in all, the film industry earned Inyo County approximately $5,780,000 in the past year.

“Last year, we had a major production,” Langley explained, referring to mega Box Office hit “Iron Man.” “This year we had several more smaller productions” such as commercials.
There were economic factors that affected the film industry, and may be responsible for the absence of any large productions in the county. The writers’ strike, rumors of an actors’ strike and the dropping value of the dollar all contributed to less filming in Inyo County.
According to Langley, many production companies stalled films this past year due to the writers’ strike, then postponed pre-production pictures in fear that the actors would call it quits halfway through the project.
Also, some productions opted to shoot in-studio this year, for a lack of funds, which Langley contributes to America’s “weak dollar.”
But again, Langley said, the weak dollar was a mixed bag for California and Inyo County. Many productions could not afford to leave the country to film, and therefore stayed local.
There were also several small, foreign-based commercial filming operations that traveled to America to take advantage of cost savings provided by the weak economy.
Inyo County saw five or six commercials filmed here by production companies from Asia and Europe, which will never be aired in America, but still provided a financial boost to Inyo County.
To provide more of an economic boost to Inyo County’s film industry, Langley discussed the possibility of issuing required film commissioner permits to anyone who is interested in shooting in the area.
“I’ve gone from pretty negative on this, to neutral, to pretty positive on this,” Langley said, noting that when the option of requiring a new permit for production personnel was first broached last year, he outright opposed it.
Back then, Langley cited the numerous other permits the film crews were required to obtain before shooting. For example, to shoot a scene in the Alabama Hills, a producer is required to purchase a permit from the Bureau of Land Management. If a scene is to take place on a county road, permits must be obtained from Inyo County.
Langley expressed fear that imposing new permit requirements on production personnel may deter them from coming to Inyo.
Langley also said that other states, namely New Mexico, offer rebates and discounts on production costs if film shoots hire locals and meet other prerequisites, and imposing new fees locally could send more films to other states.
Now, however, the film commissioner sees an opportunity for Inyo’s film industry to be financially independent and not rely so much on the county, which is facing its own financial hardships.
“I don’t think it will generate a huge amount – $20,000-$30,000 a year, excluding administrative costs,” Langley said.
First District Supervisor Linda Arcularius commented that $20,000-$30,000 a year may not be a “huge” amount of cash, but said it is “substantial.”
Langley said he would bring the topic of issuing new filming permits before the board sometime in January.
“It would be nice to see the film commission self-sustaining,” he said.
Langley closed his presentation on a side note, informing the supervisors that he has once again invited Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Lone Pine Film Festival, enticing him with the offer and honor of riding in the annual parade as the grand marshal.
Langley said he expects the governor to decline the offer in light of budget issues, but added that it never hurts to ask.