Noise and other disruptions from film shoots at all hours have spurred calls for tighter controls.
By Richard Verrier
Times Staff Writer

July 2, 2007

For Benjamin Pezzillo and his wife, Erica, the flashpoint came one Sunday night in March, when the noise from the black chopper was so deafening that it made the couple’s glass dining room table vibrate.

Hovering about 300 feet above their building at 6th and Spring streets in downtown Los Angeles, the helicopter’s incessant roar had Pezzillo convinced he was in the middle of a police chase. At least until he saw the aerial camera pointed downward that, he learned later, was being used to film a Verizon ad.

“It was like a bus revving its engine right outside your window,” Pezzillo said. “It was inescapable.”

Concerned that downtown is turning into an urban back lot for movie, TV and commercial producers, the area’s growing population of residents and merchants is rebelling. A surge in filming, combined with incidents such as the March chopper episode, is galvanizing residents to push for tighter rules that could crimp shoots in one of the world’s busiest places for filming.

The dispute reflects a larger clash playing out in the world’s entertainment capital between producers and residents weary of trucks, trailers, klieg lights, noise and crews in their neighborhoods at all hours.

“We’re not against filming, we’re just against filming that’s out of control and with no common sense,” said Russell Brown, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. “It’s been a very, very contentious issue for a lot of people.”

Southern California’s signature industry likes to shoot close to home. But it can easily pack up and move shoots to other locales that promise to make things easier. Elected officials worry that an inhospitable downtown could drain the region’s economy of some of the billions of dollars the industry generates each year.

Melissa Patack, vice president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, said companies recognized the changes downtown and were working to accommodate residents. But, she added, “there are many governments and other cities that are actively pursuing the industry.”

Downtown Los Angeles has been one of Hollywood’s favorite film spots dating to 1909’s “In the Sultan’s Power.” Its skyline is relatively free of landmarks, so it can easily stand in for other cities.

High above 9th Street and Broadway, silent film legend Harold Lloyd clung to a clock’s hands in 1923’s “Safety Last!” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prowled downtown streets as an evil cyborg in the 1984 sci-fi classic “The Terminator.”

More recently, Kiefer Sutherland chased terrorists through the streets and across the Los Angeles River bridges on episodes of “24.” BMWs, Mazdas, Volkswagens and Hyundais zip down streets such as Grand Avenue in commercials.

During a 19-day period this spring, some 90 productions filmed downtown. On any given night, the 2nd Street tunnel west of Broadway, one of the bridges over the Los Angeles River or City Hall may be featured in a movie, TV program or commercial.

“What people have to remember is that there is a 98-year history of downtown Los Angeles playing big city USA and other locales on the big screen,” said Harry Medved, coauthor of film location guide “Hollywood Escapes.”

Film production soared from 2002 to 2006 as local TV and commercial production boomed and the U.S. dollar sank in value, making shoots here more economical. Production days rose 21% to today’s record level, mostly because of TV shows including “Cold Case” and “Dancing With the Stars” and ads for such products as Coors Light.

Eight of this summer’s movies include scenes shot downtown, including “Live Free or Die Hard,” which opened last week and for which crews built a faux tunnel on Grand, and “Transformers,” which opens today and has scenes shot in the refurbished Orpheum Theatre on Broadway.

But as shooting boomed, tensions rose with the influx of new merchants and upscale professional residents — many of whom work in the entertainment industry.

From 2004 to 2006, according to the Downtown Los Angeles Business Improvement District, the number of residents downtown grew 20% to 28,878. An additional 20,000 residents are expected over the next two years, bringing the total population of a place that was largely vacant at night to nearly 50,000, according to the Central City Assn. of Los Angeles.

Buying expensive lofts and patronizing new trendy restaurants and bars in the area, downtown’s new residents were soon reviving formerly run-down pockets. Many saw filming as intrusive. What once was an annoyance quickly turned into a tense public-policy issue confronting residents and merchants alike.

“There are street closures every other weekend and sometimes every week,” said Bert Green, a neighborhood activist who owns an art gallery on 5th Street. During the closures “people can’t get anywhere near my business.”

Even downtown residents who work in the business have reached their limits.

Screenwriter Celia Esguerra was awakened recently by a crew that started shooting a music video at 6 a.m., sending billows of smoke into her Los Angeles Street loft. That night, she said, another film crew shooting at the nearby Alexandria Hotel worked with giant crane lights until midnight — two hours beyond what the film permit specified.

Then, at 2:40 a.m., she was awakened by what sounded like a freight train, as eight semitrailer equipment trucks pulled into a vacant lot to prepare for an eight-day shoot of the Patrick Dempsey comedy “Made of Honor.”

“It was like, ‘Oh my God! When is this going to stop?’ ” she said. “I don’t think this would happen in Hancock Park.”

For city officials, the issue is especially delicate. They want to encourage producers to keep shooting in Los Angeles but also want to encourage people and businesses to move downtown to help revitalize it.

Trying to defuse tensions is the Central City Assn., a business advocacy group whose members include major Hollywood studios. It has hosted several meetings with the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council and FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that handles permits and notices of filming. The three groups are drafting special conditions similar to those that exist in other communities that would limit filming hours and require more stringent notifications in residential areas downtown.

“There’s been a drastic change downtown,” said Steve MacDonald, president of FilmL.A., which contracts with the city and county. “We’re trying to address that change by working with the production companies, the residents and merchants to ensure that their needs are met.”

Although it lacks the enforcement authority of a city agency, FilmL.A. in April put new guidelines into effect requiring monitors for all activity in the bank district and prohibiting late-night helicopter flights like the one that disturbed the Pezzillos. FilmL.A. says it is sending more e-mail notices directly to affected residents instead of relying on standard door hanger notices. Those and other changes will probably be included in the special conditions the City Council is expected to vote on this summer.

“We’re very hospitable to filming,” said City Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes much of downtown. “I don’t think people are asking that much.”

Tom Gilmore, whose company owns several buildings in the old bank district and is one of the architects of downtown’s revitalization, believes that tensions are easing with the new guidelines.

“We are both stakeholders downtown and we need to help each other do better business without hurting each other,” he said.

The new rules show the growing clout of downtown’s residents and their willingness now to push back against powerful entertainment interests.

Four years ago, resident councils sought more say in the way film shoots take place across Los Angeles, but the effort failed to gain traction after film industry representatives flooded City Hall and raised the prospect of massive job losses.

The newfound muscle isn’t lost on Hollywood’s location managers, who scout places to shoot.

“Some film companies have not adjusted to the new terrain and they still view L.A. as a kind of back lot,” said Ilt Jones, a veteran location manager who worked on “Transformers.” “That’s anachronistic thinking.”

by Kathryn Maese
With a potentially devastating hotel strike averted last month, and a pledge by city officials to redouble tourism efforts, the local hotel industry is staging a steady comeback. More surprising is the fact that Downtown is leading Los Angeles County with a double-digit surge in hotel occupancy over last year, and hospitality officials predict the strongest summer season since 2000.

Compared to countywide markets, the Central City has seen the most dramatic year-over-year growth, with the occupancy level soaring since May 2004 from 56.5% to 67.4%, according to the latest data from Smith Travel Research.

There are numerous factors playing into the bounce, and some Downtown Los Angeles establishments are benefiting from events outside of the area. A prime example is the current King Tut exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Industry experts also report an increase in the group and leisure travel markets.

“This will be our best July ever,” said Janelle Cram, marketing director for the 453-room Omni Los Angeles Hotel, just three blocks from the Walt Disney Concert Hall. “We will run at 85% occupancy, when last year we ran at 69% occupancy.”

It’s a drastic turnaround from the last few years, when 9/11 triggered a nationwide travel slowdown that sent the industry into a slump, leaving hotels struggling to fill rooms. Most recently, surging gas prices put a glitch in regional travel, while a protracted hotel contract battle led to a number of cancellations. Among the Downtown hotels affected by the dispute with the union were the Hyatt Regency, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, the Millennium Biltmore and the Wilshire Grand.

However, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently helped union leaders and hotel brass find common ground over a contract for employees. Now, with the cloud of a potentially devastating strike lifted, some groups that threatened to take their events elsewhere have been wooed back.

At the Bonaventure, Sales and Marketing Director Bob Nee said the hotel was able to salvage one of its biggest chunks of business by securing the National Education Association convention. The four-day event had lined up venues at several airport hotels in case the conflict was not resolved in time for the annual function. Instead, all went as planned, and the group wrapped its Downtown gathering last Wednesday.

“We are in the final throes of assessing the total impact, and we know we have had several groups that have cancelled out of respect for the labor dispute,” Nee said. “But that’s come and gone and we are very pleased that it ended when it did because we were able to welcome the NEA back to Downtown L.A.”

Nee said the Bonaventure will see another boost in early August when the five-day Siggraph conference, a gathering of computer graphic and interactive technology professionals, brings more than 25,000 attendees to town.

The Bonaventure and others are also enjoying a resurgence in the leisure market, which had been relatively flat last year. While Nee said the hotel won’t see the double-digit gains in occupancy that other Downtown venues have experienced, in part because of the contract fallout, he said he still expects “a few percentage points higher than last year, and during the summer we’ll have good growth with our group segment.”

Market Shift

The numbers are rising. In 2004, the city saw a record 24.3 million visitors flock to the area, a 4.1% increase over the previous year’s 23.3 million tourists. This year, the bureau predicts a 2.5% increase to 25 million visitors.

L.A. Inc., the city’s convention and visitors bureau, attributes the uptick in local visitors to an improving economy and pent-up demand for Los Angeles travel following a number of weak years. That has translated to a 5.6% increase in room rates over last year to an average of $100.10, according to Smith Travel Research.

“Remember that the industry is cyclical and we are enjoying that part of the cycle that goes up,” said Michael Collins, executive vice president of L.A. Inc. “But what we may be looking at is a structural solution to those ups and downs.”

Collins said a larger market shift is at work, led by a multi-billion dollar Downtown resurgence in the form of lofts, restaurants, nightclubs, parks, entertainment districts and most importantly, a 1,200-room Convention Center hotel that will allow the city to accommodate more convention goers. Los Angeles has lost numerous conventions to cities such as San Diego and Anaheim in part because they have so many more hotel rooms within walking distance of their convention centers.

“There’s so much going on here that Downtown is creating its own gravity,” Collins said. “I think what we’re seeing in Downtown is an enormous new capacity to generate demand.”

The rapidly growing residential base throughout Downtown is also a key component. More than 27,000 people will be living Downtown by year’s end, while another 4,487 units are being built and permits have been secured for nearly 1,400 more, according to the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID). Collins said the presence of this affluent population (a DCBID study earlier this year reported a $90,000 median household income in the new residential structures) will bolster the “visiting friends and relatives” market as their visitors stay at local hotels and spend money at shops and restaurants.

“One half of visitors come from that market, and up until now most of those people have been going to the Valley. But the equation is changing,” Collins said.

Hotels are beginning to respond to that residential demand. The Omni’s Cram said the hotel created its Noe restaurant to help attract visitors, and is currently adding a spa.

“The city has had a very strong comeback and people are looking at Downtown, its transportation, the concert hall and the cathedral,” she said. “We created our restaurant not only counting on Disney Hall but the revitalization of Downtown condos and LA Live (next to Staples Center). We’re hoping to capture that market.”

Despite predictions of a rebound, hoteliers caution that the industry still has a long way to go, and is only now returning to normal levels. Some have experienced relatively flat occupancy numbers over last year, while others report that the lack of regular conventions has required more creative methods of generating business in-house, such as promotions or smaller events.

At the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown, General Manager Bill Worchester said the hotel’s mainstay has been booking education, government or business groups. Its biggest event this summer is the Microsoft convention.

“Most of it is a lot of small, homegrown business,” Worchester said. “We’re looking for a decent summer, but not a record-breaking summer. As the economy has improved it has helped business travel and we’re optimistic.”

Events of the Season

Hospitality industry officials expect 2005 to wind up as Downtown’s best season in half a decade. While part of the upswing is due to a rebounding economy and the increasing number of Downtown residents, the area’s strong slate of tourist activities will also likely play a role. Here are three Downtown Los Angeles attractions that will draw healthy attendance figures this summer, and one non-Downtown event that is also benefiting the area.

Jean-Michel Basquiat Retrospective: This exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MOCA) Grand Avenue location from July 17 to Oct. 10 is expected to generate a lot of buzz. The show spans the influential artist’s career from 1979 to 1988, and the work explores issues of ethnic identity, urban culture and music. The last art blockbuster Downtown was MOCA’s Andy Warhol retrospective three years ago, which drew about 150,000 people. While not as large as Warhol, Basquiat is nonetheless expected to grab attention and attract a new, young audience to Downtown.

Disney Hall Tours: More than 105,000 people have visited the Frank Gehry-designed home of the L.A. Philharmonic since it opened in 2003. Now, concert hall officials have launched a new program aimed at luring more visitors. On the slate are a 60-minute guided tour of the hall, a 45-minute urban garden tour of the one-acre green space, and a two-for-one deal - in partnership with L.A. Inc. - on the self-guided audio tours. “Anticipating that there would be a Bilbao effect at the concert hall, we needed to figure out some means of creating an answer for tourists that would let them experience the hall without having to see a concert,” said Catherine Babcock, a spokesperson for the Music Center.

X Games: From Aug. 4-7 Staples Center - one of two main venues - will host a number of the popular events, including skateboarding, BMX and inline skating. Downtown gets a solid boost from the X Games, with restaurants, hotels and other businesses getting a cut of the extreme action. Last year more than 100,000 X Games attendees generated about $50 million for the economy.

King Tut Exhibit: Though the exhibit featuring the Egyptian boy king takes place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the Miracle Mile, a few Downtown venues are already reaping the benefits. The Omni Los Angeles Hotel and the Wilshire Grand Los Angeles are offering hotel packages during the exhibit, which ends Nov. 15. Local landmarks like Disney Hall are expected to see a boost from the influx of visitors. The last time Tut was in town - 26 years ago - nearly 8 million people took a peek.

For the third month in a row, the median price for home in L.A. County is flat.

By Annette Haddad
Times Staff Writer

October 12, 2004, 1:34 PM PDT

The Los Angeles Basin may have reached a plateau.

For the third month in a row, the median price of a Los Angeles County home was flat at about $407,000 in September as the annual rate of appreciation hovered in the low-20% range, data showed today.

At the same time, the number of homes sold last month declined 7.8% to 10,501 compared to a year ago when 11,395 homes closed escrow to make September 2003 the strongest in 15 years, according to DataQuick Information Systems, the La Jolla-based firm that compiles monthly housing statistics.

What the latest numbers illustrate, said Los Angeles economist Jack Kyser, is that “sanity” may be returning to the local housing market.

“Buyers aren’t jumping at everything” that is put up for sale and “sellers have had to readjust their price expectations,” said Kyser, who heads the L.A. County Economic Development Corp.

Still, Los Angeles hasn’t yet seen any “significant” decreases in prices, said John Karevoll, DataQuick’s chief analyst. Last month, the median price — the point at which half of all homes sell for more, half for less — rose 21.1% from a year ago. That followed a 20.7% increase in August and a 23.4% gain in July.

What’s more, month-to-month appreciation beginning in July didn’t decline, though the rate barely budged. (July’s median price was $406,000, while August and September both clocked in at $407,000.)

Karevoll attributed the flattening median to a leveling off of price increases in higher-end neighborhoods while lower-cost markets still soar. For instance, in the Antelope Valley community of Lancaster, the median price rose 42% to $235,000 last month compared to a year ago.

In September, the median price of an existing house rose 22% to $425,000 vs. a year ago, while sales fell 6.2%. In the condominium market, the median of an existing unit increased 25% to $331,000 while sales declined 11.5%. Newly built homes rose 7.6% to a median of $442,500 while sales fell 13%, according to DataQuick.

Housing data for the remaining Southern California counties are expected Wednesday.