Battle for film, TV production gets ‘Ugly’

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Heus also feels that, although some productions are fleeing California, Hollywood still rates as king of the industry.

“If you subsidize 10 shows here (in New York), if that amounts to $80 million here, it might amount to $8 billion in California,” he explained. “I don’t know how you do that.

“The impact for offering incentives puts a heavy burden on the taxpayer. Living in California, I don’t know how you pay the bills. I can’t imagine how you fund that.

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“California has been so dominant. Hollywood has reasserted its physical dominance like it hasn’t in a long, long time. Look how many movies and shows are done there every year. The numbers are in the hundreds. The numbers in other cities are in the tens.”

Kaufman, of the New York Governor’s Office, agreed. “California has the crew base, all that talent. It has massive infrastructure. California has a very strong hold on the industry. It has the bulk of the decision-makers. If you look at California production days … they’re very strong.

“It just became more financially attractive to be in New York. We didn’t go out trolling to steal shows from Los Angeles.”

It is difficult to get a recent read on lost productions in and around L.A. because the recent Writers Guild strike threw the entire production schedule out of whack. Also, although there has been an increase in the production of reality shows, those shows don’t create the same amount of revenue as scripted dramas or sitcoms.

Still, Councilwoman Greuel doesn’t seem willing to sit by and let the problem correct itself. She has been working closely with Karen Bass, speaker of the state assembly and a fellow board member of the California Film Commission, to push an incentive plan so that Hollywood can continue to be competitive.

“It’s about dollars and sense,” Greuel said. “We can’t bury our heads and think the industry will just stay here while other cities and states make lucrative offers.

Michael Ventre is a frequent contributor to msnbc.com. He lives in Los Angeles.

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