by Ray Bennett

Film and TV production is helping San Diego struggle through California's economic doldrums. Production companies spent $31 million in San Diego County in 1992-93. That is up from $27.2 million the year before, and is more than three times what the county earned in production dollars in 1990-91.
        "It's been phenomenal, way beyond what we projected," says Wally Schlotter, the city's film commissioner. "Film and TV production is the fastest-growing service-related industry in San Diego."
         Six feature films -- including "True Lies" and "8 Seconds to Glory" -- spent production time in San Diego last year, as well as 17 TV series and eight TV movies. More than 40 commercials, documentaries and industrials were shot there, and more than 50 print ads.
         The pace continues this year with productions including "Top Dog," from Aaron Norris and Andy Howard's Tanglewood Entertainment, and the TV series "Renegade" and "Silk Stalkings" from Stu Segall Prods.
         Scenic beauty, landscape variety, adaptable locations and proximity to Los Angeles are among the county's obvious attractions, but industry professionals also credit the film commission with simplifying permits and educating locals to the realities of filmmaking. Schlotter's team includes Stacey Shear, production coordinator; Gregory Perry, assistant director/features; and Cathy Anderson, assistant director/TV.
         "They've really made things very accessible," says David Braff, supervising producer of TV's "Baywatch," which had a two-part special set in San Diego in the past season. "We shot at the Hotel del Coronado, the zoo and Sea World. Everyone was very helpful. And at the last minute we needed a house to shoot interiors. We got a permit within 24 hours."
         L.A.-based location manager Bob Craft, who has worked on several movies in San Diego including "Cold Heaven" with Theresa Russell and Mark Harmon, says, "They are very cooperative and imaginative. I needed a hotel on a cliff to double for one in Carmel. We used the Torey Pines Inn, which has a golf course and no cliff. We eliminated the golf course in post-production so it looked like it was on a cliff."

Sidney Poitier takes it to the limit on San Diego's Tijuana Trolley in Columbia's "Little Nikita". Going along for the ride are, frokm left, Carolina Kava, Richard Jenkins and Richard Lynch.

         Maureen Tunney, an L.A. production manager, did a six-day, location-heavy shoot for a Mitsubishi minivan TV commercial earlier this year. "Compared to anywhere else, San Diego is very professional and very film-friendly," Tunney says. "From parks to residential areas, the film commission made it easy to get things done fast. And the Doubletree Hotel made sure every day that the valet circle was free for our trucks. No hotel in L.A. has ever done that."
         Anne LaLopa, a production manager based in Rochester, N.Y., found similar cooperation on a print shoot for a major film manufacturer. "We were going to go to Disney World but they suddenly had bad weather," LaLopa recalls. "We did everything in one day to switch to San Diego. There were no hoops to jump through. Most places like a lot of advance notice. We couldn't do that, and they flowed with it."
         John Bedolis, New York-based producer with TMF/Metro, shot a TV commercial for 1-800-Collect during MTV's Spring Break events in San Diego using local crew and production people. "They were top-notch," Bedolis says. "And the film commission was very helpful, very well prepared."
         Michael Anthony, an L.A.-based location manager who has worked in San Diego on "Silk Stalkings" and the movie "Fatal Instinct," says he owes his union card to the cooperation he found there. For "Fatal Instinct," he needed a bridge over a lagoon and he found the Acqua Hedionda Lagoon outside Carlsbad, just north of the city.
         "It's owned by the San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and they wanted $10,000 a day," Anthony says. "My executive producer was not willing to pay that for three days. I got them to let us have it in return for a special credit at the end of the picture."
         Ever since Aaron Norris worked on Chuck Norris' "A Force of One" in San Diego back in 1978, he's wanted to go back. This year he did, to make another Chuck Norris picture, "Top Dog."
         "My partner, Andy Howard, has a home in San Diego, and the script called for San Diego, and I swore I'd come back," Norris says. "It turned out perfectly."
         Don Behrens, line producer on "Top Dog," was also impressed with the film company's reception. "Things are very well coordinated," Behrens says. "And in the neighborhoods, the response is very different to what you get in L.A."
         Film Commissioner Schlotter, in turn, credits local agencies and businesses for getting behind film and TV production. "From the start, we tell people that filmmaking is inconvenient," he says. "We know how long things take and what's to be expected, so there are no surprises. Then when something goes wrong, the people are with you. We have to train production people to be straightforward. Honesty, honesty, honesty. That's what works."