On the day that Jesse "the Body" Ventura, the pro wrestler turned governor of Minnesota, arrived in town to lure a bigger piece of Los Angeles' most visible industry, the man who represents "official" Hollywood yawned. And joked.
"I'd like to wrestle him," quipped Cody Cluff on Saturday, when asked his reaction to Ventura's efforts to drum up more movie-making business for the Gopher State.
As head of the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., informally known as the Los Angeles film office, Cluff strives to keep location shooting and related work right here.
A pet project of Mayor Richard Riordan, the film office was formed four years ago by the city and the county to halt so-called runaway production. It has streamlined permit procedures, won some union concessions and taken other steps that helped boost the entertainment industry's contribution to the local economy.
But that hasn't kept others from going after the lucrative movie-making action, among them Ventura, who said Saturday that his responsibility to improve his state's economy prompted his Hollywood "trade mission."
"In this business, it's out of sight, out of mind, and we want to be in their minds," Ventura said of the moguls he is trying to woo over the next three days.
The governor, garbed in a fringed jacket and jeans, spoke briefly with reporters about his plans after participating in a beach-side awards ceremony for independent filmmakers.
Accompanied by members of the Minnesota Film Board, Ventura has scheduled meetings with Paramount film and television executives, lunch with Disney bigwigs and a private reception for "100 film industry leaders."
He'll also fit in several appearances on radio and TV and a couple more news conferences, and host a round-table discussion and briefing with the Minnesota Film Board. He'll wind things up with an "Ice Pack" celebration "for 700 Minnesotans in the L.A. film industry" Monday night before heading back to St. Paul first thing Tuesday morning.
Ventura, a sometime movie actor and a former radio sports-talk host, acknowledged that his industry connections probably helped fill his schedule here.
The film office's Cluff, however, said he is not terribly concerned about a possible body slam from the nation's midsection.
"We work real hard to keep close relationships with our companies, and we don't worry too much" about such efforts, Cluff said.
