Local officials frame their turf as picture perfect

"I'm going to use an old gas station and cafe there that I just found out about," the veteran filmmaker said. "Eighty percent of the movie can be shot at that location."

Vane and 75 other studio and TV production executives, independent producers and location scouts were learning Thursday about movie-making opportunities in cities and counties across California.

In a scene reminiscent of the mass introduction ritual depicted in "Sex in the City," two dozen regional and local film commission leaders hopped between tables of filmmakers. They each were hoping to lure film crews home with them.

Pauline East, Antelope Valley film liaison, told Vane's table about her area's picturesque ranches, its vast, Joshua tree-studded deserts and its rock ruins. Then she mentioned the old-fashioned roadside cafe and service station.

Vane quickly decided it could be the perfect backdrop for his upcoming independent feature, "Gas Station Blues."

That was music to the ears of California Film Commission administrators, who are struggling to divert the flow of production crews to out-of-state locations.

The breakfast session at the Beverly Hills Hotel was also a bit of counter-programming. The state's film promoters were hoping to deflect attention from a larger movie location trade show that got underway Thursday afternoon. As many as 4,000 people are anticipated at the three-day Assn. of Film Commissioners International gathering at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

California officials call that annual event "the poaching convention," because representatives of states across the nation offer filmmakers rich incentives to desert Hollywood.

On Monday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm signed legislation offering filmmakers a 40% tax credit for movies made there. About 40 states provide similar incentives.

"Here it's difficult to get legislators to understand there's a problem and that incentives don't line the pockets of movie executives," said Amy Lemisch, director of the California Film Commission. "Incentives are needed here to keep below-the-line workers employed."

So the local film commissioners were selling their cities and counties as movie settings based on their locales' unique looks -- and the convenience each offered to Hollywood film crews.