LV’s image challenges filmmaking promoter

Phil Levine

Tuesday, April 11, 2000 | 11:02 a.m.

Shattering Hollywood's misconceptions about Las Vegas is one of the more challenging tasks confronting Mimosa Jones.

"The perception that Las Vegas offers the Strip -- and little else -- is one of the major obstacles we face," said Jones, president and chief executive officer of the Entertainment Development Corporation of Las Vegas.

"We have to convince the entertainment industry that there's more than just the fun and flash of the Strip. The fact is, this area offers an amazing development opportunity for film and television."

Formed 16 months ago, the EDC now boasts about 100 corporate members. The nonprofit organization promotes Las Vegas to Hollywood, while encouraging local government officials to offer greater incentives to attract film and television production.

Speaking to the Las Vegas chapter of the American Marketing Association last week, Jones said those misconceptions about Las Vegas make promoting the "entertainment capital of the world" a more challenging task than one might imagine.

"We want leaders in the entertainment business to know that we have a desirable climate (for filming), a talented workforce and a growing technology industry," she said.

"Also, unlike New York and Los Angeles, we have land and room to grow."

Jones said Las Vegas should take its cue in attracting entertainment production from other cities, particularly Vancouver, Canada.

"Through some smart public relations and tax breaks, Vancouver has been able to attract $5 billion of that $28 billion industry," she said.

"Of course, the strong exchange rate (with the Canadian dollar) also means that producers can save as much as 40 percent on production costs."

Jones said the EDC is making progress in reshaping the way Hollywood views Las Vegas as a mecca for productions.

"Just two years ago, we had less than $50 million in (television and movie) productions," she said.

"This year, we hope to break the $100 million mark, not including the multiple (economic) effects from those productions."

Jones said Las Vegas also needs to create the prerequisite infrastructure required in order to carve itself a substantial piece of Hollywood's annual production budget.

"There are a lot of productions that come here to film their exterior (camera shots) but can't complete filming because we don't have those 20,000-square-foot stages they need," she said.

Local economic development officials agree about the enormous benefits of attracting film and television production.

"We definitely believe in the EDC's mission," said Bob Cooper, economic development manager for the city of Henderson. "We see the possibility of spinoff industries, as well as the opportunity to enter the area of technology development.

"The (entertainment) industry requires a lot of technological support, and that demand would allow us the opportunity to create a workforce to supply their needs."

Henderson joined the EDC late last year as a $10,000 "platinum-level" member. Other government entities, including the city of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, are also EDC members.

Jones said she's convinced Las Vegas is on its way to becoming an oasis of film production.

"Our goals are clear," she said. "We want to train young people to work in the entertainment industry, and are working with UNLV to do so. We also want to educate the local community as to the benefits of attracting productions here.

"Of course, our other goal is to provide pre-to-post production services for films and television. We want people (in Hollywood) to know that if you need a purple Lamborghini at 7 a.m. (for a film), we can get that for you here."

"We want to be able to provide pre-to-post production services for films and television," she said.