Agendas differ for Las Vegas casinos, Hollywood

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Tuesday, May 22, 2001 | 10:43 a.m.

The Hollywood film industry is asking Las Vegas to provide it with more sound stages and post-production centers so it can film more movies here.

But the biggest players in Las Vegas, casino companies, have a different agenda when it comes to the movie industry.

They are focused on getting the most mileage they can as locations for films that will be seen by millions of people. And they want the filming done on their properties to fit their schedules.

It was clear that a panel of Hollywood and Las Vegas entertainment experts meeting last week believes that the convergence of the film and gaming industries could have a profitable storybook ending -- if only all parties could agree on a script.

Eight panelists discussed the future of filmmaking and the gaming industry Friday at the MGM Grand Conference Center as part of Plug In to Entertainment 2001, an event sponsored by the Entertainment Development Corporation of Las Vegas.

The event is one of the showcase educational events presented by EDC, a private nonprofit organization dedicated to attracting the film industry to Southern Nevada.

Hollywood officials are intrigued with doing more work in Las Vegas as a means of cutting costs. They can usually get crews cheaper and experience less red tape to arrange location shooting and Las Vegas is only a one-hour flight away from their California bases -- instead of three hours or more away from most other alternatives.

There was little disagreement among panelists that Hollywood and Las Vegas could help each other -- as well as the handful of Southern Nevada companies that have built sound stages or have production services available.

But it was clear that Hollywood and Las Vegas have their own agendas and unclear how they would take the next step toward improving their common interests.

Panelist Rob Goldstein, president of the Venetian hotel-casino, said Las Vegas has grown from being a gaming-centric environment to a place with a variety of things to do. Noting that his property has invested in attracting two Guggenheim art galleries that will open next fall, Goldstein said it is critical for Las Vegas to look at new opportunities and Hollywood may hold some of those solutions.

"We can't live on same-old, same-old, we have to look at all opportunities, because at the end of the day, gaming tables all look the same," Goldstein said. "We have people here for four days, looking for something to do. What do we do for an encore?"

Some have suggested that Las Vegas could become a venue for game shows or the taping of situation comedies, much like those produced in Hollywood and New York.

"We looked at game shows," said Felix Rappaport, president of the New York-New York hotel-casino. "And we asked, 'Where are you going to film it, in a meeting room?' Our theaters were committed. The idea had a lot of appeal, but we just couldn't make it work in our environment."

He added that New York-New York's sister property across the Strip, the MGM Grand hotel-casino, has reinvented itself as "the city of entertainment" and has developed "a great marriage between entertainment and hospitality."

"Not every deal works for us," Rappaport said, "but they (the EDC) keep the deals coming."

Another relationship between Las Vegas and Hollywood is the television industry's involvement with sports.

Panelist Jeremiah Bosgang, executive producer of Fox Cable Sports, is developing a new sports-based entertainment series premiering next fall and would love to have a Las Vegas partner.

"From a sports fan's perspective, Las Vegas is a fantasy land," Bosgang said. "If you can't be at the event, Las Vegas is the next best place to be."

He also noted that entertainment and sports are growing closer with developments like comedian Dennis Miller getting hired as a commentator for "Monday Night Football" and MTV having a major role in the production of the Super Bowl halftime show.

Rappaport noted that New York-New York soon will have an ESPN Zone on the property. ESPN Zone is sports-themed dining establishment with locations in New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Atlanta and Anaheim, Calif.

Possibly the most promising link between the film and casino industries is a proposal detailed a year ago at a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce luncheon by panelist Larry Namer, chairman of Steeplechase Media Inc.

Namer, founder of the E! Entertainment television network, said he and his partner, Tony Oleshansky, have nearly completed the logistics to launch the Vegas Television Network this fall.

Namer said the venture, known as VTV, would give Las Vegas resorts the ability to reach an audience through a specialty network devoted to Las Vegas happenings. The network would have an interactive component that would enable viewers to book reservations, buy show tickets and arrange for other amenities via the Internet while watching content about Las Vegas.

He said Las Vegas would have "its own voice" through VTV -- but he said the concept needs support in order for it to work.

"You can look at each other and say, 'Oh good, I hope this happens,' or you can get behind it," he said, directing his comments to some of the gaming industry representatives on the panel.

Oleshansky, VTV's chief executive officer, who was in the crowd, said he expects to announce details of VTV's strategy and financing by the end of the month.

Namer and Oleshansky were retained by the Greenspun Corp. in 1999 to plan, implement and manage the project as well as determine how much it would cost to launch the network. The Greenspun Corp. and the Las Vegas Sun are owned by the Greenspun family.

Panelist Peter Green, president of Fountain Productions, a new media and production company, said Las Vegas is a promising venue for filming movies and television shows with gambling story lines, but the city will have to have more infrastructure if it expects to get the film industry's attention, especially since the city is competing with other cities that want Hollywood's business.

Panelist Andrew Ackerman, executive vice president of production for Warner Bros. Television, said location shooting is become more attractive in the digital age because cameras are getting lighter and film crews are getting smaller. That means instead of a production crew of about 100 people, studios are able to do the same work with 35 people.

Of course, the EDC is trying to encourage Hollywood to use Las Vegas film crews to do the work as well as use Las Vegas backdrops for films.

"We're constantly looking for new places to shoot," Green said. "Our profit margins are starting to shrink and we're looking for places where we can make movies for less money. We've filmed in Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. But in order to be more than just a location, you have to have infrastructure and production services."

But to the gaming industry, that may be someone else's problem. Local casinos have found that being a location for a film shoot is a coup, since millions of movie-goers see their casinos in what amounts to free advertising. The only thing casinos give up is some inconveniences to guests in the disruption that film crews bring to a location.

Still, that's a high price to pay and Alan Feldman, vice president of public affairs for MGM MIRAGE, said his company doesn't take that lightly.

"Having the cast (of a major film) around doesn't hurt," Feldman said. "But the guest who can't get his car out of the valet doesn't care that Julia Roberts is staying there. He just wants his car."

Casino managers also are very careful about how their properties are portrayed on the big and small screen.

Some location shooting has occurred at New York-New York for "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," a crime drama about police forensics on CBS, and scripts are routinely reviewed by the casinos before shooting begins.

"You can't pay for that kind of exposure, it's great for the image," Rappaport said. "But we don't want any bodies found under the roller coaster or in the lobby of the New York-New York. You may notice if you watch the show that bodies are often found out in the desert. There's a reason for that. We don't want to cast an incorrect vision of Las Vegas."