#1
Posted: 1/9/05 at 3:17pm
from the San Francisco Chronicle today:
But the real killer has been . . .
-- Act Three: "Rent" Control. Since taking office, Newsom has been trying to bring Hollywood back to the Bay Area, and he was hoping to get it all started by luring the musical "Rent" to film on Treasure Island.
All looked to be sweetness and light, until Hall took a look at the deal and started a fight with Newsom's new Film Commission executive, Stefanie Pleet Coyote (as in the wife of actor Peter Coyote), over the terms of the lease.
The company making the movie, Revolution Studios, says city officials promised it a sound stage rent-free, plus free utilities and parking.
"Which is something we can't deliver because then it's a gift of public funds,' Hall insists.
Hall wouldn't sign on the dotted line. After an angry exchange between Stefanie Coyote and Gallagher, Hall filed a Public Records Act demand that the film commish boss turn over her private correspondence with the studio. No one around City Hall can remember anything like it.
Hall says he was simply trying to find out what Coyote had promised the filmmakers -- but, he added, "she wouldn't give them up.' Nor apparently does she intend to.
As of early Friday, the negotiations weren't looking particularly good. Hall said he was just about ready to pull the plug on the $40 million movie production.
But by that evening, the tide had shifted. "They accepted our term sheet as of last night at about 8 p.m.,' Hall said Saturday. "(The contract's) being drawn up as we speak.'
According to Hall, the film company will pay $12,500 a month in rent, plus enough money deposited in an account to guarantee the lease through July.
"It was accepted on our terms,' he said.
And that's just for starters.
Hall says he already has another film deal in the bag with an outfit that's agreed to pay $18,000 a month for space on the island.
It's a local Pentecostal Church group -- with German financing -- looking to take on Hollywood with a feature-length Bible epic.
Or maybe they'd like to take a stab at the "Treasure Island Chronicles."
But the real killer has been . . .
-- Act Three: "Rent" Control. Since taking office, Newsom has been trying to bring Hollywood back to the Bay Area, and he was hoping to get it all started by luring the musical "Rent" to film on Treasure Island.
All looked to be sweetness and light, until Hall took a look at the deal and started a fight with Newsom's new Film Commission executive, Stefanie Pleet Coyote (as in the wife of actor Peter Coyote), over the terms of the lease.
The company making the movie, Revolution Studios, says city officials promised it a sound stage rent-free, plus free utilities and parking.
"Which is something we can't deliver because then it's a gift of public funds,' Hall insists.
Hall wouldn't sign on the dotted line. After an angry exchange between Stefanie Coyote and Gallagher, Hall filed a Public Records Act demand that the film commish boss turn over her private correspondence with the studio. No one around City Hall can remember anything like it.
Hall says he was simply trying to find out what Coyote had promised the filmmakers -- but, he added, "she wouldn't give them up.' Nor apparently does she intend to.
As of early Friday, the negotiations weren't looking particularly good. Hall said he was just about ready to pull the plug on the $40 million movie production.
But by that evening, the tide had shifted. "They accepted our term sheet as of last night at about 8 p.m.,' Hall said Saturday. "(The contract's) being drawn up as we speak.'
According to Hall, the film company will pay $12,500 a month in rent, plus enough money deposited in an account to guarantee the lease through July.
"It was accepted on our terms,' he said.
And that's just for starters.
Hall says he already has another film deal in the bag with an outfit that's agreed to pay $18,000 a month for space on the island.
It's a local Pentecostal Church group -- with German financing -- looking to take on Hollywood with a feature-length Bible epic.
Or maybe they'd like to take a stab at the "Treasure Island Chronicles."
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, you've watched me grow since I was small. What will I regret the most? The things I did or the things I don't? But I can't say, what I can barely face: my life is halfway through and I still haven't done what I'm here to do"
