Scouting Hollywood: Feb. 22-28

A roundup of news, gossip and history of the entertainment business brought to you from Hollywood, Calif.

The plot thickens in the Rust film involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico. In addition to Alec Baldwin’s indictment, the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has also been charged in the case. Her responsibility to safely store and prep weapons is the reason for her involvement. The Court ruled the prosecutor could introduce evidence that Gutierrez-Reed had allegedly used cocaine, cannabis and alcohol in her off hours and was likely hung over when she loaded a live round into the prop weapon. The low-budget film’s crew were under tremendous pressure to work faster and with less help. In the preliminary hearing, testimony was heard that showed Gutierrez-Reed’s attention was split from insuring safe firearm use by the mandate to also handle props and set dressing. Hollywood has a long history of letting the lure of cost savings get well ahead of what is safe and sane. Crews have for years complained of long hours and short turn rest periods. In this case, inattention and possibly criminal action caused the death of an up-and-coming cinematographer who left her husband and child to shoot the film, only to die on the set. 

S.D. success story: The making of a medical school, 50 years later

In 2017 Scott Stuber was hired by Netflix to manage the streaming service’s massive move into feature films. The former vice chair of worldwide production at Universal was given free range to develop and produce numerous film projects. Seven years later, Stuber announced he’s stepping down to run his own production company and the hunt is on for a replacement. The open position is rumored to pay between $15-20 million a year and the power to green light up to 40 films a year, a more prolific output than MGM had in its prime. Stuber was charged with creating quantity (90 films/year) and whomever steps into the job will be tasked with less production but higher quality. Plus, with retrenchment in the industry, cost control has again become vogue. Sounds like an easy mandate to fail, I wish the new person the best.

VIEWPOINT | The Guard, the Governor, and the Legislature - the path forward

Appropriators dwindle down list of ideas for special funding, statewide daycare study survives

California, where the lack of affordable housing is legendary, has begun to crack down on communities hesitant to let the legislature determine local zoning standards. The hammer has finally fallen on Beverly Hills as a Superior Court judge ruled the city can no longer issue any permits for new homes or additions until permits are approved for low-income housing. We’ve lived in our home (thankfully not in Beverly Hills) since 1985 and it was a struggle for us to afford at that time. We realized that we couldn’t afford to buy near the ocean or on the west side of LA and didn’t bother to look. The further out one was willing to travel, the better the deals were. Then came calls to reign in the never-ending suburbs, and so restrictions were placed on new development. As is the case, lack of a commodity increases the price of such commodity, and housing was no exception. Social engineers have been busy at work trying to legislate affordable homeownership (in fact one candidate for U.S. Senate and a sitting Congress member was recently quoted as supporting a $50 per hour minimum wage) and by making it easier to build in the city they believe this will happen. Today there is no ‘single-family housing’ left in California, as all lots are now eligible for the construction of multiple units with no off-street parking required. In my neighborhood ‘ADU’ or accessory dwelling units, are sprouting up and replacing garages. What possibly can go wrong with this?