Los Angeles Time - 08.08.2019

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“I’m very comfortable in
Sacramento and very com-
fortable in Hollywood,” Bell
said. “I look forward to
bridging those two worlds as
much as I possibly can.”
One of Bell’s top goals is
to increase the amount of
money allocated each year
to the state’s film and TV tax
credit program.
“I want to reinstate Cali-
fornia’s position as the lead-
ing location for production
in the world,” Bell said.
The competition for
production is intense, with
rivals such as Georgia
putting no caps on tax incen-
tives for productions. But
California has remained
competitive, partly because
of changes in the state’s film
and TV tax credit program
in 2014 and the growth in
streaming platforms that
are setting up studios in the
state.
In an effort to stop so-
called runaway production,
Gov. Jerry Brown in 2014
approved legislation that
tripled the annual allocation
of the state’s film and TV tax
credit program to $330 mil-
lion. The program was re-
cently expanded for five
more years, ending in 2025.
On her recent tour in
Santa Clarita, Bell visited
several sets to see how the
state’s incentives have
helped film and TV produc-
tions and boosted jobs.
“S.W.A.T.” received $15.5
million in tax credits for its
pilot and first season, and
has been allocated an addi-
tional $34.8 million for Sea-
sons 2 and 3.
If the tax credits weren’t
available, “our show
wouldn’t have been here,”
James Scura, a producer
and production manager,
told Bell.
Scura took Bell around a
mock neighborhood, touting
the value of the location al-
most like a proud real estate
agent.
“Everything you see can

be set up,” Scura said. “This

can be 1893 France. We’re us-

ing it for downtown right

now.”

“I’ve never seen someone

so enthusiastic about an

alleyway,” Bell said.

Bell began her TV career

in 1991 as a production as-

sistant on “The Bold and the

Beautiful,” a CBS soap op-

era about the love lives of

people in the L.A. fashion in-

dustry. She worked her way

up, becoming a producer on

the show, and has been

nominated for an Emmy

three times.

Bell moved to California

in 1991 to marry her child-

hood sweetheart, Bradley

Bell, who is the executive

producer and head writer on

“The Bold and the Beauti-

ful.” After giving birth to her

fourth child and going on an

extended maternity leave,

Bell decided to dive into pol-

icy work on how toxic chemi-

cals are regulated in the U.S.

Through her work at the Na-

tural Resources Defense

Council, she met Barack

Obama, then a U.S. senator.

When Obama ran for presi-

dent, Bell volunteered for his

campaign.

In 2013, Obama ap-

pointed Bell to serve as U.S.

ambassador to Hungary.

She was confirmed in

December 2014 and served

until 2017.

“I had an opportunity to

work closely with Colleen

when we both served as am-

bassadors under President

Obama,” said John Emer-

son, vice chairman of Capi-

tal Group International Inc.

and former U.S. ambassador

to Germany. “She was a

strong leader, whip-smart

collaborator and consensus

builder who effectively used

her diplomatic skills to ad-

vance U.S. interests and

policies.”

Bell is also a major fund-

raiser for Democratic candi-

dates and has donated to

campaigns including the

presidential run of former

Vice President Joe Biden,

according to the Federal

Election Commission.

In May, Bell was ap-

pointed by Gov. Gavin New-

som to become the film com-

mission’s director, replacing

Amy Lemisch, who was first

tapped by Gov. Arnold

Schwarzenegger and spent

15 years in the role. She was

instrumental in pushing the

state to increase the incen-

tives offered to TV and film

productions.

Bell said one of her top

priorities is to increase the

annual cap on the film and

TV tax credit program’s

annual allocation — she

declined to say by how much

— and extend it beyond 2025

to demonstrate the state’s

long-term commitment to

the industry.

“We have to maintain our

competitiveness,” Bell said.

“That’s extremely impor-

tant because I believe you

get the best value when you

choose California for pro-

duction, but at the same

time, at this point, we’re not

able to compete against

some of the higher tax incen-

tives that are offered in

states like Georgia.”

In 2017, Georgia hosted

the highest number of top-

grossing domestic movies

compared with other states.

In Georgia, movies can re-

ceive tax credits of up to 30%

and apply those credits to

actors’ salaries, something

that California doesn’t offer.

(California’s maximum tax

credit is 25%.)

But some studios are

evaluating whether they will

keep their productions in

Georgia after its governor

signed a law that could go

into effect next year that

would ban abortions for

women once fetal cardiac ac-

tivity is detected. Any sec-

ond thoughts could benefit

California.

“California is a place that

doesn’t have any of these re-

strictive laws pending,” Bell

said. “We are a state [where]

our people who will be work-

ing on these films will feel

their rights are being re-

spected.”

Bell also emphasized

that she wants everyone to

benefit from the economic

impact of increased TV and

film production across the

state. The current law pro-

vides an additional 5% tax

credit for productions that

film outside the 30-mile zone

around Los Angeles.

“There are many oppor-

tunities,” Bell said. “I don’t

want to leave any particular

community out of this at this

point.”

COLLEENBell, with Frank Gardner, has worked on a TV soap and at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Photographs byMyung J. ChunLos Angeles Times

A diplomatic approach to

local TV, film production

[Bell,from E1]

“I LOOKforward to bridging those two worlds,” says

Bell, a veteran producer and former U.S. diplomat.

ning for president in 2017 be-
fore Bailey emerged as a
dark-horse candidate.
At a time when the acad-
emy faces challenges on nu-
merous fronts — including
flagging public interest in
the Academy Awards, seis-
mic shifts in the film distri-
bution landscape, and an
ambitious museum project
beset by cost overruns and
delays — Rubin is seen by
many insiders as a steadying
hand for an organization
whose voting membership
has ballooned by more than
50% from 5,765 in 2012 to
8,733 today.
Though the casting di-
rectors branch is the newest
in the academy, dating only
to 2013, Rubin is a veteran
academy insider. One of the
original three governors rep-
resenting casting directors
since the branch’s establish-
ment, he has served as sec-
retary of the board and has
produced the Governors

Awards twice.

In an era when the

boundary lines between

film and television have

blurred nearly to the point

of vanishing, Rubin has

strong footholds in both

worlds. Though casting di-

rectors do not have a com-

petitive Oscar category, Ru-

bin has won two Emmys for

his work on HBO’s “Big Lit-

tle Lies” and “Game

Change” and is currently

nominated for HBO’s

“Sharp Objects.”

In decades past the role

of academy president,

which is unpaid, was largely

ceremonial, filled over the

years by the likes of Frank

Capra, Bette Davis and

Gregory Peck as well as less

renowned industry insiders.

But in recent years, as the

organization has dramati-

cally expanded and remade

itself inside and out, the job

has grown more demanding

— and the public spotlight

has grown more intense.

“Look, for an organiza-

tion that some people like to

say is irrelevant and is out of

touch with the times, there

always seems to be a

tremendous amount of in-

terest in what is going on in-

side the academy,” Bailey

told The Times last year.

Indeed, under Bailey’s

leadership, even as the acad-

emy was widely applauded

for continuing its aggressive

push to diversify its mem-

bership ranks as well as its

leadership and made sig-

nificant headway toward

opening its long-awaited

museum, the group suffered

a string of self-inflicted

wounds and public-rela-

tions crises.

Last year, the board an-

nounced the creation of a

“best popular film award,”

only to shelve the idea

weeks later after intense

blowback that it was

ill-conceived. This year’s

Oscars was left hostless for

the first time in 30 years af-

ter planned emcee, Kevin

Hart, dropped out amid

controversy over past ho-

mophobic jokes. A plan to

move the presentation of

several categories to com-

mercial breaks to shorten

the show was scrapped after

intense pushback from

some of the academy’s most

prominent members. Bailey

himself was investigated by

the group — and ultimately

cleared — after a claim of

sexual harassment was

lodged against him in the

first public test of a new code

of conduct it adopted in the

aftermath of the Harvey We-

instein scandal.

Most recently, on Mon-

day, the academy, having al-

ready pushed back the long-

delayed museum opening

from this fall to 2020, an-

nounced that museum di-

rector Kerry Brougher was

stepping down from his

position, leaving the project

temporarily without a direc-

tor as construction nears

completion.

How Rubin, along with

academy Chief Executive

Dawn Hudson and the rest

of the group’s leaders, will

address the numerous chal-

lenges facing the group go-

ing forward remains to be

seen. But in Bailey’s view, as

the public face of an organi-

zation that seems to have

become a magnet for con-

troversy in recent years, he

may need a thick skin.

“My own feeling is, no

matter what the academy

does or says or determines

as a course of action, there

are going to be naysayers,”

Bailey said last year. “It’s

just the nature of it.”

In other election results

announced Tuesday night,

Burwell will continue to

serve in the role of first vice

president; Sid Ganis was re-

elected vice president and

will chair the museum com-

mittee; Larry Karaszewski

will continue as vice presi-

dent and chair of the pres-

ervation and history com-

mittee; Nancy Utley will re-

turn as vice president and

chair of the outreach com-

mittee; Mark Johnson will

be treasurer and chair of

the finance committee; and

Bonnie Arnold will be secre-

tary and chair of the mem-

bership and governance

committee.

AMPAS elects a veteran insider to lead it

[Rubin,from E1]

DAVID RUBIN is film

academy’s new leader.

Kenneth Dolin

The second of last week’s

two Democratic presi-

dential debates on CNN

drew the largest audience

for a prime-time television

program since the June 30

debate.

The July 31 debate from

Detroit averaged 10.77 mil-

lion viewers, the second-

most for a Democratic de-

bate on CNN, behind the

first debate in the 2016 cam-

paign, which averaged 15.8

million viewers.

The week’s first debate

on July 30 averaged 8.69 mil-

lion viewers, third among

prime-time programs be-

tween July 29 and Sunday

behind the second debate

and last Wednesday’s 20-

minute post-debate pro-

gram, according to live-

plus-same-day figures re-

leased by Nielsen on Tues-

day.

The June 30 debate aver-

aged a combined 18.1 million

viewers on NBC, cable’s

MSNBC and the Spanish-

language network Tele-

mundo, the most for a

Democratic presidential de-

bate.

Programming on broad-

cast networks customarily

draws more viewers than

similar programming on ca-

ble networks.

Debate programming ac-

counted for each of the

week’s five most-watched

programs and enabled CNN

to end Fox News Channel’s

nine-week streak as the

most-watched cable net-

work.

CNN averaged 3.17 mil-

lion viewers for its prime-

time programming, more

than four times its average

audience of 781,000 the pre-

vious week, when it was 13th

among cable networks in

prime time.

CNN had the third-larg-

est viewership among all

networks, trailing only NBC,

which averaged 3.67 million,

and ABC, which averaged

3.59 million.

Fox News Channel was

second for the week among

cable networks, averaging

2.51 million viewers, 8.2%

less than its 2.73 million av-

erage the week before, which

was boosted by discussions

on political talk shows

about former special coun-

sel Robert S. Mueller III’s

testimony to two House

committees.

MSNBC was third after

nine consecutive second-

place finishes, averaging

1.26 million viewers, 18.4%

less than its 1.54 million av-

erage a week earlier.

NBC’s “America’s Got

Talent” was the week’s

most-watched entertain-

ment program and sixth

overall, averaging 8 million

viewers against the first de-

bate, 21.3% less than its 10.13

million average the previous

week.

“America’s Got Talent”

has been the most-watched

entertainment program

each week an original epi-

sode has aired since at least

the summer of 2017.

The season finale of

the ABC dating series “The

Bachelorette” averaged a

season-high 7.52 million

viewers opposite the first

debate and “America’s

Got Talent” to finish second

among entertainment

programs and seventh over-

all.

Viewership for NBC’s

coverage of the first NFL

preseason game of 2019 was

d o w n 21.1% f r o m the 2018 pre-

season opener, but still 13th

overall, including trailing

eight elements of CNN’s de-

bate coverage.

The Denver Broncos’ 14-

10 victory over the Atlanta

Falcons in the Hall of Fame

Game averaged 5.35 million

viewers to be Thursday’s

most-watched prime-time

program.

The Baltimore Ravens’

17-16 victory over the Chi-

cago Bears in the 2018 Hall of

Fame Game averaged 6.77

million viewers, third for its

week.

Viewership for most

forms of programming has

declined in recent years in

part because of increased

viewership of streaming

programs.

NBC was the outright

winner in the network race

for the sixth consecutive

week after tying CBS for

first the week of June 17-23,

averaging 3.67 million view-

ers. ABC was second for the

fourth consecutive week,

averaging 3.59 million view-

ers.

CBS averaged 2.68 mil-

lion viewers to finish third

for the third consecutive

week following a fourth-

place finish. Its most-

watched program was an

episode of “60 Minutes”

filled with repeat segments,

which averaged 6.5 million

viewers, 10th for the week.

Millions of potential CBS

viewers were not able to

watch the network because

its owned-and-operated

stations in more than a

dozen markets, including

Los Angeles, were removed

from DirecTV and other

AT&T-owned television

packages July 20 when

the two sides were unable

to reach an agreement to al-

low their continued car-

riage.

Fox finished fourth for

the 27th time in 29 weeks, av-

eraging 1.69 million viewers

for its 16 hours of program-

ming.

Its most-watched pro-

gram was the Thursday edi-

tion of “MasterChef,” which

was 30th among the week’s

broadcast and cable pro-

grams, averaging 3.34 mil-

lion viewers.

The only times Fox has

finished above fourth in

the last 29 weeks were in

the weeks it aired golf ’s U.S.

Open and Major League

Baseball’s All-Star Game.

CBS, NBC and ABC each

aired 22 hours of prime-time

programming for ratings

purposes.

PRIME-TIME TV RATINGS

Presidential

debate powers

CNN’s jump

The second of such

programming ends Fox

News’ streak as the

top cable network.

city news service