With seven television shows and a rapidly growing number of films set there, Orange County is enjoying a few minutes of fame and an unprecedented opportunity.

By TIFFANY HAWK

When Matt Ouimet, who was living in Florida at the time, was asked to move to Orange County to take over as president of Disneyland, he had to face his wife – who was supportive – and his kids who were devastated. “What about our friends?” the son cried. “How could you do this to us?” the daughter echoed. Then a smile crept onto the suspicious son’s face. “Wait a minute. Is that the OC?” Suddenly thrilled, the kids started packing.

Since the debut of the wildly popular Fox drama in 2003, we have found ourselves in a glamorously re-branded land called the OC. And now, we can’t even turn on the telly without seeing ourselves somewhere. We’ve got “Arrested Development” and “Laguna Beach, The Real Orange County,” and if you believe the rumors, the mythical Wisteria Lane of “Desperate Housewives” is even inspired by our county. On March 21, a new reality show set in Coto de Caza called “The Real Housewives of Orange County” premiered on Bravo; a VH1 show starring local caterer and Coast columnist Brian Dobbin is scheduled to premiere later his year; and MTV has confirmed they are currently shooting two more shows in Orange County: one modeled after “Laguna Beach” that’s set in Mission Viejo, and another that focuses on breaking world records, which is set at the former Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro. And that’s not all. Janice Arrington, the Orange County film commissioner, says between television and the silver screen, we have something filming in the county every day.

Cash Cachet
Why should we care? The payoff to our county is lucrative. According to Ken Anderson, president of the Media Alliance of Orange County, a local association of film and television professionals, “there is more production here than ever, and much of the economic benefit goes to the tourism sector with hotel rooms and meals for the crew.” “Laguna Beach,” for example, books 25 to 35 hotel rooms in Laguna each night during filming. And all of those people need to eat and shop. In fact, the Motion Picture Association, which tracks spending in cities throughout the state, says that the latest statistics reveal that in 2003, film crews spent $500 million in payroll and vendor dollars – considering “The OC” didn’t debut until the summer of that year, imagine how much they spent here in 2005.

To attract film and television productions, we have Janice Arrington. A member of the Director’s Guild of America, Arrington uses her Hollywood and local connections to make filming in the OC easier. If a studio wants to blow up cars and crash helicopters into buildings, they could just approach the city with their plan, but chances are, the city would laugh them out of town. So they work with Arrington to find a place, a time and a plan that city officials will be comfortable with and will create the least amount of hassle.

Unfortunately, Arrington can’t cut through all of the red tape. Because of a 30-mile artificial perimeter around Hollywood known as the “studio zone,” many shows – even those that are set in Orange County – aren’t filmed here. Josh Schwartz, for example, “The OC”’s creator, says he would love to film in Orange County, but it’s prohibitively expensive. If a show films outside of the zone, it is considered a distant location, and the actors and crew must be put up in hotel rooms and provided with meals and transportation, just as if they were filming in Prague. To save money, studios stay closer to home.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t still helping to fill our hotels, restaurants and shops. Probably more valuable than the cash spent by visiting crews is the cachet they give us by publicizing our county to travelers all over the world willing to pay big bucks to see where Ryan kissed Marissa or where Jason cheated on Lauren. This summer, so many families with teens stopped by Laguna’s visitor center to ask about hot spots from the MTV show that the center created a guide to places where the show’s stars have been filmed eating lunch (Gina’s Pizza) and getting groomed (Beautiful Nails). “While we can’t measure how many more tourists we actually get, our website went from 600,000 visits per year in 2004 to more than 1.5 million in ’05,” says Judy Bijlani, executive director of the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau. Newport Beach has also seen an increase in tourism and has created a movie map to direct visitors to their favorite “OC” spots.

Flash in the Pan or Staying Power
While the future remains to be seen, Hollywood insiders agree that with looks and congeniality, Orange County has the “it” factor. Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Bel Air – we’ve seen them to death. According the Scott Dunlop, writer and producer of “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” this has created the perfect opportunity to introduce the world to L.A.’s neighbor to the south. “We’re becoming discovered, because we still offer a fresh version of California life – there is still plenty to mine,” he says. And Kathryn Takis, co-executive producer of MTV’s “Laguna Beach” agrees. “Laguna is beautiful and untapped. It’s so hard to find a place to shoot in L.A. that hasn’t been shot out or that doesn’t charge $10,000 location fees.”

Filmmakers and television producers may cite our geographical variety and unobstructed ocean views as the area’s primary draws, but we’re not just getting by on our looks. Brian Dobbin says our popularity also comes from our personality. “Our area is growing and people are very proud. They’re open and willing to have a party and show off for TV. So many of the people having parties in L.A. are already in the industry and don’t want the exposure.” He also says it’s just plain easier to film down here, and the producers of “Laguna Beach” think he’s right. In fact, they feel that the phenomenal success of the show is due largely to how easy it has been to work in Laguna. “Although there are some people who would prefer we weren’t there, for the most part people have been beyond friendly and have been opening their doors and shops to us.” Because that openness has attracted viewers from around the world, they feel a huge responsibility to make filming as painless as possible for the community. To remain non-invasive, the show uses minimal lights and doesn’t shut down roads. They have even made rules that prohibit smoking and using profanity on set and require crew to dress in business attire. “We want to show the community the same respect they’ve shown us,” says Takis.

Film crews have been as pleased with their on-location work as these television series have. According to Paul Brinkman, the location manager for The Death and Life of Bobby Z, a film starring Paul Walker and Laurence Fishburne, the area is exceptionally easy to work in. The movie, scheduled for release later this year, was filmed this winter in Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San Clemente. “Filming here has been so great. It’s been such a positive experience. People have been so cooperative, and the Laguna cops and fire department bent over backward for us.” And Brinkman has a reason to be happy about the success of the location: He’s lived in Laguna for 12 years and generally makes the trek to Hollywood. For nine years, he commuted up to work on the television show “JAG.”

Many locals hope the county’s higher profile, along with the work of Arrington and the media alliance, will help us capitalize on our few minutes of fame by bringing work to the large number of industry professionals living within our borders and money to our cities and businesses. “There are so many talented people who live down here and commute to Hollywood for work every day,” says Helene Fabian, owner of Irvine Studios, a production and media center that offers sound stages and editing bays as well as editing and producing services. “As part of the alliance, we band together to attract more business within the county and keep people from being forced to go out of town for work.” Although, according to alliance president Ken Anderson, the local film industry hasn’t seen a huge upturn in work yet, its credibility and profile have been elevated with the success of so many well-regarded television shows.

Other locals like Scott Dunlop are also eager to fight for our piece of the pie. “I want to show things from an Orange County perspective using an Orange County production team. We’re always in the shadow of Los Angeles, but we have great talented people here. My vision if we’re successful with this, is to take the writers and performers and other talent in Orange County and fuse them with the economic power of the area and create a platform for the industry here.” Like so many other local Hollywood insiders, when he moved to Orange County in the ’90s, it meant a commute to L.A. Now, he’s happy to be working close to home and establishing a local industry worth envying. “Some people in Los Angeles are looking to Canada as an easier place to work, but Orange County has been overlooked in the past. We’re virginal territory. We can help the industry stay in California.” He wants to generate more work within the county and attract more L.A. productions to the area. “Orange County is ground zero for cultural trends, fashion, music, literature. We need to spur people here to control our destiny. Let’s start an ownership model. Let’s get it going. You know what I’m saying.” Whether we like it or not, it looks like Hollywood is listening.