Ed Fuentes

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — As a young shopper looked perplexed at the corner of 6th and Spring St––that stood in for NY's 6th Ave and Broadway for a Neutrogena shoot Saturday afternoon––6th St between Spring and Main was closed.

On Monday, Film L.A sought a one-year contract extension from the City to remain the production liaison between L.A. and film crews. Councilmember Jan Perry wrote a request to the committee that Film L.A.'s contract be limited to six months, and the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council sent a letter asking that any new proposal and/or contract respond to neighborhood concerns, according to President of DLANC Russell Brown at a film issues meeting held earlier this week. Brown added that residents from Echo Park and Silver Lake were also present at the Monday meeting between the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee, and Film L.A.

The City will now turn around and issue a Request for Information (RFI), checking to see if there are others out there who are interested in the exclusive contract currently held by Film L.A. A Request for Proposals (RFP) will follow.

Since that first meeting with Downtown residents at the Little Tokyo Branch Library, Film L.A. have posted on their website a list of Downtown-area filming rules, and on May 25 posted a notice that the Echo Park area has been "temporarily designated as a sensitive location" for film production.

Yet, just as the film issues committee is made of residents adamant about the enforcement of new or future rules, many on the ad hoc committee feel filming adds a creative personality to the neighborhood. "It's just about being told about filming and parking," said one new downtown resident who was waiting for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to begin at the Downtown Laemmle's Grande 4-Plex. When Downtown's Broadway and the Eastern Columbia building appeared in the background during the trailer for Transformers, she cheered.