Parsons Faces New Problems With Eidc, City

Barely a month into his job as interim head of the embattled Entertainment Industry Development Corp., Lindsley Parsons was put on notice last week that the Los Angeles City Council is taking steps to renegotiate its contract with the film-permitting agency. The EIDC hadn't planned on dealing with a renegotiation for another five years.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, a former DreamWorks executive, introduced the motion to reopen the EIDC contract last week to the unanimous support of her fellow councilmembers.

The council's move comes as the EIDC's operations are under intense scrutiny, not only from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office 5-month-old probe but also from an EIDC subcommittee consisting of Greuel, Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and the MPAA's Melissa Patack that was established to recommend changes to the structure of the EIDC's board of directors. In addition, the EIDC is the target of two separate financial and structural audits, one being conducted by City Controller Laura Chick's office, the other by the accounting firm KPMG.

"I don't exactly know what changes (Greuel) had in mind, but I told her that it was going to be a two-way exchange and that I had things that I want to put on the table," Parsons said in an interview. "I think it can be a profitable discussion for both of us."

Parsons took the EIDC reins in January following the resignation of president Cody Cluff, who is at the center of a criminal investigation by the District Attorney's Office for the expenditures of EIDC marketing funds.

For his part, Parsons — a film industry veteran who was one of the founding fathers of the EIDC in the early 1990s — believes that no major overhaul of the agency is necessary despite the recent controversy.

"I don't think it should (change). I think it has performed a very useful purpose since its inception," said Parsons, who cited a recent example of how the EIDC was able to persuade a studio to switch a film's premiere date in Westwood from midweek to the weekend after local businesses and vendors had voiced concern about weeknight traffic congestion caused by red-carpet events.

Rather than seismic shifts, Parsons is more keen to discuss operational changes that could speed up the process by which the city and county are reimbursed for their expenditures related to location shooting, which has long been a criticism leveled at the EIDC. One proposal Parsons is fielding is to more clearly define the role of the EIDC and the billing responsibilities of the city's fire department.

"I want to change the way the fire department reports their charges, for example," Parsons said. "They treat us