Jan B. Jacobson
Special for The Republic
Feb. 10, 2008 06:31 PM

A new TV show will be using the streets of downtown Phoenix as a stand-in for Los Angeles over the next few weeks, but it wasn't the architecture or the weather that drew it here.

The show's producers came for Arizona's entertainment-industry tax incentives, and they're not the only people looking east from Hollywood toward Arizona.

TV and film productions spent an estimated $208 million in Arizona in 2007, and 2008 may be an even bigger year.

As of Nov. 29, the state had received 25 applications for production in 2008. In addition, the Arizona Department of Commerce received six applications in November to build infrastructure and studios or augment existing Arizona facilities in accordance with the state's tax-incentive program.

"The reason we're shooting here is Arizona's motion-picture production-tax incentives," said Robert Rolsky, production manager for the show S.I.S.

The two-hour drama, a pilot for Spike TV, is about an elite police squad that stalks Los Angeles' worst criminals. Producers have set up an office in Phoenix and have begun local casting.

Shooting started at the end of January and will run about a month and a half.

"Ninety percent of the production crew is from Arizona, and we are casting and using local day actors and extras. In addition, we are working with local caterers, amenities and housing," Rolsky said.

To take advantage of the tax incentive, TV and movie productions are required to hire 50 percent of their crews from Arizona. This means jobs for Arizonans, in addition to the economic impact such a series brings in the areas of hospitality, products and services.

"Inquiries from major studios in California have indicated they would be interested in seeing Arizona develop studio spaces and that this could present opportunities for more production in Arizona with regards to television production for series and pilots," said Harry Tate, director of the Department of Commerce Film Office.

Universal Studios and its broadcast division visited the Phoenix area recently to scout potential locations and visit local studios to assess possibilities for a potential television series in Phoenix and Tucson.

Several commercial productions have recently been concluded or will soon be going into production. These include a Budget rental-car commercial with Redux Pictures, the Sundance Channel's catalog shoot and a Snickers commercial that will be filmed in Tucson.

There are three primary studios/facilities that are being used for major productions in the state: Old Tucson Studios, CJ Smith Studios and Mescal.

Arizona also has demonstrated its ability to accommodate large projects with interior studio spaces by using warehouse and convention spaces. Such spaces were used in the filming of The Kingdom and Stephen King's Desperation.

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