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Stranger than Fiction: School in California Serving as TV Set to Combat Budget Woes
posted by: Alix | December 17, 2010, 05:00 AM   

Public schools in Los Angeles have long served as backdrops to some classic films and television shows. With their location a stone's throw away from Hollywood, some schools are seeing the financial benefits of offering themselves up to filmmakers in recent years. Reseda High School in the San Fernando Valley is host to one popular MTV comedy "The Hard Times of RJ Berger."

The cast and crew film primarily at the school and surrounding neighborhoods, but also have a base camp and production space on school property. Filming is done on nights and weekends when students and teachers are off campus.

The arrangement proves convenient for filmmakers who don't have to worry about expensive sound stages and Hollywood locations. "It's a huge savings to us because everything is in walking distance," said Craig Cannold, a producer on the show. "The school has been great to work with."

Convenient for MTV producers equals dollars and cents to Reseda High School, who will stand to generate about $60,000 from the arrangement this school year. At a time when the system has suffered through budget constraints and lay-offs, the funding couldn't come at a better time.

"Our school needs the money," says Neezer McNab, assistant principal at Reseda High. "If this helps some teachers keep their jobs, then I'll do what I can to keep this happening."

This has sparked a trend in recent years as school systems around the area are pursuing licensing agreements that allow schools and surrounding buildings to be filmed. According to FilmLA, the numbers of permit requests are up 38% from the same period in 2008, and the number of production days for school filming has jumped nearly 40% in the last two years.

"Schools are recognizing outside revenue streams and courting filmmakers," said Patricia Edgar from FilmLA. "We now have at least 80 schools on our location library and we're adding to it every day."

According to the school, producers are not allowed to film real students and teachers and are required to submit filming schedules in advance. Recently, filming had to be shut down to accommodate students taking the SAT exam on a Saturday morning.

What do you think of this arrangement? Is it distracting to the learning process or a realistic means to combat budget shortfalls?
Comment below.

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