Film, Porn Shoots Sought by Los Angeles Homeowners Hit by Slump

[marmar]

Film, Porn Shoots Sought by Los Angeles Homeowners Hit by Slump
By Nadja Brandt and Daniel Taub


Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Jayshree Gupta reclined on an English-style sofa in her Beverly Hills penthouse as crews buzzed around taping protective paper over the hardwood floors and wheeling in crates of camera gear.

She was hosting a television-commercial shoot. It meant allowing dozens of strangers and 400-pound klieg lights into her home for a full day, and it was worth every minute, Gupta said.

“I am doing it because I need money to maintain my lifestyle,” she said, perched near a portrait of herself painted by her friend Barbara Carrera, the Bond girl in 1983’s “Never Say Never Again.” “A lot of my money is either gone or tied up. Right now I am hurting.”

Gupta, a clothing and jewelry designer, is among an increasing number of recession-pinched Los Angeles homeowners turning to Hollywood for help, offering their houses as sets for feature films, commercials and even adult movies.

“We are getting a lot of calls,” said Joseph Darrell, whose Los Angeles-based Joe Darrell Location Service represents Gupta. “They say, ‘Can you help me to bring a production to my home, because I have trouble making my payments.’”

The daily fee paid for the sort of work done at Gupta’s 3,000-square-foot condo in the city’s signature 90210 ZIP code is usually $2,000 to $3,000, Darrell said. That would cover about half of her monthly household bills, including maid service. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aYRTVXV1dnuE&refer=home

[Chulanowa]

1. The poor dear

As I sit in the room I rent - literally, it's a room - debating which medical bill I want to pay off (Hmmmm, broken arm or dentist?) and mathing up how much I'll have left over for, you know, peanut butter and jelly, this poor, tragic story has yanked my heart strings. She's free to go for all the lint in my pockets (sorry, not much else in there)

[XemaSab]

2. I swear it's a media conspiracy

every time there's an article about the economy and how people are hurting to pick the worst possible subjects.

If it's an article about the price of gas, they profile someone who uses his Hummer to tow a boat from LA to the Colorado River every weekend.

If it's an article about the cost of groceries, they pick someone who is 400 lbs who can't afford ice cream anymore.

And if it's an article about people renting out their houses to film crews to make ends meet, it's some rich bitch who might have to cut the maid's hours back to 20 hours a week.

:banghead:

[sweetpotato]

3. Those poor rich people

Didn't someone point out a couple of days ago that when you only see wealthy people in the media - on tv and in the movies - that this can only mean we are in or are very close to being in a depression.

Gotta put the best spin on it, I suppose.

[TWiley]

5. all the talk about Madoff's victims is a similar bias

20,000 workers loose their jobs (and their homes) is all you hear on the news, but when it is an investment banker, or someone who lost a really unimaginable sum, then grave detail is required.

Media personalities are rich. That is the problem. They are mortified when it happens to one of their own.

Raising taxes on those who make $250,000 and above affects ..... THEM.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

6. do yourself a favor and don't read Generation Debt

I don't know where the author found the broke assholes, but you will be cheering for the collection agencies by the time your finished.

[JVS]

7. LOL!

:rofl:

Please, tell more. This sounds funny as hell.

[XemaSab]

8. "Nickel and Dimed" had that effect on me

:hide:

[mmonk]

4. Well......

:rofl:
Be sure and keep those necessities.