FILLMORE : Panel to Promote Filming Will Form

Fillmore will form a special commission to court business from the film industry, the City Council decided Tuesday.

The seven-member commission will include city officials, local merchants and citizens, and will be charged with creating strategies to market the city as a prime film location. City officials said the commission will have support from staff but will receive no direct funding from the city.

The commission’s first goal will be to represent the city at a movie industry convention in Los Angeles in June, City Manager Roy Payne said. “This fits in with our plan for generating tourist interest,” Payne said.

The commission was proposed by local realtor John McKinnon. McKinnon said a Fillmore property owner with connections in the movie industry suggested that the city could profit from film business if the process of negotiating location contracts were simplified.