SHOOTING STARS: The Silver State’s winning streak continues

  The Silver State’s still golden — at least when it comes to production revue.
  For the ninth straight year, Nevada’s production revenue topped $100 million; the Nevada Film Office reported revenues of $110.55 million in 2008. That total represents the dollars productions spent on location, from wages to hotel rooms, explains NFO director Charles Geocaris.
  That total also represents "a tremendous accomplishment for the state, especially given the current economic climate,” commented Luis Valera, commissioner for the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, which oversees the NFO.
  Contributing to the 2008 total: such big-screen features as “Escape to Witch Mountain” (which hits theaters in March), “The Hangover” (coming this summer) and independents “Saint John” and “Middle Men.” Plus TV shows (from “America’s Got Talent” to   The Oprah Winfrey Show”), music videos, commercials and industrial films.
  "We're seeing more TV work than ever," Geocaris notes. "Years ago, the bigger movies  made headlines." These days, however, "we get bits and pieces of films," with "all other types of programs coming from all over the world" helping to make up the difference.
  If Nevada had "any time of incentive, revenues would really boom," he comments, citing some states (including Michigan and New Mexico) that offer tax rebates, tax credits — or some combination of the two — to lure location work. (In 2006, Nevada legislators considered a bill that would have given visiting productions a 5-percent sales tax exemption, but it ultimately failed and "now is not the time to ask" for incentives, considering Nevada's current economic crunch, Geocaris says.)
  A potential Screen Actors Guild strike — on the heels of a writers' strike that ended early last year — also has slowed production in Hollywood and on location.
  "No one wants to start anything big," Geocaris comments.
  Easy as ABC: ABC News is in the midst of a Vegas winning streak all its own, with two projects in progress.
  Last week, correspondent John Quiñones, pictured at right, returned to Las Vegas for “Primetime: What Would You Do?” — a hidden-camera show exploring people’s reactions to everyday situations. The show previously visited last July.
  And this week, “20/20” anchor Elizabeth Vargas hits town for the upcoming “20/20” special edition, “Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Returns.”
  Scheduled to air March 6, the show will feature at-home interviews with the illusionists and highlights from their days as Las Vegas headliners — which ended when a tiger bit Roy Horn onstage in October 2003. The show will chronicle Horn’s recovery from near-fatal injuries — and will culminate with Horn and partner Siegfried Fischbacher teaming up onstage, one final time, at a Feb. 28 benefit for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute at Bellagio.
  Kitchen helper: It may not be prime time to open a restaurant, but Toronto-based Red Apple Entertainment is looking for new eateries to spotlight in “Restaurant 101,” which features chef (and restaurant coach) David Adjey helping first-time proprietors at new locations opening through September.
  The show hopes to tape auditions with locals in early March, reports associate producer Heidi Burbela.
  “We are looking for compelling characters with good personal stories and high stakes,” she explains. If that’s you, e-mail restaurant101@redapple.com or phone Burbela at (416) 324-8537.
  Las Vegas might seem a long way from Toronto, but the show is “casting all over the U.S.” for its upcoming run on Canada’s Food Network — and a probable sale to an American cable channel, Burbela says.
  As for the Las Vegas connection, “it’s Vegas,” she comments. “Visually and aesthetically, it’s beautiful. And there’s always something going on.” Which, in her view, adds up to one thing: “Great TV.”
  Catching up: Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” continues its ninth-season shoot around town, which pits “Team United States vs. Team United Kingdom.” And History Channel Canada’s documentary series “Buffalo Air” — about the folks who operate an airline (with World War II-era planes) in Canada’s rugged Northwest Territories — continues a Las Vegas visit to capture footage from a Mandalay Bay wedding.
  And production was expected to end last week on “Extreme Vegas,” an episode of “Extreme,” a 26-episode Travel Channel series debuting June 17.
  The show focuses on over-the-top Las Vegas attractions (gee, wonder why they thought of Las Vegas), including notable local spots from the Neon Museum to Mandalay Bay’s Ice Lounge, the Golden Nugget’s Tank, the Palms’ Moon nightclub and Qua Spa at Caesars Palace.
  In short, “not your typical tourist attractions,” according to Travel Channel publicist Katelyn Balach, but “the biggest, the fastest and the hippest things to do in the city.”
  The write stuff: To help promote filmmaking in Nevada, the NFO sponsors an annual screenwriting contest. And the winner of the 21st annual competition is ... “Cover With the Moon” by Las Vegan Adam Bellamy.