Ad Spat : Producer Asks L.A. to Crack Down on Day-Glo Movie Posters on Utility Poles

Giant-sized movie posters that have popped up on utility poles in the San Fernando Valley have triggered a giant-sized dispute between two film makers.

Producer James S. Green has accused producer John Daly of illegally littering Studio City with 6-foot-tall posters advertising Daly’s new movie “Miracle Mile.”

The posters, printed in eye-searing Day-Glo colors, are “professional graffiti and in poor taste and judgment,” said Green, of Green-Epstein Productions of Studio City.

Daly’s Hemdale Film Corp. released “Miracle Mile” on Friday. It depicts the end of the world coming to Wilshire Boulevard by way of nuclear missiles.

Posters Ugly

Green says the posters are ugly enough to end neighborhood tranquillity along Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Laurel Canyon Boulevard, “where they seem to be on every pole.”

Green, who lives in Studio City, says he can even see the signs outside his office on Coldwater Canyon Avenue.

His complaints to the city attorney’s office and City Councilman Michael Woo prompted officials on Monday to ask the influential Alliance of American Motion Picture and Television Producers to request film studios to stop placing movie advertisements on public rights of way.

‘This Is a No-No’

“We want to get the word out that this is a no-no,” said Diana Brueggemann, an aide to Woo, who represents the Studio City and Hollywood areas. “We called the Public Works Department and asked them to immediately remove those Day-Glo posters.”

Officials of the city attorney’s office said it is a misdemeanor to place posters or advertising signs on sidewalks, streets or other public areas without city permission. Those convicted of illegally posting signs face a 6-month jail term and a $1,000 fine.

“The only problem is there needs to be an eyewitness for successful prosecution . . . someone to do a citizens arrest,” said Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for City Atty. James K. Hahn. “The company that distributes the advertisements will always say, ‘I didn’t tell them to put them on the poles.’ ”

A spokeswoman for Daly said he was unavailable for comment. But other Hemdale officials defended the posters, which carry a “Copyright Hemdale” label.

Marketing Vice President Martin Rabinovitch said the company thought it was important to inform people about the movie because Hemdale believes the film is significant.

Gary Shapiro, a Hemdale marketing consultant, said it is common practice for studios to place movie posters on “public free spaces around town”--although he said apparently no one had thought of using 6-foot-tall Day-Glo signs before now.

He said that if there was an ordinance against placing the posters on poles, “we wouldn’t do it.” Shapiro conceded, however, that “I’ve noticed they’re disappearing rather rapidly”--the result of homeowners and city employees removing them.

Green, whose films include “Higher Ground” for CBS and “Addicted to His Love” for ABC, acknowledged that Daly has produced quality films such as “Platoon.”

But he said Hemdale should use quality methods of advertising its films in the future.

“I’m embarrassed by it,” he said of the posters. “We should sell our movies with the same good taste we use in making them. Our neighborhoods are littered enough.”