Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/675981
a little shopping while they're in town. Add to that the fact that many pro- ducers hire local people to work on their crews and some even hire res- idents as movie extras and you have an industry that, as they say, "takes only pictures and leaves only footprints." "This is a clean kind of business," Nordstrand says. "It's a crazy economic engine that comes to town, takes their pictures and goes home. A crew the size of the one for "Big Little Lies" will pump $75,000 to $100,000 into local coffers." It also gives a boost to tourism by showcasing the county to a world-wide audience. "We get calls all the time from people who saw Monterey, Carmel or Big Sur in a film or on television and say 'I want to go there on vacation.' It's spin-off tourism." Nordstrand explains that the group is a nonprofit that applies for County funds each year. By all accounts, the Commission is a good use of tax dollars. "We estimate that $92 million has come into Monterey County com- munities from the film industry over the years," she says. "That's a 24 to 1 108 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 Hollywood came to Steinbeck Country in 1955 to film the author's "East of Eden." Movie star James Dean is pictured at a Spreckels- area home used in the production. Other locations included the former Spreckels sugar factory and nearby farm fields. Photo: © Corbis/All Rights Reserved