By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE battle over the $3.5 billion Baha Mar development is jeopardising what a well-known Hollywood producer described as a “major opportunity” for the promotion of the Bahamas internationally as well as the advancement of the local film industry.

“I’ve never seen such resistance,” Scott Steindorff, the American film and television producer who has produced films such as ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’, ‘Chef’ and ‘Penelope’, as well as the NBC television series ‘Las Vegas’ told Tribune Business. Mr Steindorff had planned to film a television series ‘Bahamas’ at the now stalled Cable Beach resort.

“We had made a deal with Baha Mar because I had never seen such an unbelievable resort. I think that when everything is resolved it will be one of the greatest in the world - and I’ve been all over the world. I had a deal with them and they were great to work with. Myself and other writers went there, spent a lot of time and I sent my director there. We paid money to do the show and started casting for the show, I mean movie stars. I had one of the biggest directors in Hollywood, Rob Cohen of The Fast and Furious, to direct it and one of the biggest writers, Rob Weiss, who did ‘Entourage’,” said Mr Steindorff.

Mr Steindorff noted that the ‘Las Vegas’ television series, which was centred around a resort and ran from 2003 to 2008 had helped to revitalise that city, attracted 15-18 million US television viewers a week and 40-50 million viewers worldwide. Mr Steindorff said that the ‘Bahamas’ television series would have likewise been a major promotional push for the Bahamas and helped grow the country’s film industry.

“When we did ‘Las Vegas’ it was a major hit and helped the city at a time when it was struggling,” he said. “It helped so much they gave me the keys to the city. Resorts there were fighting to be on the show because it did so much for the economy. I also did a film called ‘Love in the time of cholera’ in Colombia and it was the first big international movie filmed there. They were wonderful to deal with; they laid out the red carpet and made me an honorary ambassador to the country,” said Mr Steindorff, stating that his experience in the Bahamas had been quite different.

“I have never experienced such resistance to what could be a great thing for the Bahamas; a TV series about the Bahamas. Everyone in Hollywood is thrilled about this and we have just got nothing but resistance from the Bahamas. With Baha Mar, this country is getting a lot of negative publicity in America. I have investors who want to do business in the Bahamas but there seems to be this anti-business sentiment,” said Mr Steindorff, who told Tribune Business that the government had initially been “gung ho” over the TV series project, having agreed to offer incentives but later backed-down.

“This was going to be a major boost for tourism and would have helped to promote the country. Also, it would have been great for the film industry. Every episode would have over 100 extras, people we would have been training on the crew creating a whole industry,” said Mr Steindorff. “I have investors putting up millions of dollars for this series and they are concerned about this situation with Baha Mar. It doesn’t create a healthy business environment. It only adds to conflict.

“I love the Bahamas and I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world with some of the nicest people in the world. Right now, I have people in Hawaii pulling out the red carpet, Cuba of all places, places that want this show as well as Puerto Rico. They know what it will do for their people and the economy of the country.”