​L.A. is being portrayed by ... Shreveport, La? Add it to the indignities facing our fare city lately: So much film production is running away from Hollywood that even Los Angeles -- whose downtown streets often stood-in for New York and other cities -- is being played by lesser locales.

L.A.'s iconic industry has fallen victim to tax subsidies and other incentives offered by far-away locales ranging from Vancouver to North Carolina, notes the New York Times. As a result, local shoots were down 30 percent last year. And so, Starz series Crash is set in L.A. but shot in New Mexico. Similarly the Angeleno-flavored film High School was shot in Michigan. And yes, the 2011 film Battle: Los Angeles should actually be called Battle: Louisiana.

Angels Gate Cultural Center

​Advocates for arts programs in Los Angeles were scheduled to meet up Monday night as part of a letter-writing campaign to urge the city to back off possible staff reductions at the Department of Cultural Affairs and a proposed elimination of $2.2 million in arts grants.

Leaders of the nonprofit Angels Gate Cultural Center, which works in conjunction with the city on arts and culture programs, have organized the campaign in conjunction with the Grand Vision Foundation. The meet-up is set to take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Grand Annex, 434 W 6th St., San Pedro.

​The trouble for Shepard Fairey stemming from his iconic, pre-election 'Hope' poster of President Obama continues this week: Lawyers in a civil case against him filed by the Associated Press have indicated that the Los Angeles artist is under criminal investigation in connection with the piece.

Associated Press stated it had received a grand jury's subpoena in the case. It's not clear if the probe is targeting Fairey's original use of an Associated Press photograph for the piece or his denial of such and his subsequent admittance that he lied about having used the AP photo.

LACMA

Reenactment of Allan Kaprow's 'Fluids' (1967) at LACMA.

​The Getty Foundation Wednesday announced it's giving out $3.1 million in grants to support a massive, Southern California-wide series of exhibitions, Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980, to take place in 2011 and 2012.

The money is going to 26 regional institutions to support their roles in the program that celebrates 30 "thematically linked" exhibitions -- what the foundation calls "the largest collaborative project ever undertaken by museums in the region" -- that showcase postwar art in Southern California.

Eli and Edythe Broad.

​In news first reported by blogdowntown, a third possible location for billionaire Eli Broad's proposed museum has cropped up indeed -- downtown Los Angeles.

While Santa Monica was busy claiming it almost had a deal to host the museum wrapped up and Beverly Hills was reported to be offering Broad a building at Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards for his prized art collection, a public authority overseeing development near Bunker Hill is also moving forward with a proposal to house Broad's prized art collection.

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A new Reality Show is casting Silver Lake's rich, wealthy, hipster GUYS and GIRLS 21-30 whose personal style is homeless chic... You must be incredibly involved in the Silver Lake social scene, enjoy a sensational nightlife Silver Lake style and be very outspoken with a vivacious personality. You must also hang with a racially diverse, intriguing group of friends who all live in Silver Lake.

The Broad Foundation

Eli and Edythe Broad.

​While we told you recently that Santa Monica was reported to be close to wrapping up a deal to have Eli Broad's much anticipated museum open in the beach-side city, Beverly Hills is saying not fast: The Beverly Hills City Council is considering buying a building at Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards for $15 million and leasing the space to Broad for $1 a year as part of its incentives to have him locate in the gilded town.

This according to Beverly Hills Courier news editor Abbey Hood, who cites an unnamed source. The paper reports that broad is still weighing proposals from both cities, with the Santa Monica City Council set to consider approving its own $1 lease deal for city property for the museum plus nearly $3million in cash and site improvements.

​Bad news for Buddhists and others seeking enlightenment: the Bodhi Tree Bookstore is closing. Owners Phil Thompson and Stan Madson informed their staff last Wednesday that the cozy Melrose Avenue shop, a nationally renowned and much beloved spiritual center, will be shutting its doors in a year's time.

After some eight months of discussion, Thompson and Madson decided to sell the property to a local business owner who leases space to several other nearby retailers. The Bodhi Tree opened in 1970. Land values in the area have risen dramatically since then. Meanwhile, the business of selling print books has been on a steady decline. For years, real estate agents had been circling the Bodhi Tree like vultures. In the end, selling the property became a much more profitable option than continuing to sell books.

MOCA

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Little Tokyo.

​By Tom Christie, Senior Features Editor

The Museum of Contemporary Art says it will announce its new director Monday morning, but the as yet unconfirmed rumor is that it will be ubiquitous New York gallerist Jeffrey Deitch, proprietor of Deitch Projects.

If so, it would be a highly unusual move for a commercial gallerist to run a museum. But, given MOCA's financial problems, perhaps the board felt it needed a man of art and commerce at the helm.

U.S. Attorney's Office

The fake Picasso.

​Federal authorities today announced charges against Los Angeles gallery owner Tatiana Khan, whom the FBI alleges commissioned a fake Picasso drawing, sold it for $2 million, and purchased a real Willem de Kooning painting with part of the profits.

The 69-year-old proprietor of Chateau Allegré gallery at 815 N. La Cienega Boulevard near West Hollywood was informed of the charges, including wire fraud, making false statements to the FBI and witness tampering, Friday morning, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office statement.