Filming of X-Rated Movies Creates Stir : Neighbors: Residents complain that nude actors and actresses engaging in sex acts can be clearly seen in house on their street.

STUDIO CITY — The steamy goings-on at a house in a quiet hillside neighborhood here give new meaning to the word “picturesque”--one that neighbors wish it didn’t have.

The three-story house on Picturesque Drive has recently become a popular site for film crews shooting X-rated movies. Three pornographic productions have been shot at the location in the past four months. Neighbors say the crews have tied up traffic on their street, monopolized scarce parking spaces, filmed past their mandated shutdown time of 10 p.m.--and worse.

What really has riled the neighbors are the nude actors and actresses who can be clearly seen, they say, having sex through curtain-less windows. The neighbors say the sex acts can be viewed by children, and that the X-rated movie-making has injected a sleazy element into their neighborhood.

Paula Allen, who lives next door to the house, said her 13-year-old son asked her, “What are naked men doing on the roof?”

The most recent filming occurred Wednesday through Friday of last week, when Van Nuys-based Cinnamon Inc.--an X-rated movie production company--used the house as its film location. A coordinator from the Los Angeles Film Office issued a warning to the company on Friday after finding that Cinnamon had violated the terms of its film permit by parking an equipment truck in front of the house.

In August, another company that produces adult films, Agency Productions, also received a warning from the film office, for allowing cast and crew members to park their personal vehicles on the street, rather than busing them in as required by its film permit. Cinnamon and Agency corrected the situations when told to do so, film office representatives said.

Allen said that, looking from her window into that of the neighboring house, she saw a male and female actor having sex on the floor. She said she has also seen actors undressing in the house’s kitchen, and scantily clad men and women on the hillside house’s patios.

Another neighbor, who is active in the Studio City Residents Assn. but who declined to be named, said, “I’ve lived here for 33 years and paid taxes, and I love Studio City. I go out and paint over graffiti. Now here I am on a street with constant traffic. I come home and don’t have a parking space. They don’t leave when they’re supposed to. You know, I could go down and set fire to the place.”

But Cinnamon officials say that as long as the company complies with the conditions of its film permit--which they say they have--they have a right to be there. “We fought long and hard for the right to adhere to the same laws as everyone else,” said Paul Thomas, a Cinnamon producer-director who worked on last week’s movie. Thomas added that film crews took care to cover the windows with thick, black curtains.

Arline DeSanctis, an aide to City Councilman Joel Wachs who represents the area, said she has received a petition signed by 19 residents on the street opposing any more filming at the house. DeSanctis said another aide has contacted the city attorney’s office to see whether the city can prosecute the film crews’ offenses.

Assistant City Atty. Ed Fimbres said the sex acts cannot be prosecuted as crimes. Because they are being performed by actors and actresses, Fimbres said, they are considered theatrical performances, which are protected by the First Amendment. Residents who are upset about parking and traffic issues can take those concerns up with the film office, he said, which could decide to revoke the permit.

Property records show that the house is owned by David Bakalor and Peter Zoberg, although current occupants of the house said they pay rent to a man named Dane Robbins. Rod Hopkins, one of the four tenants, said he and his roommates have been living there for about three months.

The film office issues permits to about 2,800 X-rated film productions in the Valley a year, according to Cody Cluff, president of the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., the nonprofit organization that runs the Los Angeles Film Office.

The film office on Monday gave no indication that it would move to block filming permits at the house any time soon.

“There may have been some minor violations, but overall, the compliance has been good, and we will continue to monitor the situation,” said Michael Bobenko, vice president of operations.