Brazil is trying to restart its economic growth spurt

SAO PAULO, Brazil — The Brazilian government is hoping to get South America's largest economy kicking again.

It has yanked down interest rates to record lows and kept the value of the real, the Brazilian currency, in check. The government has even doled out tax cuts in attempts to boost growth.

But so far, there's not much evidence those strategies are working — and key economic data released Friday probably won't change things.

The government reported the economy grew less than 1% for 2012, which was slightly below what economists expected. That expansion in gross domestic product was well below the 4.5% the country had been recently averaging, presenting a challenge for a government that needs growth to continue its social progress.

"We're suffering from a hangover from growing too fast, and the slowdown in 2011 and 2012 has been worse than we expected," said Caio Megale, an economist at the Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco. "We're waiting to get back on track in 2013 and 2014, but still, because of structural limitations we think that for the time being we'll grow slower than we did from 2005 to 2010."

Brazilians are living better than ever, enjoying record-low unemployment and still-rising wages. But more social gains depend on how — and whether — the country rebounds, economists say.

In Latin America, countries such as Mexico and Colombia are sucking in some of the investment that used to come to Brazil when it was still an investors' darling. After overtaking the UK as the world's sixth-largest economy last year, Brazil slid back into seventh place, ahead of France.

Investors have been startled by stubborn inflation, low productivity and onerous taxes that have reappeared as the country attempts to get back on track. Stocks have slid, and the Brazilian government hasn't done much to make it easy for foreign investors.

"Investing in Brazil is less of a no-brainer now," Megale said. "You have to know what stock or asset you're investing in. It's not just that you bring your money in and automatically make more money, like it was before."

For much of the 21st century so far, two factors propelled the previously long-suffering Brazilian economy forward.

First, Asian demand for commodities such as iron ore and soy pushed up prices, and money poured into Brazil. From 2000 to 2011, Brazilian exports to China increased more than fortyfold.

Second, governments put the country's previously crisis-ridden financial system on track, enabling Brazilians to go on a credit-fueled spending spree, often for basic (and Asian-made) consumer items such as refrigerators, cars and washing machines.

The resulting boom, combined with moderate social programs put in place by the government of Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, has lifted almost 40 million Brazilians out of poverty and reduced the often shocking inequality among the country's residents. Investors got some nice returns, and Brazil emerged on the world stage — winning the rights to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

But a recent slowdown in China, not to mention the European economic crisis, has taken its toll. Banks say Brazilian consumers are reaching the limit of debt they can take on.

After the economy averaged 4% to 5% GDP growth per year in 2005-10, growth dropped to 2.7% in 2011, and in 2012 it is expected to have been less than 1%.

"We think the growth from 2005 to 2010 was an exceptional period, owing to factors that won't be repeated," said Tony Volpon, an economist with Nomura in New York. He expects Brazil to grow 3.5% this year. "The government is waiting for the measures taken in 2012 to sooner or later cause growth, but those measures may have simply failed."

From 2011 to 2012, Brazil's central bank brought interest rates down to 7.25% from as high as 12.5% — around where they had long hovered as some of the highest in the world. The government also granted ad hoc tax breaks to stimulate industry and continued intervening in the foreign exchange markets.

The much-feared threat of inflation has also reared its head again. Inflation may be approaching the official upper limit of 6.5%.

That's still much lower than problematic levels in neighboring Argentina, but Brazil is especially averse to price rises after going through years of hyperinflation. Some parts of the market want the central bank to change course and raise rates again.

"Growth will stay slow unless there are structural changes, and that really means reform. There is some low-hanging fruit for easy changes, such as with the tax code, which is very silly in places," Volpon said. "But unlike in Mexico, there is no political consensus here for reform at the moment."

This may be because in the streets of Brazil, normal people are feeling great, and the government is confident. While investors have taken a hit, high wages and low unemployment have gone hand in hand with approval ratings for President Dilma Rousseff as high as 78%. With most people happy, there is little incentive to make changes.

But all will not stay rosy if growth doesn't return, Volpon and Megale said.

Many Brazilian industries are in dire need of skilled laborers, having already snapped up everyone available. Economists believe a scarcity of productive workers is one of a few obstacles to getting the country back on track, along with huge infrastructure bottlenecks long in need of investment.

"If we can't get investment up to 25% of our GDP, we'll never be able to grow at the rates we had going recently," said Paulo Sandroni, professor of economics at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas, an elite business school. Poor infrastructure could also be a headache during the World Cup and Olympics.

The worst-hit part of the economy, however, has been industrial production, undercut by competition from China, high costs, and an overvalued real.

"So far a consumer boom has counteracted drops in manufacturing output," Sandroni said. "But the weakening of the dollar really hurt us."

After the real climbed against the dollar, making Brazilian exports less competitive, Brazil Finance Minister Guido Mantega in 2010 blamed loose monetary policy in the United States, then put in place a shifting regime of capital controls that made it harder to invest in the country.

The real eventually came down, but as with low interest rates and the fiscal stimulus, the expected benefits have not yet materialized.

business@latimes.com

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Wineries pour efforts into targeting younger drinkers

Increasingly, Chardonnays, Pinots and Cabernets are sharing shelf space at your local store with some unusual names — such as Bodacious Brunette red and Buxum Blonde and Angel Food whites.

Veteran wine collectors might turn up their well-trained noses. But the wineries promoting such brands aren't targeting those buyers.

With many of their best customers nearing retirement age and starting to cut back, American vintners are going after younger consumers in a bid to keep their $33-billion industry growing.

That means more irreverent labels, easy drinking wines, singles events and laid-back tastings — all aimed at demystifying the elite atmosphere surrounding wine while grooming the next generation of oenophiles.

"The battle is on" for younger drinkers, said Danny Brager, an alcoholic-beverages expert for global measurement company Nielsen. "Everyone's being aggressive."

The courtship was on display last fall in a former bank building in downtown Los Angeles where event organizing company Second Glass hosted one of its Wine Riot parties.

To bass-heavy tunes mixed by a DJ, more than 1,200 young patrons paid $60 each to wander by booths set up by wineries and get unlimited pours from a selection of about 250 wines.

A free smartphone app helped the mostly twentysomething guests — resplendent in their jeggings and plaid — navigate the event and remember the wines they liked. They flocked to the temporary tattoo station and photo booth, noshing on French fries from food trucks and sipping Rose d'Anjou, touted by posters as pairing well with Thai food and burgers.

"It's fun socializing and getting tipsy," said Ellie Yi, 26, a Playa Vista advertising account executive who attended the Los Angeles event with eight friends. "Nobody's judging you if you don't appreciate the 'complex blends.'"

Second Glass founders Morgan First, 29, and Tyler Balliet, 32, launched Wine Riot in Boston in 2009 to educate and engage young drinkers and took the events nationwide two years later. Their typical guest: novice drinkers, averaging 27.5 years old. The vibe: unpretentious.

Wineries love the events too. In Wine Riot's early days, First and Balliet drew participants from wineries owned by friends and acquaintances. Now, spots for booths sell out six months in advance, creating a waiting list of labels.

Baby boomers have been the main driver of the U.S. wine market for years, making up 40% of the customer base today. They tend to have more sophisticated tastes and are more inclined to buy expensive fine wines. West Coast wineries depend on the demographic for 44% of their sales, according to a survey by Silicon Valley Bank.

But boomers born right after World War II are starting to retire. As they adjust to fixed incomes, they are downsizing their wine spending and the amount they drink, according to research group IBISWorld.

Meanwhile, the youngest drinkers, 21- to 34-year-olds known as millennials, are looking more appealing.

For starters, there are a lot of them — roughly 70 million. But many young drinkers already are being wooed by the craft beer craze and the rise of cocktail culture, conditioned by celebrity endorsers and targeted marketing to gravitate toward sudsy brews and hard liquor.

The wine industry wants to convert millennials to Malbecs and Moscatos while they're still young, hoping to create a lifelong clientele.

Young drinkers are enthusiastic wine students, having been more exposed to wine at an earlier age than their parents. And more than half said they're boosting their wine consumption, according to a report from the Wine Market Council trade group.

"The take-away is that while baby boomers are still technically our best customers, millennials as a group … are the single most dynamic target for wine marketers," said John Gillespie, the council's president.

Wine companies also are churning out promotions with an eye toward being less stuffy and more sassy.

Newcomer Calendar Girl Wines dubs its red and white wines Bodacious Brunette and Buxom Blonde. Constellation Brands, owner of old-guard label Robert Mondavi, is trying out feisty brands such as Primal Roots and Simply Naked.

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Jamba Juice tries new stores (drive-throughs!), juices (kale!)

Jamba Juice is about to live up to its name.

The Bay Area company is best known for smoothies such as Mango-a-Go-Go and Razzmatazz. But starting Thursday, it’s throwing the blender at fresh-squeezed juices and expanding its current lineup of orange, carrot and wheat grass juice to include eight options made with apples, lemons, ginger, pineapples, beets and kale.

That includes chilled choices such as a mix of orange, apple, pineapple and ginger, all pressed on the spot. There are also hot juices inspired by Jamba fans in South Korea.  

And it's not just the fruit-and-vegetable medley that's "on-trend," as Jamba calls the ingredients. The juice rollout is being paired with a new store prototype debuting Thursday in Santa Monica, a city already crammed with juice bars and juice cleanse devotees.

The Jamba location features brighter colors and a design that highlights the juicing operation -- a display of ice-packed produce, a tub of growing wheat grass and a farm-stand-style chalk menu -- and pushes the smoothie ordering station to the back.

The shop is the first of about 100 stores to be revamped this year, mostly in California and New York, according to Jamba. The branches will get their produce from a supply chain "that's more local than not," said Chief Executive James White.

Going organic, however, "won't be a priority," he said.

Rivals such as Starbucks are also rediscovering the lucrative wonders of fresh juice as consumers increasingly look for healthful, convenient beverages. The Seattle giant opened its Evolution Fresh juice store in March in Washington state and is gradually expanding the chain's reach.

"We’ve seen what they've done, but we're really confident that there's nobody in the marketplace that will match the quality of our offerings and the scale of our work," White said of Starbucks. "Competition really only helps us elevate our game."

White joined Jamba in 2009. Since then, he's revamped a company weighted down by overambitious growth plans and poor real estate choices. Until fiscal year 2011, the business hadn't seen positive same-store sales growth in four years.

Jamba closed a number of stores in 2008 and 2009 and transitioned from a model in which 70% of stores were company-owned to one that is 60% franchised.

The company expanded abroad selectively and is now present in South Korea, the Philippines and Canada. It expects to have an additional 300 locations in those markets over the next five to seven years.

The brand began offering more good-for-you options, including all-fruit smoothies and the option to make more menu items "light," or less than 250 calories. Like Starbucks, it began moving into teas with last year's acquisition of Chicago-based Talbott Teas.

The company said it hopes to open between 60 and 80 full Jamba Juice locations globally in 2013, and wants to add up to 100 branches of a new Smoothie Station concept featuring a smaller real estate footprint and a more limited menu.

Up to 1,000 more JambaGo self-serve kiosk machines in schools, convenience stores and other properties are in store, as are several locations of a drive-through prototype.

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'Breaking Bad' bill would boost New Mexico film incentive

Supporters have dubbed it the "Breaking Bad" bill.

For five seasons, the AMC TV series has been a hit for the cable network and an economic boon to the state of New Mexico, where the drama starring Bryan Cranston is set and produced.

Now that the series is shooting its final season, however, New Mexico is attempting to beef up its film incentive to attract new dramas to help restore the state's position as one of the leading destinations for film production outside of California.

PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments

State legislators recently unanimously approved a bill that would boost New Mexico's TV production refundable tax credit to 30% from 25%. The incentive works like a rebate, giving filmmakers credit toward what they spend on crews and vendors in the state. To qualify, TV productions would have to film at least six episodes in New Mexico and hire local crews.

The credit also allows producers to bring in outside crews so long as they make a good faith effort to hire in state and contribute to local job training programs. Producers of feature films also could get an additional 5% rebate on what they spend to hire local crews.

If the state Senate and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez approve the bill, it could be passed as early as the spring, raising the competitive stakes for California, which offers a tax credit of 20% to 25% of qualified spending. The proposed legislation comes at a time when Los Angeles already has seen a sharp falloff in production of one-hour dramas and television pilots because of competition from New York and other states.

The proposed legislation also is intended to put New Mexico in a more competitive position relative to other states, especially Georgia, Louisiana and New York, that already offer a 30% credit.

New Mexico still attracts some big productions — "The Avengers" and "The Lone Ranger" filmed there — because of its proximity to L.A., its local crew base and varied geography. But it's no longer considered the chief rival to California as it was five years ago, when Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, aggressively courted the film industry with rebates, loans and job training programs. Massive new production facilities sprouted, and several vendors and support companies followed suit.

PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot - 'Breaking Bad'

The state's film business fell off sharply after Martinez, a Republican who vowed to curtail government spending, proposed big cuts in the program in early 2011. Eventually, Martinez backed away from plans to gut the film and TV credit, but the state imposed new restrictions on the incentive, including a $50-million cap on annual tax credits.

Film spending in New Mexico in fiscal 2012 dropped nearly 20% to $225 million compared with fiscal 2011, according to the New Mexico Film Office.

"Any time a state makes public claims they may not support the program, it makes the industry very nervous," said Joe Chianese, a senior vice president at Entertainment Partners, which advises the industry on film and television tax credits. "These [proposed] changes are very positive and it demonstrates that they are very supportive of the industry."

Matt Rauchberg, senior vice president of Albuquerque Studios, which emerged from bankruptcy in September 2011, strongly backs the "Breaking Bad" bill.

"The last year was pretty slow," said Rauchberg, adding that "Breaking Bad" takes up two soundstages while six others are vacant. State lawmakers have a "perfectly clear understanding of the benefits of the film industry and they want to do anything they can to bring it back."

richard.verrier@latimes.com

Where the cameras roll: Sample of neighborhoods with permitted TV, film and commercial shoots scheduled this week. Permits are subject to last-minute changes. Sources: FilmL.A. Inc., cities of Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Santa Clarita. Thomas Suh Lauder / Los Angeles Times

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TED conference is speaking to the masses — and drawing criticism

The email that could change Meg Jay's life came in December without warning, containing little more than a link.

Clicking on it opened a Web page that offered Jay the most significant invitation of her career: "We're honored to have this opportunity to invite you to give a talk at TED."

Without hesitation, she accepted. And just like that, the Virginia clinical psychologist, who specializes in "twentysomethings," or the study of people in their 20s, was swept into the slipstream of a cultural juggernaut that has expanded well beyond its original focus on technology, entertainment and design.

If her talk at the five-day TED conference goes as planned, Jay could be catapulted into an international celebrity achieved by few academics or scientists.

"I think everyone knows having a TED talk is great for your message," Jay said. "Of course, it's also a little bit of pressure."

Such is the sway of TED, which began its fifth and final annual conference in Long Beach on Monday. During that stretch this once obscure gathering of engineers, theorists and artists has exploded in reach and influence.

"TED is like the Oscars of speaking," said Nilofer Merchant, a Silicon Valley corporate strategist speaking this year on the topic "Sitting is the Smoking of Our Generation." Merchant explains how she improved her health by holding business meetings while taking walks rather than over coffee or lunch.

She is just one of more than 80 speakers, who also include celebrities such as Bono and Peter Gabriel, sharing a stage with people with titles such as "robotocist," "beatboxer and inventor," "passionate reader," "public art instigator" and "sanitation champion."

With success, however, has also come criticism that TED dumbs down complex subjects to pre-packaged knowledge nuggets for the masses. One former speaker, blistering organizers for promoting dangerous and ill-conceived ideas in an essay last year, called TED "an insatiable kingpin of international meme laundering."

TED's leader, Chris Anderson, argues that the popularity of the talks is evidence that a world seemingly obsessed with cat videos is in fact hungry for meaningful knowledge and inspiration. More than that, Anderson fervently believes that the right idea, explained the right way to the right person, has the power to change the world.

"I've come to think that TED's mission really is to address the fact that there are all these great ideas out there trapped in their silos," Anderson said. "Our job is to get them out of those silos and give them a chance to get to the mainstream."

That optimistic tone has inspired an audience of millions. A few years back, TED added a second international conference. More than 1,400 free TED talk videos are viewed online 7.5 million times every day. There are TED books and a TED public radio show, and more than 5,900 TEDx events have been held since TED began allowing independent organizers to use the name if they adhere to certain guidelines.

The notable names who have given TED talks include Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking, though often the most popular talks are given by the relative unknowns that organizers have discovered, like a Paralympics athlete who demonstrated her new artificial legs one year.

The talks are limited to 18 minutes, and typically involve a single person standing on stage. The best talks involve a surprising idea that offers the chance to make a big impact, delivered as a powerful story with strong emotional hooks.

Along the way, the nonprofit Sapling Foundation, which owns TED, has seen its revenue grow from about $3 million in 2003 to $45.1 million in 2012, according to TED.

The organization recently announced it would move its main conference from Long Beach to Vancouver, Canada, where it has its co-headquarters and where it will build its own center to host the 30th anniversary event next year.

This year the conference will have 1,400 attendees who had to apply and be selected for the honor of paying $7,500 to be in the audience. The policy, TED organizers say, is meant to ensure an interesting mix of conversations and interactions offstage.

The attendee roster runs the gamut: from academics and entrepreneurs to lawyers, doctors and politicians.

It's a system that has led some to accuse TED of elitism, a criticism that stung enough for the organization to post a section on its website called "Is Ted elitist?"

"In a nutshell, no," the site reads. "It certainly attracts people who are regarded as elite in their area of expertise. But the word 'elitist' implies exclusionary, and we've taken many steps in recent years to open up the live conferences to as broad an audience as possible."

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Average Americans are feeling pain of U.S. debt

WASHINGTON — When it comes to the nation's debt, payback time might be here.

Years of low tax rates and rising federal spending, amplified by the devastating economic effect of the Great Recession, have driven the U.S. borrowing tab to more than $16 trillion from less than $1 trillion in 1981.

Deficit reduction has become the dominant issue in Washington. The first major tax increase since 1993 took place last month. And large automatic spending cuts — $1.2 trillion over the next decade — are set to kick in Friday.

The result: Average Americans are starting to feel the pain.

"The day of reckoning is here," said David Walker, the former U.S. comptroller general who has been warning about the nation's long-term fiscal problems for several years.

"We're at the end of an era where we have Democratic spending policies and Republican tax policies," he said. "The result has been huge deficits and mounting debt burdens. It doesn't work."

In attempts to solve the problem, Republicans have focused on reducing government spending. Democrats have aimed at increasing taxes on the wealthy. And both parties leveraged their influence over the last two years to get their way.

When the nation approached its statutory borrowing limit in 2011, Republicans in Congress insisted on large spending cuts before agreeing to raise the cap. The last-minute deal to avoid a default included caps on future spending and a mechanism for automatic cuts this year if lawmakers could not agree on an alternative.

So far, they have not been able to get close to a deal. And time is running out.

On top of that, the George W. Bush-era tax cuts were set to expire at the end of 2012, along with a two-year payroll tax break designed to stimulate the economy. To help reduce the deficit, President Obama pushed Congress to allow some of those tax cuts to expire.

The face-off risked market panic and another recession, and ultimately Republicans agreed to allow some taxes to rise.

The result has been a double whammy of higher taxes and reduced government spending that would stabilize the debt as a set percentage of the U.S. economy over the next decade, even as it gives Americans their first taste of austerity.

Although the Jan. 2 tax increases focused on rates for household incomes of more than $450,000, they also included the end to a temporary payroll tax break that reduced the average person's paycheck about $40 every two weeks.

In addition, government officials said the looming spending cuts would affect most federal programs. The effect would be widespread, hitting state and local programs that depend on federal aid and businesses with government contracts.

But some would directly affect the general public, with the furloughing of government workers leading to fewer food safety inspections, reduced hours at national parks and longer waits at airports.

For example, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the $600-million cut facing the Federal Aviation Administration's 2013 budget would force the agency to furlough the "vast majority" of its 47,000 employees for at least one day every two-week pay period, reducing staffing at airports and forcing the closure of 100 small air traffic control towers starting around April 1.

"This is very painful for us because it involves our employees, but it's going to be very painful for the flying public," LaHood told reporters Friday.

Kevin C. Smith, owner of Smith-Kandal Insurance/Real Estate in Brawley, Calif., which specializes in sales of farms, said the nation must start reducing its growing debt.

"It's pretty obvious, if we don't do something about Medicare ... and all these entitlement programs, I'm afraid they may not be there at some point in time," said Smith, 63.

But he's not happy with the recent tax increases, which have hit his business hard.

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Jason Bateman gives Ernest Borgnine's estate a new identity

Markus Canter and Cristie St. James, who share the title luxury properties director at Prudential in Beverly Hills, like Jason Bateman's real estate sense. The actor got privacy, potential and a knoll location for $3 million.

Actor Jason Bateman and his wife, actress Amanda Anka, are dropping anchor in the Beverly Crest area with the purchase of the estate of Ernest Borgnine for $3 million.

The gated country English compound sits on a half-acre knoll. The 6,148-square-foot home features a formal entry hall, a grand staircase, a paneled library, an office, a den, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. There is a guesthouse and a swimming pool.

Bateman, 44, stars in the comic film "Identity Thief," released this month. He is known to generations of TV viewers for his roles in "Arrested Development" (2003-present) and "Valerie," later retitled "The Hogan Family" (1986-91). Anka, 44, has appeared in "Bones" (2008), "Notes From the Underbelly" (2007) and "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1996).

Borgnine, who died last year at 95, is remembered for his Oscar-winning performance in "Marty" (1955) and his work in the title role as commander of a madcap crew in the sitcom "McHale's Navy" (1962-65). Until 2011 he was the voice of Mermaidman on "SpongeBob SquarePants."

The estate came on the market in October for the first time in 60 years priced at $3.395 million.

Billy Rose, Paul Lester and Aileen Comora of the Agency in Beverly Hills were the listing agents. Richard Ehrlich of Westside Estate Agency represented the buyers.

Where pair spent days of their lives

Soap star Peter Reckell and his wife, singer Kelly Moneymaker, have sold their custom-built, eco-friendly home in Brentwood for $3.35 million.

Before building the 3,345-square-foot house, the couple had the existing home on the site torn down, crated and shipped to Mexico for reuse by Habitat for Humanity. Then they designed and built a three-bedroom, four-bathroom contemporary that uses solar power.

Green elements include a photovoltaic system with battery backup, skylights, recycled glass terrazzo floors with radiant heating, recycled denim and organic cotton insulation, bamboo cabinets and doors, a roof garden and a water reclamation system.

A temperature-controlled wine cave and a recording studio are among other features.

Along with an indoor/outdoor koi pond, a meditation fountain and a solar infinity pool, outdoor amenities include a 16th century East Indian temple that was turned into a pavilion.

"This is my sanctuary," Reckell said. It frames views of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Reckell, 57, played Bo Brady on "Days of Our Lives" from 1983 through last year. The show began in 1965. He also appeared in "Knots Landing" (1988-89). He is an avid environmentalist and bikes to work.

Moneymaker, 42, is a former member of the music group Exposé. She was inspired to build an environmentally friendly home because the carpet and other elements in the old house bothered her allergies and affected her voice.

Public records show they bought the property in 2003 for $1.14 million.

Daniel Banchik of Prudential's West Hollywood office was the listing agent. Scott Segall of John Aaroe Group represented the buyer.

Another rock owner for home

Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton has made his mark on L.A.'s real estate scene of late, buying the old Elvis Presley estate in Beverly Hills at year-end for $9.8 million.

But flying under the radar was his bigger off-market purchase midyear for a property in Bel-Air at $25 million, public records show. Area real estate agents not involved in the transaction say Morton plans to take down the existing home and build another on the site. The estate had belonged to Joseph Farrell, who founded National Research Group Inc. in 1978 and brought market testing to Hollywood. Farrell died in December 2011.

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Athletes cash in on California's workers' comp

SACRAMENTO — In his seven-year career with the Denver Broncos, running back Terrell Davis, a former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, dazzled fans with his speed and elusiveness.

At the end of his rookie year in 1995, he signed a $6.8-million, five-year contract. Off the field he endorsed Campbell's soup. And when he hung up his cleats, he reported for the National Football League Network and appeared in movies and TV shows.

So it may surprise Californians to find out that in 2011, Davis got a $199,000 injury settlement from a California workers' compensation court for injuries related to football. This came despite the fact Davis was employed by a Colorado team and played just nine times in California during an 88-game career, according to the NFL.

Davis was compensated for the lifelong effects of multiple injuries to the head, arms, trunk, legs and general body, according to California workers' compensation records.

He is not alone.

Over the last three decades, California's workers' compensation system has awarded millions of dollars in benefits for job-related injuries to thousands of professional athletes. The vast majority worked for out-of-state teams; some played as little as one game in the Golden State.

All states allow professional athletes to claim workers' compensation payments for specific job-related injuries — such as a busted knee, torn tendon or ruptured spinal disc — that happened within their borders. But California is one of the few that provides additional payments for the cumulative effect of injuries that occur over years of playing.

A growing roster of athletes are using this provision in California law to claim benefits. Since the early 1980s, an estimated $747 million has been paid out to about 4,500 players, according to an August study commissioned by major professional sports leagues. California taxpayers are not on the hook for these payments. Workers' compensation is an employer-funded program.

Now a major battle is brewing in Sacramento to make out-of-state players ineligible for these benefits, which are paid by the leagues and their insurers. They have hired consultants and lobbyists and expect to unveil legislation next week that would halt the practice.

"The system is completely out of whack right now," said Jeff Gewirtz, vice president of the Brooklyn Nets — formerly the New Jersey Nets — of the National Basketball Assn.

Major retired stars who scored six-figure California workers' compensation benefits include Moses Malone, a three-time NBA most valuable player with the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and other teams. He was awarded $155,000. Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin, formerly with the Dallas Cowboys, received $249,000. The benefits usually are calculated as lump-sum payments but sometimes are accompanied by open-ended agreements to provide lifetime medical services.

Players, their lawyers and their unions plan to mount a political offensive to protect these payouts.

Although the monster salaries of players such as Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning make headlines, few players bring in that kind of money. Most have very short careers. And some, particularly football players, end up with costly, debilitating injuries that haunt them for a lifetime but aren't sufficiently covered by league disability benefits.

Retired pros increasingly are turning to California, not only because of its cumulative benefits but also because there's a longer window to file a claim. The statute of limitations in some states expires in as little as a year or two.

"California is a last resort for a lot of these guys because they've already been cut off in the other states," said Mel Owens, a former Los Angeles Rams linebacker-turned-workers' compensation lawyer who has represented a number of ex-players.

To understand how it works, consider the career of Ernie Conwell. A former tight end for the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints, he was paid $1.6 million for his last season in 2006.

Conwell said that during his 11-year career, he underwent about 18 surgeries, including 11 knee operations. Now 40, he works for the NFL players union and lives in Nashville.

Hobbled by injuries, he filed for workers' compensation in Louisiana and got $181,000 in benefits to cover his last, career-ending knee surgery in 2006, according to the Saints. The team said it also provided $195,000 in injury-related benefits as part of a collective-bargaining agreement with the players union.

But such workers' compensation benefits paid by Louisiana cover only specific injuries. So, to deal with what he expects to be the costs of ongoing health problems that he said affect his arms, legs, muscles, bones and head, Conwell filed for compensation in California and won.

Even though he played only about 20 times in the state over his professional career, he received a $160,000 award from a California workers' compensation judge plus future medical benefits, according to his lawyer. The Saints are appealing the judgment.

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Foreign tourists' spending in U.S. rises to new record

The U.S. continues to be a hot destination for big-spending tourists, setting a new record of $168.1 billion in foreign visitor spending in 2012.

The country last year welcomed 66 million foreign visitors, whose spending represents a 10% increase over 2011, said Rebecca Blank, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The greatest increase in visitors and spending came from countries with a burgeoning middle class, including China, Brazil and India.

Spending by foreign tourists has been on the rise for the last three years, with tourist hubs such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and San Francisco reaping much of the spending, Blank said.

"The coasts that are close to Asia and South America will see the notable effects," she said.

The federal government and the tourism industry have been paying special attention to foreign overseas tourists because they typically stay longer and spend more than visitors from Mexico or Canada.

Long-haul foreign visitors spend an average of $4,000 per visit, while visitors from Mexico and Canada — although they represent the greatest number of foreign tourists — spend less than $1,000 per visit, according to federal reports.

Visitor numbers from Europe — once the source of most of the U.S. tourism spending — have been dropping in recent years, as Europeans struggle with economic hardships. But the U.S. Department of Commerce predicts continued growth in tourists from Brazil (274% by 2016), China (135%) and India (50%).

To promote more foreign visitors, the Obama administration and leaders of the travel industry launched in 2011 a public-private partnership to promote the U.S. in foreign countries. The campaign, known as Brand USA, is funded by fees charged to visitors applying for visas and contributions from private firms.

The administration has also pushed the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to shorten the wait time for visa interviews and expanded a program to speed low-risk visitors through expedited security lines at major airports.

The number of international visitors rose to 62.3 million in 2011, up from 59.7 million in 2010, according to the Department of Commerce. President Obama has set a goal of welcoming 100 million foreign visitors by 2021.

"Our projection is that the travel and tourism industries are going to create over 1 million jobs in the next decade," Blank said.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

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Wearing the future

A wristwatch that reads your text messages out loud, a jacket that heats up when you're cold, eyeglasses that display directions as you walk down the street.

Gimmicks, or fashion of the future?

Although those products may seem like something out of a James Bond movie, the world's largest technology companies and start-ups alike believe "wearable tech" is the next big frontier, and they have been pouring money and research into developing high-tech clothing and accessories.

"It's a function of time before wearable technology becomes real, and it's closer than a lot of people think," said Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray. "Eventually, wearable technology is probably going to be your most easy access point to your technology."

Google Inc., the world's largest Internet company, has been testing augmented-reality eyeglasses that feature cameras and use voice recognition. Apple Inc. is reportedly working on a watch that would have some of the same functions as a smartphone.

The idea behind so-called wearables is to integrate technology into everyday basics, but it's more than just inserting a gee-whiz factor into your favorite pair of jeans. Bringing tech into the fold, developers say, will create a more seamless experience with technology that involves fewer devices to carry around and less time rummaging through your purse or pocket.

But there are numerous challenges to overcome before wearable tech can become mainstream. Developers are working on improving battery life, scaling the technology down and making the products affordable.

Companies also need to persuade the public to accept the notion that digital devices and fashion can coexist in one unit by designing wearables that don't look too techie and figuring out what kinds of functions to embed within the products.

"We have a lot of research to do," said Cory Booth, a user experience researcher at Intel, which has a team looking into the potential for wearables. "It's actually more about will people want to do it and how will they want to do it. When people start putting things on their bodies, it becomes very personal."

For now, wearable tech is taking off in the sports and health markets.

Goggles made by Oakley assist snowboarders via a display that integrates GPS capabilities, Bluetooth and sensors that gauge jump analytics such as distance, height and airtime. There's also smartphone connectivity and the ability to locate and track friends via an app.

With the Nike+ FuelBand, a wristband containing an accelerometer, wearers can set daily activity goals and track calories burned on the band's LED display. Data from the FuelBand — which Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has been seen wearing — can be viewed on a mobile device via an iOS app. The Up by Jawbone wristband and Fitbit wireless activity trackers are similar products that help users eat and sleep better and record their physical activity.

But tech companies have goals that stretch beyond fitness, with the goal of equipping clothing with mini computers and sensors.

The tech-fashion hybrid that has gotten the most attention so far is Google Glass, Web-connected eyeglasses that the company has been previewing to big buzz in recent months. The futuristic glasses are still in the early stages of development under the company's secretive Google X lab.

Wearers can record what they're seeing in real life and broadcast it over a Google+ Hangout, perform a quick Google search and send a hands-free voice message with the glasses. They can view data such as directions and weather on a tiny screen connected to the device, and tell the glasses to take a photo.

"It has been transformative for my lifestyle," Google co-founder Sergey Brin said of Project Glass last year. "That's our job at Google X, to push the edges of technology to where the future might be."

The Mountain View, Calif., company has also filed for a laser projection patent, leading to speculation that Glass wearers will be able to project a virtual touchpad onto their limbs and other surfaces.

Google has taken pre-orders for an early pilot version of the eyeglasses called Glass Explorer Edition from developers who paid $1,500. On Wednesday, the company announced that it would hold a contest for early adopters who want to try out a pair; winners will be offered the chance to buy a Glass Explorer.

Apple could be preparing to take on Google in the wearables space. Last year, the company filed a patent for a "peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays." The device — which people speculate could be a helmet, pair of glasses or a visor — immerses the user with two displays and techniques for filling the peripheral vision with the image being shown, according to reports.

More likely for Apple, at least in the near term, is an iOS smartwatch. In recent weeks the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant set the rumor mill churning with reports that it has a team of 100 developers working to build a curved glass iWatch. Analysts have speculated that the device could be used to make calls and texts, get directions and search the Internet, and would be compatible with the iPhone.

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Filmmaker blends vintage photos with green screen to make drama

Filmmaker Salvador Litvak knew he had a good story about the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and his longtime bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon.

What Litvak didn't know was how to bring the story, which he wrote with his wife, Nina, to the big screen. As an independent filmmaker, he had to produce a period drama with a budget of less than $1 million, a trickle compared to the $65 million it took to make the Oscar-nominated "Lincoln," directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

So Litvak came up with a novel approach: He would use hundreds of Civil War-era photographs to create digital backgrounds that would allow the movie to be filmed entirely on a soundstage in downtown Los Angeles — without having to spend money traveling to film locations and building costly sets.

PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments

The blending of vintage photographs with state-of-the-art green-screen technology, in a process known as cinecollage, allowed "Saving Lincoln" to be made at a fraction of the cost of a conventional period drama.

Although "Saving Lincoln" may not get much attention in the shadow of the critically acclaimed "Lincoln," it is making history in its own way. Other films, such as last year's HBO movie "Hemingway & Gellhorn," have used a similar process of marrying digital effects with historical footage, but "Saving Lincoln" is believed to be one of the first movies to use the process so extensively.

All but one of the 730 shots in the film involved creating digital composites from hundreds of historic photographs that Litvak downloaded for free from a website operated by the Library of Congress.

"This hasn't been done before for a whole film," said Litvak, a UCLA film school graduate who also directed the Passover comedy "When Do We Eat?" "Audiences have never seen anything like this."

Litvak spent about a year assembling the photos, initially as part of his research for the movie, which debuted last week at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.

He collected more than 1,000 photos, including pictures of an unfinished Washington Monument, an unfinished dome on the U.S. Capitol, battlefield scenes from Gettysburg and pictures of the streets of Washington as they looked in the 1860s.

"I would spend hours and hours looking at these prints," Litvak said. "I'd be poking around deep inside these pictures with the cursor from my computer and I suddenly realized — I could move the camera around these photographs instead of the cursor. That was the 'aha' moment."

"Saving Lincoln," which stars Tom Amandes as Lincoln, Penelope Ann Miller as Mary Todd Lincoln and Lea Coco as Ward Hill Lamon, was shot over four weeks in August 2011 on a large soundstage at Atomic Studios in downtown L.A.

Actors worked with just a few historical props in front of a giant 140-foot-wide green screen that would later be filled with the digital composites of the original historic photographs.

The historic photos were fed into a computer program that enabled the cinematographer to match the camera angles and perspective used by the original photographer. Visual effects compositors later would add depth and dimension to the flat images.

To help keep costs down, producers partly relied on volunteer students from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco to assist in the visual effects work.

"The students were instrumental in helping us create this," said Reuben Lim, a producer on the film. "We couldn't have done it without them."

Litvak and his team used social media to spread the word about the film, launching a Facebook page that has more than 50,000 friends. They also relied on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter to raise $62,000 to offset marketing and distribution costs.

North Hollywood prop house History for Hire also gave them a break on rates for such props as a doctor's amputation kit and telegraph equipment used in Spielberg's "Lincoln." (The telegraph equipment also made an appearance in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.")

Litvak is already thinking about using the cinecollage process on other historical movies, including one about California's gold rush.

"It used to be if you wanted to tell a wonderful story from our nation's past, you could only do that if somebody was going to give you $100 million," he said. "Now we can take a great story like this on a very modest budget and we can get it into theaters. There are so many wonderful stories that can be told this way."

richard.verrier@latimes.com

Where the cameras roll: Sample of neighborhoods with permitted TV, film and commercial shoots scheduled this week. Permits are subject to last-minute changes. Sources: FilmL.A. Inc., cities of Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Santa Clarita. Thomas Suh Lauder / Los Angeles Times

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Former Obama campaign staffers parlay innovations into start-ups

WASHINGTON — As chief technology officer for President Obama's reelection effort, Harper Reed oversaw the development of projects such as Narwhal, an intricate platform that linked the campaign's myriad databases and allowed officials to plot strategy with new precision.

The heady and exhausting 19-month gig convinced Reed, former technology officer for the online T-shirt retailer Threadless, that he should launch his own venture.

"When you go from building T-shirts to software for a presidential campaign used by a cast of millions, it's pretty easy to think, 'OK, we can build something pretty big,'" Reed said.

He and his business partner, Dylan Richard, the campaign's former director of engineering, now are "looking to do something large" with their new business software start-up, he said. They're not the only ones.

Obama's 50,000-square-foot campaign headquarters on the sixth floor of a Chicago office tower also served during the campaign as a business incubator, which now is generating new ventures that seek to parlay its innovations into private-sector enterprises.

Some are classically political. Last month, senior field staffers Mitch Stewart and Jeremy Bird launched 270 Strategies, a political consulting shop offering clients the kind of data-driven organizing model that helped Obama win.

And Katie Ingebretson and Karine Jean-Pierre, who helped run campaign operations in battleground states, opened a communications and government relations firm in Los Angeles last year.

But the new ventures go beyond political consulting firms. Some of the Obama team's top technologists and data crunchers, including former chief analytics officer Daniel Wagner and product developer Mari Huertas, are contemplating their own tech start-ups.

Their business projects are still in the planning stages, but the new entrepreneurs already have a receptive audience in Silicon Valley.

"The credibility earned by being part of the core Obama campaign team couldn't be higher," said Chris Sacca, a venture investor and Obama fundraiser who has backed companies such as Twitter Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Bitly Inc.

"Point to another company that goes from zero to $525 million raised digitally in less than two years," he wrote in an email.

The initial products that Obama campaign veterans pitch may be less important than their pedigree, said Scott Weiss, a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He already has had informal talks with some former staffers.

Weiss, who co-founded the Internet security firm IronPort Systems Inc. in San Bruno, Calif., noted that the campaign offered a rare opportunity to build "a system that had to hold so much load and be so bulletproof in a short amount of time."

"If you think about the pressure cooker of putting the smartest people together to fix a hard problem like that, it's almost like going through Navy SEAL training together," he said. "Of course they are going to come up with a lot of innovative, creative things."

The keen interest in the nascent start-ups speaks to how a presidential campaign functions as a testing ground for new ideas — as well as a potentially lucrative calling card for political operatives.

"There is something inherently entrepreneurial about a presidential campaign, if you're doing it right," said Joe Rospars, a founding partner of Blue State Digital, the go-to Democratic digital consulting firm that emerged from Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid.

"It's such an interesting challenge to build an organization from scratch that you know is going to go out of business," Rospars said.

Obama's two presidential bids offered particularly ripe environments for out-of-the-box thinking, starting in 2007 when he was running as an underdog first-term U.S. senator.

"We just had to be innovative," said Stewart, who started out as the campaign's Iowa caucus director.

Dan Siroker, a Google Inc. product manager who took a leave to volunteer on Obama's first bid, had the idea to run what are called A/B tests on the campaign website, a tactic that measures the effectiveness of different design elements. The resulting product led to a surge of email sign-ups on the homepage and got him hired to run the analytics team.

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Samsung embarking on an aggressive expansion in Silicon Valley

Samsung Electronics Co.'s and Apple Inc.'s battle to dominate the world's smartphone markets has mostly been waged from their respective sides of the Pacific.

Now the South Korean tech giant is storming rival Apple's backyard, launching an aggressive expansion into Silicon Valley.

Samsung has opened a new innovation center in Menlo Park, Calif. A research and development lab is planned for San Jose. A start-up incubator is cooking in Palo Alto. And its most audacious undertaking: erecting a massive new semiconductor campus with a distinctive design destined to compete with Apple's proposed spaceship-like campus for the title of Silicon Valley's most distinctive architectural landmark.

The move by Samsung to broaden its footprint in Silicon Valley signals an escalation of its rivalry with Apple, as the two companies compete more directly for the same employees, investments and innovations. Beyond getting in a rival's face, Samsung believes its Silicon Valley expansions are needed to inject more entrepreneurial DNA into the bloodstream of a company known more as an innovation follower than leader.

"This is the epicenter of disruptive forces," said Young Sohn, Samsung's chief strategy officer now based in Silicon Valley. "And I want to make sure we're part of those disruptions."

The relationship between Samsung and Apple is complex, to put it mildly. Samsung has long been one of Apple's main suppliers of components. Samsung has maintained a modest outpost in Silicon Valley for years that included its U.S. semiconductor headquarters, a small R&D lab and a venture capital office.

But in recent years, that partnership became strained as Samsung launched a line of new smartphones, led by the Galaxy, that run on Google's Android operating system. Those phones have made Samsung the world's leading seller of smartphones, though Apple remains No. 1 in the U.S.

Samsung's insurgency has raised anxiety among investors and analysts on Wall Street that the sun is setting on Apple's golden age. Apple has fought back by suing Samsung in courts around the world, contending the company's phones were iPhone rip-offs that violated a number of patents.

Still, the legal and marketing warfare hasn't slowed Samsung's momentum, nor dimmed its ambitions. The company wants to more than double its annual revenue to about $400 billion over the next few years, a target that would put it side by side with the world's largest companies, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

To do that, Samsung's leaders believe they must fundamentally transform the company's culture and strategies.

For all its success, the company still lags behind Apple in the perception of which is the more innovative company. Samsung is trying to shed its reputation for being a company that succeeds through a strategy of what Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies calls "fast following." That is, watching others pioneer new technologies and markets, and then rushing in behind.

"The reason they're doing what they are doing now is that Samsung is in a position of market strength," Bajarin said. "They now are beginning to do the R&D, which will allow them to control their destiny instead of relying on other people to make breakthroughs. But to get the kind of growth they'd like, they have to make the transition from being an innovation follower to an innovation leader."

To make that shift, Samsung wants to shed an insular culture that has focused on developing most technologies and products internally. The company is throwing open the doors, and extending its hand, by partnering and investing in start-ups, supporting other innovators and becoming a more active buyer of other companies.

In other words, it wants to do the things that are the lifeblood of Silicon Valleys' biggest companies.

"Much of our innovation in the past was done in Korea," Sohn said. "We have to reach out to global hot spots. How we tap into global innovation efforts will dictate our success."

Working with Samsung has not always been easy. Samsung makes a greater variety of products than Apple, including appliances and TVs. That size and complexity, combined with its concentration in South Korea, has made the company hard for the valley's entrepreneurs and would-be partners to understand and navigate.

Sohn hopes the company's larger presence in Silicon Valley will breed familiarity and help demystify it. Certainly in the coming years, there will be no shortage of places where the valley's entrepreneurs and engineers can rub shoulders with Samsung.

The scope of Samsung's expansion plans, while massive, hasn't received tremendous buzz in part because they have dribbled out in bits and pieces. But as Samsung has released more details in recent weeks, the ambition of its intentions has come into sharper focus. The expansion plans include:

• A start-up incubator in downtown Palo Alto, just a couple of miles from the Stanford University campus. Although the company has confirmed the project, it has released no details.

A major expansion of its R&D center, known as Samsung Information Systems America, into two six-story buildings under construction in San Jose.

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A secret agent reveals her secrets of success

The prospect of a business book written by a former CIA officer fills one with dread at the inevitable 007 anecdotes and labored corporate parallels.

But "Work Like a Spy: Business Tips From a Former CIA Officer," published by Portfolio, turns out to be rather different. There are no gadgets, few cloaks and fewer daggers: Instead it is a bracingly realistic book about people at work. It is short. It is sharp. Better still, it is sensible.

It is also about spying, though only enough to lend a sprinkle of glamour and danger. The book jacket photo shows author J.C. Carleson, an undercover agent for eight years, looking like a real-life Carrie from "Homeland" — without the blond hair and the bipolar disorder.

Yet her stories from the field are as much blunder as conspiracy. The book opens with the heroine as a young case officer in an armed convoy in Iraq. It is 2003 and she is going to inspect a plant that the U.S. is convinced makes biological weapons. They disarm the guards and terrify everyone — only to discover it is a salt factory.

"Salt. (Insert your own expletive of choice here.) Salt!" she writes.

Carleson assures us that not all CIA work is suitable for general adoption: The threatening, lying, trapping, cheating, misleading and detaining that go with the territory should not be tried in the office.

But the spy can teach the general manager about human nature. Spies are simply better at observing people because they have spent more time practicing and because the stakes are too high to screw it up.

By comparison, the rest of us are pretty hopeless, only we don't know it. Reluctantly, I have started to reappraise my own view of myself as a brilliant judge of character and admit that such a belief is a liability.

I've just tried the following exercise: Pick a stranger and try to guess their education, profession, religion, income bracket, marital status and hobbies. Disaster: I was wrong on every score.

Because we cling to this idea that our gut instincts are reliable, we make a lot of avoidable mistakes. We make bad hiring decisions. We talk vaguely about wanting passion and creativity rather than setting to work corroborating resumes and seeking out references. Employers should make a short, precise list of the traits a job requires and hire to fill it. It is all obvious. Yet it takes a spy to point it out.

Less obvious but no less valuable is her tip for job candidates: Get the interviewer to do most of the talking and then hang on their every word. Since hardly anyone can resist talking about themselves to a rapt audience, a job offer is almost bound to follow.

To the public speaker and the salesman, Carleson has further good advice: Never rely on a script and never learn what you are going to say by heart. When you do this you use a different tone of voice, go on to autopilot and all trust is lost in an instant. Carleson is right. I have done this, but never again.

I also liked the observation about newly minted CIA officers (for which read new Harvard MBAs and so on) who emerge from the yearlong training process all swagger and irritating charm. This doesn't wash in the agency, any more than it does elsewhere. More seasoned colleagues slap them down. "Don't try to case officer me," they say.

Not everything from the book can be copied. The CIA keeps its best staff by doing sensible things such as moving people around, giving them interesting work and letting lone wolves be lone wolves.

Yet the perks of being an undercover agent also involve wearing disguises, learning how to crash cars and jump out of aircraft — all of which are big pluses, but not terribly transferable.

The main lesson from "Work Like a Spy" is that we are much more likely to get what we want if we watch other people carefully. It helps to identify the other person's weaknesses, and for this there are some common denominators: "… ego, money, ego, ego … ego, ego, ego."

Lucy Kellaway is a columnist for the Financial Times of London, in which this review first appeared.

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L.A.'s 'Urban Outlaw' selling his custom Porsche 911 accessories

Magnus Walker steps between the scarred carcasses of Porsche 911s lining his garage wall. He pauses and points to a gaping hole where the car's front hood should be.

"Cars in here have to die," he says, "so others can live."

With a chest-length beard and finger-thick dreadlocks, the 45-year-old English immigrant doesn't look like a prototypical buttoned-down Porsche collector. But for more than a decade, Walker has worked in downtown L.A.'s arts district, transforming scrap heaps into one-off custom 911s, earning him the nickname "Urban Outlaw."

"I don't build white glove, Pebble Beach show cars," he says. "I'm building cars for myself."

What once was an expensive obsession may now become a lucrative profession. Already a successful businessman, Walker has started a new company to sell merchandise and the accessories that have become his signature 911 modifications to a cult of followers.

Each of his 911s still has Porsche's trademark large oval headlights, low front hood and sloping teardrop roofline that give the car its legendary silhouette. But Walker's custom touches — drilled-out door handles, trunk lids with horizontal slats cut into the metal — give them a hot rod edge.

His handiwork is on display across the street from the "chop shop" in a showroom-like garage filled with classic Porsche advertisements, rows of vintage license plates and oil-smeared car parts. About a dozen candy-colored 911s from 1964 through 1973 sit parked and ready for the road.

Look closely. No two cars are the same.

There's a 1966 Irish green 911 with wooden interior accents and black vinyl interior. A few steps away is a 1965 silver 911 with a houndstooth interior and Porsche black side stripe. Front and center is a 1972 911 STR decked out in white with red and blue accents and gold wheels.

"I've got to make the next car better than the last one," he said. "I don't chase originality, but if I stumble upon it, I don't turn away."

Walker has never wanted to build 911s to sell them. He's received requests, but he prefers to build them the way he sees fit, in his own time. He sells them when he feels like it, and they fetch $40,000 to $130,000, depending on the rarity of the car.

Some, he can't imagine ever selling.

His innovation has won the admiration of Porsche executives, several of whom visited his shop in November during the Los Angeles Auto Show. Walker now has an open invitation to tour the company's factory in Stuttgart, Germany.

It's high praise from the company, which is known for its strict adherence to the 911's timeless styling. The two-door, rear-engine car is renowned for its simplicity. Its shape has remained virtually unchanged since the first model rolled off assembly lines more than half a century ago.

"We can't go as far as to say we endorse his work. That's pretty hard for a company like ours to say," said Nick Twork, a Porsche spokesman. "But his cars have a unique style, and we have taken notice."

Walker's real skill with modifying 911s doesn't have anything to do with shoehorning in a new engine or gaudy paint jobs. Rather, it's something known as "backdating" to Porsche connoisseurs.

As Porsche's popularity increased after the first 911 in 1964, so did the company's car production. Many of the hand-made or accessory detailing began to disappear.

So Walker applies subtle changes to the cars, such as swapping out a glue-on plastic rearview mirror with a chrome one, or taking out dashboard gauges and recalibrating them.

"You can only look at a stock car so many times," said Manny Alban, president of Porsche Club of America. "What he does is very tasteful. As long as he doesn't stick a Chevy V-8 in the back, we'll be OK with it."

Walker lightens the cars, lowers them closer to the ground and installs a stiffer suspension for aggressive handling — basically building a street version of a 911 race car.

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The trendy descend as British fashion royalty lands at the Grove

Star sightings are common at the Grove, but on Thursday the breathless anticipation was for the grand opening of fashion retailer Topshop and its men's brand, Topman.

The long-awaited debut marked the British brands' first West Coast store and brought out hordes of shoppers, some of whom stood in line for hours.

"I'm pumped. We've been waiting for so long and now it's finally getting close," said Sydney Nassiri, 17, who arrived at the Grove at 9 a.m. with her friend Laurel Bylin.

It was a retail mob scene at the shopping center in L.A.'s Fairfax district as people angled to be among the first to snatch up crochet and lace camis, bold floral high-low dresses and color-block tops.

Shoppers stood in a two-pronged line that flanked the main path of the shopping center; the earliest arrived at 5 a.m. At its height, Grove officials estimated, the crowd numbered 10,000, making it the center's biggest store opening ever.

Adding to the circus atmosphere was the faux British street fair staged as the line to get into the store grew. Executives from Topshop and Topman chatted with Grove owner Rick Caruso, while pop singer Demi Lovato performed before the doors opened shortly after 4 p.m.

The opening followed a Wednesday night launch party in West Hollywood that brought out Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown, Paris Hilton and two of the Jonas Brothers.

Despite the thousands in line, only a few dozen were allowed in at a time. Among them was 19-year-old Karina Aldana, who made a beeline for the accessories section.

"I shop a lot, and this is pretty high up on my list," the Glendale nursing student said. "I've gone to Chicago for Topshop and I thought I knew what to expect, but this is even better."

Topshop started in Britain in 1964 and now has hundreds of stores in 37 countries. Its Oxford Circus flagship is among the largest fashion stores in the world.

The brand, which sells clothes, shoes, makeup and accessories, is known as a trendsetter. It was an early proponent of partnering with celebrities, such as supermodel Kate Moss, to create exclusive collections. Its fashion show this weekend in London will feature an industry novelty: full access for the public via an app, streamed video and Google+ Hangouts.

Topman was opened as a separate chain for men in 1978, but the stores often cohabitate with Topshop locations. Both are subsidiaries of Arcadia Group, Britain's largest private clothing retailer, which is run by Sir Philip Green.

Topshop and Topman entered the U.S. market four years ago in New York and have since expanded to Chicago, Las Vegas and more than a dozen boutiques in Nordstrom stores.

In New York, the chain's revenue and profit are up by double digits from a year ago, said Topman Managing Director David Shepherd. But there was a need to bring the brands to California shoppers, who make up about 25% of Topshop and Topman's online traffic, he said.

Several Southern California locations were considered, including the Third Street Promenade, Beverly Hills, Glendale Galleria and the Americana at Brand in Glendale, but the Grove "was absolute top of the short list," said Robert Cohen, a real estate broker who represented Topshop and Topman.

The two-story, 30,000-square-foot store, which previously housed a Banana Republic, features clothing matched to Southern California's warmer weather. Its wooden panels and flooring distinguish the decor from the cooler tile and chrome in the other U.S. stores.

Caruso, founder and chief executive of Caruso Affiliated, said he had been in talks with Green for about two years and had campaigned hard for a Topshop location. The brands now expect the Grove store to be the second-most profitable U.S. outpost, after New York.

"It's a coup for us," Caruso said. The Grove last year recorded a huge $1,900 per square foot in retail sales, and with the addition of Topshop and Topman, "we're just going to exceed that in the coming year."

The Grove and neighboring Farmers Market are home to several major apparel retailers, including Forever 21 and Zara, which, like Topshop, focus on fashion-forward young adults. Topshop will also vie against H&M, American Apparel, Foreign Exchange and Angl, but a tight market doesn't seem to be a concern.

"Los Angeles is obviously a fashion capital," Shepherd said. "But when looking at the competition here, we have the same situation in New York and Chicago and we're performing well in those areas."

Not everyone showed up Thursday just for the retail opportunities.

Makaela Glancy, 13, arrived at the Grove at 6 a.m. from San Diego. Although she was excited to shop for Topshop clothes and accessories, she came mainly to see Demi Lovato and passed out homemade paper hearts to other shoppers in line.

"She's already cried once today because Demi did a sound check and waved at her," her mom, Bobbi Kohler, said.

andrea.chang@latimes.com

tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

Times staff writer Frank Shyong contributed to this report.

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Reaction mixed to Obama's bid to hike minimum wage

President Obama's new proposal to set a higher floor for wages faces an uphill battle in Congress — and the fight may well boil down to a matter of timing.

Obama, in his State of the Union address, called for increasing the minimum wage to $9 an hour from $7.25 in gradual stages by 2015. He said it was aimed at lifting families above the poverty line and putting more money in the pockets of consumers, which would end up helping companies.

While unions and labor advocates praised the proposal, Republican leaders and business groups immediately lined up against it, calling it an anti-jobs idea.

Most economists would hardly characterize it as anti-jobs, and they see benefits to lifting the fortunes of the working poor. The current minimum wage is just a little more than a third of the average hourly wage of $19.97 last month.

But economists did question whether it was the right time to bump up the minimum wage because the economy was still fragile and many employers remained reluctant to hire.

With unemployment at nearly 8%, and more than 12 million workers officially unemployed and millions more who have dropped out of the labor market, economists worry about what a bump in the minimum wage may do.

"I just see it as a nonstarter at this point," said Sophia Koropeckyj, a labor economist at Moody's Analytics. "I'm afraid it could have a bigger [negative] effect when there's more slack in the economy."

Employers in industries that typically pay minimum wage were also mixed in their views.

Selwyn Yosslowitz, co-founder of the California restaurant chain Marmalade Cafe, with 600 workers in 10 locations, said it was a bad time to raise the rate.

He already feels beleaguered by higher costs from Obama's healthcare overhaul, he said. Should a new wage hike take effect, Yosslowitz said, he may have to repeat what he did in 2007 after California's latest minimum wage law took effect. It gradually raised rates to $8 an hour a year later.

"You increase your menu prices and you reduce hours," he said. "People who come in normally at 9 o'clock in the morning, you try to get them to clock in at 9:30 and save half an hour. We also stopped hiring people. You can't stay in business if you don't."

Other small businesses, though, were quick to point out that their pay was already at or near $9 an hour, so it would not be a death knell by any means.

"I am sure it's going to affect us a little bit. There would be cutbacks in certain things, less company dinners or whatever," said Victor Nguyen, assistant manager at the long-standing men's clothing shop Union in Los Angeles.

"But it's expensive to live here, so if it did change, I'm sure the workers would be happy. [And] in the grand scheme of things, we're not closing down next week if we give people another 75 cents or a dollar more," he said.

Some agreed with Obama that in the long run, a raise for those at the bottom would be good not only for the working poor but for their own businesses.

"On balance it could be a positive thing because people will have more disposable income, like students and people working at fast-food or retail stores," said Dov Charney, chief executive of American Apparel Inc. The Los Angeles manufacturer and retailer typically pays its garment makers more than the state minimum wage.

"If the wage is raised, we will be able to sell more because young people and people increasing in terms of their earning power will be able to buy more," Charney said.

Obama's proposal was part of an overall theme Tuesday night to bolster the middle class and narrow what has become an increasing wealth gap in the nation. He noted that 19 states already had set higher minimum wage requirements than the federal law. Washington state's is the nation's highest at $9.19.

Raising the federal rate to $9 an hour, the White House estimated, would lift the incomes of at least 15 million workers.

"Even with the tax relief we've put in place, a family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line," Obama said. "That's wrong."

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'Bukowski' plays role in modest rise for local film production

Charles Bukowski, the hard-living poet, novelist and short-story writer who probed the cultural and social underbelly of Los Angeles, is getting the James Franco treatment.

The prolific actor-director-writer-producer has started production on a movie titled "Bukowski," an adaptation of the boozy poet's semi-autobiographical novel "Ham on Rye," which is set in Depression-era L.A. The project is one of several low-budget movies contributing to a modest upswing in local feature film activity this year.

"Bukowski" recently began filming at a home in the historic neighborhood of Oxford Square, as well as the Lazy J. Ranch Park in Canoga Park, the Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center in West Hills, the former Linda Vista Community Hospital and various downtown locations, including the 6th Street bridge. Last week, the crew filmed at St. Michael's School in South Los Angeles, according to permits filed with FilmL.A. Inc.

In addition to producing and directing the movie, Franco wrote the script with his brother Dave.

PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments

The Franco movie, which stars Tim Blake Nelson, is not the first to be made of Bukowski's life and material. Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway co-starred in the 1987 movie "Barfly" by director Barbet Schroeder, who filmed in many signature L.A. locations, with a screenplay written by Bukowski himself. He also had a cameo appearance in the film.

"Bukowski" is the latest among several projects for Franco, who stars in Disney's upcoming "Oz the Great and Powerful" and the independent feature "Lovelace," a biographical account of the life of "Deep Throat" adult film actress Linda Lovelace.

Franco's other projects include directing the documentary "Interior. Leather. Bar," a story about William Friedkin's explicit 1980 film "Cruising." He's also producing "Kink," a nonfiction look at a San Francisco bondage site of the same name.

Franco could not be reached for comment for this article. Gustavo Alcaraz, location manager for "Bukowski," said the 35-member crew had completed two weeks of filming and will resume production in L.A. in March.

"We're representing the period from the 1920s and '30s, so the challenge is trying to find locations that work for that," Alcaraz said. "We did a lot of cold scouting to find locations that had not been used before because we had a limited budget."

"Bukowski" is one of several new movies shooting locally. L.A. feature films generated 113 production days last week, up 69% from the same period last year, according to data from FilmL.A., which tracks location shoots that occur on city and county streets as well as those on non-certified soundstages.

GRAPHIC: Faces to Watch 2013

The category is up nearly 7% this year compared with the same period in 2012.

Other new projects include "Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant," a comedy starring Stanley Tucci, Henry Winkler and Molly Shannon that filmed at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood and in Marina del Rey last week; "Whiskey Bay," a drama starring Matt Dillon and Willem Dafoe that was filming in the Mar Vista area last week; and "Blood of Redemption," a low-budget movie with Dolph Lundgren and Billy Zane, filming in Encino this week.

The television industry also had a busy week, accounting for 369 production days, up 9% from the same period a year ago. Otherwise, television activity has been virtually flat this year, reflecting the loss of one-hour dramas to New York and other cities.

Commercial shoots, which soared in the fourth quarter of 2012 thanks to a flurry of Super Bowl ad shoots, have slowed. Production days for commercials dropped 2% to 226 last week compared with the year-earlier period. The category is down 5% so far this year.

richard.verrier@latimes.com

Where the cameras roll: Sample of neighborhoods with permitted TV, film and commercial shoots scheduled this week. Permits are subject to last-minute changes. Sources: FilmL.A. Inc., cities of Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Santa Clarita. Thomas Suh Lauder / Los Angeles Times

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Nextdoor is homing in on the 'hyperlocal' market

SAN FRANCISCO — Nirav Tolia is trying to build the next big social network — block by block.

Nextdoor is like Facebook but for a neighborhood: a private network to find a baby sitter, borrow a cup of sugar, organize a block party or spread word of a break-in.

It's not the first time a start-up has tried to network neighbors, but Nextdoor is one of the first to gain momentum. So far, more than 8,000 neighborhoods across the country have signed up for the service, including Laurel Canyon and Atwater Village. That's double the number of just six months ago.

Now Nextdoor is getting a big vote of confidence from David Sze, an early Facebook and LinkedIn investor. The San Francisco company is expected to announce Tuesday that Sze is one of the venture capitalists who raised $21.6 million for Nextdoor in its most recent round of funding.

"Every social network on Earth pitches me and I say no to nearly every single one of them," said Sze, who wrote a check for $15 million and took a seat on Nextdoor's board.

"I put the largest check I have ever written on the table to work with these guys. I think this could be another one of those seminal networks."

Tolia, who launched the service in 2011, says Nextdoor is targeting the so-called hyperlocal market. For years, Internet companies — AOL, Facebook, Google and Yahoo among them — have been homing in on these small communities to capture a piece of the local online advertising action, with limited success.

People make most purchases locally, and the Internet and mobile devices are increasingly influential in those purchase decisions, said Greg Sterling, a senior analyst with Opus Research.

Market research firm Borrell Associates predicts that U.S. local digital advertising will reach $24.5 billion this year for a 25% share of total local ad budgets.

"It is a huge market, and company after company after company has gone after it with mixed success," Sterling said.

Yelp and Craigslist are two of the winners, but most companies struggle to attract users and advertisers, and many start-ups fail. One of the most ambitious hyperlocal sites, EveryBlock — owned by MSNBC.com — was popular with civic-minded users but suffered such heavy losses that it announced it was shutting down last week.

In December, OhSoWe, another neighborhood social networking service started by OpenTable founder Chuck Templeton, also shut down.

Analysts say Nextdoor, which is spreading mostly by word of mouth, will be buffeted by many of the same challenges.

"I don't know if Nextdoor will succeed, but the odds are not in their favor," said Gordon Borrell, chief executive of Borrell Associates.

Tolia, one of the early employees at Yahoo, is betting that he can beat the odds. He founded product review site Epinions in 1990 and merged it with Shopping.com in 2003. In 2005, EBay bought the combined company for $620 million.

Tolia's Nextdoor team originally worked on an online sports almanac called Fanbase but scrapped the idea. Tolia, who hails from Odessa, Texas, the small oil town where the film "Friday Night Lights" is set, hit on an idea that tapped into his own nostalgia for that sense of tightknit community: replacing online bulletin boards and email lists with a social network for neighbors.

In July, Nextdoor raised $18.6 million at a $100-million valuation (Tolia would not say what valuation investors assigned to the most recent round of funding). Tolia's own social network has helped him fuel Nextdoor's growth. He organizes a supper club for Silicon Valley hotshots. Apple's Jony Ive, Twitter's Dick Costolo and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer were among the guests last month.

Tolia said Nextdoor, which is aiming for tens of thousands of neighborhoods and international expansion, is "100% focused on user adoption." Eventually Nextdoor will explore ways for advertisers to target special offers to the communities they serve, he said.

"Where you live and who lives around you is an essential part of your life. Yet there is no easy way to keep track of everything that happens in your local community, and it's even more difficult to stay connected to the people in your local community," Tolia said. "Nextdoor can change all that. Nextdoor can be the service that connects you to everyone and everything that matters around where you live."

The concept intrigues social scientists who study neighborhoods. In creating a social network based on real-world proximity, Nextdoor is helping neighborhoods become more connected, not so neighbors can be friends but so they can build ties and trust, said Robert Sampson, a Harvard University sociology professor.

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