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How to Train Your Hollywood Businessman

Monday, March 01, 2010 10:34 AM

tags: Crime, How to Train Your Dragon, Kayvan Setareh, Movies, Supergraphics

Kayvan Setareh, a 49-year-old Hollywood businessman, allowed an eight-story-high so-called "supergraphic" for the movie How to Train Your Dragon to be wrapped around a 1928 office building he has "ownership interest" in on the corner of Hollywood and Highland, smack in the hub of Hollywood's tourist activity and in the direct line of sight of cameras that will be covering the imminent 82nd Academy Awards red-carpet arrivals. For his crime, Setareh was arrested and jailed, with bail set at $1 million, because only last week the city attorney, Carmen Trutanich, filed lawsuits involving over a dozen other giant supergraphics across the city. The very lucrative business of renting out vast sides of buildings for advertising is now illegal and the city is busy enforcing the law. "The days of lax and inconsistent enforcement of billboard and outdoor advertising laws in this city are over," says Trutanich. And yes, before his arrest, Setareh had been warned in a letter and an email not to post the billboard, which as of today is still there.

"City officials say that unpermitted supergraphics pose a threat to public safety because the huge sheets of vinyl can fall onto cars and pedestrians if they are not attached properly. Still, some law enforcement observers voiced surprise at the large bail amount, saying $1 million is typically used in far more serious cases, such as homicide, rape and kidnapping." (via LA Times)