Former concert promoter Joe Fletcher aims to bring big Hollywoood bucks back to Monterey County.

From Here to Eternity was filmed in Monterey County. So was Basic Instinct and Play Misty for Me. But it's been a while since a major film production filled the area's restaurants and hotels and boosted local hiring. Fletcher, who has just been hired to head the commission, wants to compete with lower cost states and Canada to bring big budget productions back.

He will likely face considerable pressure to do so as his predecessor, Greg Robinson told the Weekly in October that he was let go because of financial pressures on the organization.

Last year, Fletcher says, film productions spent about $4 million in the area.  In addition to increasing that number, he says he wants to tap local entertainment industry celebrities, like George Lopez, or Leonardo DiCaprio who likes to visit, to headline events like film series.