Cameras to zoom in on Vegas Grand Prix

Ladies and gentlemen, start your cameras.

The Vegas Grand Prix kicks off the 2007 ChampCar World Series Sunday. (NBC provides live race coverage, starting at 1 p.m., as the cars zoom through downtown.)

In addition to the race itself, however, several additional camera crews are expected to focus on the three-day event starting Friday, including the Speed Channel and the reality series "Race Car Driver."

Take the lake: Caesars Palace headliner Celine Dion plans a Lake Mead excursion this week, but not for sightseeing purposes. Instead, she'll be lip-syncing a song for a new music video.

Local motion: Sin City sleaze takes on a satirical tone in "Vegasland," a homegrown feature from the Yuzzi Brothers, alias local filmmakers Thomas Vosicky (who's directing) and Kenneth Kit Lamug (who's producing).

They'll shoot Wednesday and Thursday nights through June, focusing on a professional gambler (played by Ernell Manabat) who's kidnapped by a bad cop (Greg Opal) in hopes of exposing a corrupt city councilman. The latter's played by Rusty Meyers, who's also appearing this week in a national commercial for Friendly Computers.

"Strip" search: Documentary filmmaker Frantz Hall, who previously directed "Conversations With a Las Vegas Escort," returns with "Strip City," a planned 12-episode cable series about the lives of strippers, exotic and topless dancers. This week's locations include the Men's Club.

Coming attractions: HBO's "The Sopranos" is expected in town next week for a three-day visit, while CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" reports for location duty April 23 and 24.

A taxing situation: With a majority of states offering tax incentives to lure movie and TV production, the Nevada Senate's Taxation Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on Senate Bill 321, which would waive sales taxes for visiting productions -- and require them to hire Nevadans for a specified percentage of jobs.

Two decades ago, "the industry asked us one question: what kind of locations we had," notes Nevada Film Office director Charles Geocaris. "It's now shifted to what kind of incentives we have."

About 44 states (including Arizona, New Mexico and Utah) now offer incentives, according to Hrair Messerlian, Screen Actors Guild Nevada executive director, who plans to testify at Thursday's hearing. (Those interested in commenting on the bill may e-mail remarks to info@thecbeg.com or to Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, the bill's sponsor, at bcoffin@sen. state.nv.us.)

"We are late to the game," acknowledges Rob Rovere, a consultant with Stagehands Local 720, who also plans to testify Thursday. "All we want is a level playing field."

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at 383-0272 or e-mail her at ccling@reviewjournal.com.