Amphitheater Contract Up for Renewal : Report Chides Starlight Operator

Burbank Starlight Amphitheatre operator Tim Pinch came under fire from Burbank city officials Thursday for his failure over 3 years to turn the faltering city-owned amphitheater into a successful entertainment complex.

In a report to evaluate whether Pinch’s contract should be renewed, Richard R. Inga, the city’s parks and recreation director, told the Burbank City Council that Pinch may be in violation of that contract.

The written agreement required him to provide “a broad and varied program of entertainment each season designed to appeal to the needs and desires of the Burbank community as a whole.”

However, Inga stopped short in the report of recommending that Pinch’s contract, which will be considered Tuesday by the City Council, be terminated. “We are just presenting the facts,” Inga said. “Only the council can make the ultimate decision about his contract.”

City officials have long wanted to turn the Starlight into a facility that is comparable to the Greek Theatre or the Universal Amphitheatre. Previous operators have also failed to turn the Starlight into a success.

Rock Acts Banned

The facility has been the subject of considerable controversy since the 1970s, when city officials banned rock acts there. Burbank paid a $3.8-million settlement 2 years ago to a promoter who sued the city for preventing him from booking rock groups.

Pinch, 35, the head of Tim Pinch Productions, staged six shows during the Starlight’s 1988 season, which ran from June 1 to Oct. 31. No shows were staged after July 30, and none of the events featured major names. The most successful concerts--two reggae festivals--attracted only half of the facility’s 6,000-seat capacity.

Pinch’s contract requires him to pay the city a minimum of $35,000 this year, regardless of his profits from shows he staged at the amphitheater.

Inga said in the report that he was concerned not only about “the very obvious downward trend over the 3 years in the number of and variety of shows, but also the apparent lack of effort on the part of Tim Pinch Productions to determine the entertainment needs of the Burbank community, or to advertise and market his events locally.”

A spokesman for Pinch said he was not discouraged, though.

“We take the report as a positive sign that the city wants more shows,” said Tim Baker, Pinch’s director of advertising and operations. “One of our objectives has always been to let the people in the city know they have a beautiful facility. If having more shows is their only concern, then we’ll give it to them.”

Council Votes

At least one council member said she would vote for the termination of Pinch’s contract.

“I’ve never been happy with our contract with Mr. Pinch,” Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard said. “I never thought he was providing the community with the kind of entertainment he was supposed to bring us. I never felt he had the experience.”

But another council member, Michael R. Hastings, said officials may not be patient enough with Pinch. “We may have to wait 3 or 4 more years before things change,” he said. “Patience will have its virtue.”

Early last summer, Pinch sent a letter to city officials that said he had formed a partnership with the high-powered Weintraub Entertainment Group.

Pinch said he would be utilizing the “financial resources, industry contacts and management expertise” of Weintraub to secure major acts.

However, officials for Weintraub said they had not joined forces with Pinch.

“That letter does not depict what our relationship would ever be,” said Eddie Wenrick, assistant to the manager of the concert division at Weintraub at the time that the letter was written.

“We’ve had talks with Tim, and we will try to help him if we can. But that letter is more a case of what Tim Pinch wants it to be than what is.”

Weintraub officials Thursday declined to comment.