A different kind of labor pains

Forgive Jennifer Loeb if she is glowing like a new mother. Forgive her because she is, in a way, just that.

Just before Christmas, after months and months of labor, the 30-year-old Loeb gave birth to a bouncing baby sit-com. As vice president of The Studios of Las Colinas, it was Loeb's selling and then negotiating that delivered NBC's "13 East" to Dallas.

It is the first network comedy series ever filmed principally outside Hollywood or New York City.

Three episodes have been filmed at The Studios and another nine are scheduled to be shot over the next three months. Loeb recently received word that NBC might air the show as early as April, which means the network thinks highly enough of it to keep it from being just another summer replacement series.

Loeb considers the series a coup for the local film industry, The Studios at Las Colinas and for herself. First, for the local film industry because of the amount of work it will provide for local talent. Second, for The Studios because it is breaking new ground. While The Studios has carved a foothold, albeit a precarious one, in the realm of commercials and feature films (six have been shot there), "13 East" is the first major television production to use the soundstages on such a large scale. And last, for herself because unlike with previous projects where she was one of many factors that caused decision-makers to choose The Studios, Loeb was involved from the very beginning of the deal for "13 East," which will be filmed entirely at The Studios. Loeb knows that without her, and her nearly seven years of work with The Studios, the deal likely never would have happened.

"I feel like this is my baby," she says.

Michael Crow, president of the Dallas Communications Complex and Loeb's boss, said she has every right to lay claim to "13 East."

"She was the primary contact," he said. "She negotiated the whole deal."

Roger Burke, executive director of The Film Commission of North Texas, echoed those sentiments: "She was singularly responsible for "13 East," which is really a breakthrough project for us," he said.

The significance of the series was not lost upon Trammell S. Crow, developer and owner of The Studios, which is the focal piece of his Dallas Communications Complex. Crow sent Loeb a congratulatory bouquet of flowers,...