Making the Scene; Filmmakers Have Field Days at Tillman Plant and Japanese Garden: [Valley Edition]

What the heck is going on at Sepulveda Basin?

One day, a lowlife with a gun is shooting at a rap artist in the tunnels beneath a sewage treatment plant. A few days later, ninja assassins are rappelling down a wall and crashing cars on an adjacent access road.

Not long ago, a maniacal police chief at the plant's administration building dispatched a cyborg killer to execute a kick-boxing Secret Service agent.

Then there was the problem with the exploding coconuts during the "Bio-Dome" experiment.

What's happening is good old-fashioned movie magic. But it is taking place in a most unlikely location: the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, a Van Nuys facility that treats about 80 million gallons of sewage a day.

In a testament to Hollywood's resourcefulness, the plant and adjacent Japanese Garden have become one of the hottest film sites in the city, particularly for low-budget sci-fi movies, monster flicks and action films.

In the past two years, the location has been used 99 times for filming and still-photography shoots, according to the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., which issues filming permits in Los Angeles.

The plant and garden, built to demonstrate the positive uses of reclaimed water, are booked almost once a week on average, a pace that Donna Washington of the development corporation called "pretty busy, especially for a city location."

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Only a few other city-owned sites, such as Griffith Park and City Hall, are more popular. The reason for the garden's popularity: The location is cheap and versatile.

For only $300 a day, film crews have access to 6 1/2 acres...