SETTING THE STAGE; DEMAND FOR PRODUCTION SPACE SKYROCKETING.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer With none of its trademark glamour and glitz glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. , Hollywood has descended on an anonymous factory building in the west San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and quietly started pumping out celluloid celluloid [from cellulose], transparent, colorless synthetic plastic made by treating cellulose nitrate with camphor and alcohol. Celluloid was the first important synthetic plastic and was widely used as a substitute for more expensive substances, such as dreams. In a scenario repeated at a growing number of unexpected locales, the two-story building on Variel Avenue that once produced aircraft parts and later shampoo has become an entertainment studio. Ray-Art Studios has already served as home for ``Blade,'' starring Wesley Snipes Snipes (Diminutive for Snipers) is a text-mode networked computer game that was created in 1983 by SuperSet software. Snipes is officially credited as being the original inspiration for Novell NetWare. as a high-tech vampire fighter, and the TV sitcom ``Nothing Sacred.'' It's a story occurring throughout the San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. and Santa Clarita valleys - owners of property that once housed manufacturing or retail have discovered that going Hollywood makes financial sense. While major studios like Universal and Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . will charge up to $4,500 a day for their largest soundstages, independents can sometimes get more than $3,000 per daily rental, particularly if the space has at least 15,000 square feet and high ceilings. With the explosive growth of entertainment production in recent years, stages on studio lots are often booked for months. That means producers have been turning to unlikely locations like Canoga Park, Sylmar, Van Nuys and Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, , where a thriving business has developed in using industrial buildings dozens of miles from Hollywood. Ray-Art is the fifth incarnation for the plant. It was originally owned by Boeing Co., then Redken shampoo, which fled in 1995 for New Jersey and sold the property to developer Robert Selan. He first opened a baseball training facility, then struck lease deals with producers and renamed it Variel Studios before selling it to Robert Papazian and James Hirsch last year. The new owners, best known for producing television's ``Nash Bridges Nash Bridges was an American television police drama that was created by Carlton Cuse. It aired for six seasons on CBS and was aired in as many countries, between March 29 1996 and May 4 2001. In total, 122 episodes were produced. ,'' have divided 83,000 square feet into four walled soundstages and dubbed it Ray-Art after their fathers. Business has been so good that they will add up to four stages by the end of next year, using 100,000 square feet in the back, originally part of the factory but demolished after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. . ``There's so much demand for space that there's no question that the new stages will be filled,'' Hirsch said. Ray-Art has put up a permanent logo outside the building, installed wooden flooring over the cement and recently opened a commissary COMMISSARY. An officer whose principal duties are to supply the army with provisions. 2. The Act of April 14, 1818, s. 6, requires that the president, by and with the consent of the senate, shall appoint a commissary general with the rank, pay, and emoluments called Joey's Grill. ``For us, the reality of doing this turned out far better than our expectations,'' Hirsch said. ``We have been extraordinarily pleased. Knock on Noun 1. knock on - (rugby) knocking the ball forward while trying to catch it (a foul) rugby, rugby football, rugger - a form of football played with an oval ball rugby, rugby football, rugger - a form of football played with an oval ball wood that there's a lot of business out there for people like us.'' Ray-Art and producer Aaron Spelling recently agreed on a deal to lease all four existing stages for ``Love Boat: The Next Wave'' for the coming TV season and have started construction, with principal photography set to begin in mid-August. ``I had 14 producers waiting with bated bate 1 tr.v. bat·ed, bat·ing, bates 1. To lessen the force or intensity of; moderate: "To his dying day he bated his breath a little when he told the story" breath on our stages because it's so hard to find large spaces with 35-foot-high ceilings,'' said Ray-Art general manager Harry Smith, a 16-year veteran at Universal. ``I get calls every day, even though we haven't done any marketing, just word-of-mouth.'' Given a choice, producers would rather do business on the industry's 10 major lots - Fox and Sony in Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. ; Paramount, ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. and CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. in Hollywood; Universal in Universal City; CBS in Studio City; and Disney, Warner and NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. in Burbank. ``We're not just renting soundstages on the lot; we're selling a lot of services,'' said Mike Walbrecht, Warner's director of studio and production services. ``We have huge wardrobe, props, lighting and construction departments, and you don't see that at a converted warehouse.'' But even Warner, with 35 soundstages and 433,000 square feet, is forced to use large amounts of off-lot space, such as the Spruce Goose Dome in Long Beach, where it has a three-year lease. ``Warehouses tend to be cold, damp, without enough electricity and parking,'' Walbrecht said. ``There are a lot of problems, but we have to use them. It can be less expensive, but you often have to bring in power, insulate and get security.'' There are more than 160 soundstages in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, ranging from Warner's Stage 16 with 31,388 square feet to spaces of less than 2,000 square feet. They are ground zero in the region's surge in entertainment production. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a recently released survey by the Motion Picture Association of America, entertainment spending jumped a stunning 75 percent to $6.44 billion between 1992 and 1996 for the San Fernando Valley and increased 168 percent in Santa Clarita during that same period to $394 million. Industry trackers say those numbers continue to surge, heating up a thriving market for more soundstages. ``Everyone that I talk to is planning to add more space,'' said William Allen William Allen may refer to:
MTM Minutes to Midnight (Linkin Park album) MTM Mary Tyler Moore (actress) MTM Made to Measure MTM Motoren-Technik-Mayer MTM Methods Time Measurement Productions, which was based on the CBS lot. ``The growth will come both within the big studio lots and the independent operators. I'm quite sure they'll build because producers are tired of having to wait for space.'' Majors' growth Nearly two-thirds of the region's soundstages operate at five major studios - Universal, Warner, Disney, CBS and NBC. Yet even with 93 stages of a combined 1.25 million square feet at those facilities, it's not enough. ``I'm turning business away,'' said Bob Gould, manager of NBC's seven stages, home to ``The Tonight Show,'' ``Days of Our Lives,'' ``Access Hollywood'' and ``Sunset Beach Sunset Beach may refer to:
CBS, NBC and Universal plan to add stages, but not for several more years. The CBS lot, originally opened by Mack Sennett Noun 1. Mack Sennett - United States filmmaker (born in Canada) noted for slapstick movies (1880-1960) Sennett and Al Christie Al Christie, (October 23, 1881 – April 14, 1951) was a Canadian-born motion picture director, producer and screenwriter. Born Alfred Ernest Christie, in London, Ontario, Canada, he was one of a number of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood who made their way in 1926, will have two new stages in 2000 and two more in 2002, adding 91,000 square feet. ``We'll be pretty much built out by then,'' said Michael Klausman, president of the CBS Studio Center. NBC's target is to add six stages to the seven it operates. But Jack O'Neill, vice president of facilities, noted it will be a complex process because of the need to obtain approvals and replace facilities. Construction could begin in 2001, he said. The stages each will contain at least 18,000 square feet - large enough to house sitcoms. ``We are all in a situation where we have so much product and not enough stages,'' O'Neill said. ``I think the demand will continue for a long, long time. It's tough for us because we wind up leasing all over town, which is very expensive, when we'd rather build our own.'' Universal, which already operates 36 soundstages with an average of slightly more than 80,000 square feet, has said it plans to add another 80,000 square feet of soundstages during the next 15 years as part of its extensive expansion proposal. ``Most of the majors have not added soundstages for a long time because, in a lot of cases, the need is being serviced elsewhere,'' Warner's Walbrecht said. ``So if there weren't so many converted warehouses available, it would be more imperative to build more stages. As a result, all the majors are using outside space.'' Production spreads Often, the owners of soundstages have entered the business by accident. ``I was a manufacturer of truck bodies for General Motors and Ford, and I had a lot of property,'' said Sheldon Baer, who broke into the business eight years ago and now owns four soundstages. ``I had to do an exchange with a health club in Toluca Lake, so my friends suggested I convert it to soundstages.'' The Chandler Toluca Lake operation eventually occupied 18,000 square feet and became so successful that Baer opened two more stages with nearly 30,000 square feet at the back of the closed GM plant in Van Nuys. He is planning to open two even larger stages by next year. ``We've done very well, and we kept getting requests for more and larger space,'' Baer said. ``I don't see the need going away, because studios want to invest in their own product, not real estate.'' Or take Del Masino, who operates Delfino Stages in a Sylmar warehouse. He launched the business five years ago when he unexpectedly found himself with 30,000 square feet of vacant space. A friend told him about another warehouse owner in Sun Valley renting the place out for $900 a day to producers, so he built two soundstages. ``I keep my prices very reasonable, so I have plenty of people in here,'' Masino said. ``We're not well-known, but we're close to everything - 20 minutes from Hollywood, half an hour from the Westside.'' Location scouts also report a solid business in matching film companies with empty warehouses, office buildings and hospitals. ``Producers love industrial warehouse-type space because it's so easy for set-building,'' said Jim Thompson, head of the Van Nuys-based Real to Reel service. ``The commercial industry is pretty hot right now, the TV market is aggressive, and features are booming because `Titanic' did so well.'' Some of Thompson's more desirable locations include the former West Valley Hospital in Chatsworth; homes with a mainstream look, including white-picket fences; and a former Keebler cookie plant in Van Nuys. ``There's always a need for more space,'' he said. ``We're scrambling to fill our orders. We thought about building something ourselves, but we're so busy now.'' Leasing a warehouse is attractive because the structures tend to have plenty of parking and high ceilings. But the space may lack insulation and soundproofing Soundproofing is any means of reducing the intensity of sound with respect to a specified source and receptor. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, using noise barriers to block or absorb the energy of the sound . ``You really do wonder why production companies don't want to commit to anything more than what they immediately need,'' said Tracy Barnacle barnacle, common name of the sedentary crustacean animals constituting the subclass Cirripedia. Barnacles are exclusively marine and are quite unlike any other crustacean because of the permanently attached, or sessile, mode of existence for which they are highly , who specializes in such property at Real to Reel. ``But I think absolutely everything available will be picked up. Anything over 40,000 square feet is very desirable.'' That's the case even if the facilities are in Santa Clarita, 25 miles from Hollywood. Santa Clarita Studios, with eight stages and more than 120,000 square feet, went on the block earlier this year and has drawn three bids, even though there are three other operations in that area. ``We've always said that the business was heading north,'' said Herman David, one of the owners. ``What's surprised us is the interest we've gotten from people in music and cable TV.'' More entertainment development in the Santa Clarita area is probable. Lincoln Property Co. recently bought Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. Corp.'s Rye Canyon aerospace test site and plans to convert much of the 511 acres to entertainment production. And plenty of smaller players say the demand is so strong that they're going to expand. ``I get calls all the time from people who need stages with at least 10,000 square feet,'' said Don Oran, who operates Studio 57's three soundstages with 7,600 square feet in North Hollywood. ``We're in the process of getting more, and I want to be up and running by August.'' Richard Albain, owner of the Hayvenhurst Studios in Van Nuys, plans to build two 16,800-square-foot stages next year on the site of a former wrecking yard A wrecking yard, auto salvage yard or breakers yard, (sometimes also known as a junkyard), is the location of an auto dismantling business where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles (most commonly automobiles, but junkyards for motorcycles, bicycles, small , a block away from his current operations. ``We decided to build pretty-good-size spaces, because you can never have something big enough,'' he said. Zelma Welcome, sales manager sales manager n → gerente m/f de ventas sales manager n → directeur commercial sales manager sale n → for four small stages in Glendale and Burbank, is also on the prowl. ``We are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. land,'' she said. ``We want to put up eight to 10 stages with 14,000 to 20,000 square feet (each).'' GROUND ZERO FOR VALLEYWOOD There are well over 160 soundstages operating in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, with a dozen more likely to be built soon because of the growing need for entertainment programming. Aero Mock-Ups, North Hollywood, one stage, 4,000 square feet Axel Axel: see Absalon. Stages, Burbank, two stages, 6,000 square feet Bruce Austin Productions, Burbank, one stage, 2,100 square feet CBS, Studio City, 18 stages, 278,000 square feet Chandler Toluca Lake Studios, Toluca Lake, two stages, 18,000 square feet Chandler Valley Center Studios, Van Nuys, two stages, 29,500 square feet Delfino Stages, Sylmar, two stages, 27,000 square feet Empire Burbank, Burbank, three stages, 16,000 square feet Glendale Studios, Glendale, two stages, 11,900 square feet Gosch Productions, North Hollywood, one stage, 1,047 square feet Hayvenhurst Studios, Van Nuys, two stages, 10,450 square feet MCA/Universal Studios, Universal City, 36 stages, 370,000 square feet Media City Teleproductions, Burbank, two stages, 3,500 square feet NBC-Burbank, Burbank, seven stages, 71,974 square feet Panavision Stages, Woodland Hills, two stages, 5,500 square feet PM Entertainment, Sunland, three stages, 50,000 square feet Ray-Art Studios, Canoga Park, four stages, 83,960 square feet Rhythm and Hues, North Hollywood, one stage, 3,397 square feet Santa Clarita Studios, Santa Clarita, eight stages, 123,600 square feet Screenland Studios, Burbank, two stages, 3,100 square feet Shades of Noun 1. shades of - something that reminds you of someone or something; "aren't there shades of 1948 here?" reminder - an experience that causes you to remember something Light, Burbank, two stages, 14,720 square feet Solar Studios, Glendale, three stages, 12,000 square feet South Lake Stage, Burbank, one stage, 2,400 square feet Studio 57, North Hollywood, three stages, 7,500 square feet Studio K, Valencia, one stage, 18,000 square feet Valencia Studios, Valencia, six stages, 120,000 square feet Walt Disney Studios The name Walt Disney Studios may refer to:
Warner Bros., Burbank, 29 stages, 369,578 square feet Warner Bros. Ranch, Burbank, five stages, 55,335 square feet Warner Bros. Warehouse, Burbank, one stage, 9,200 square feet Warren Entertainment Center, Valencia, six stages, 250,000 square feet West Valley Studios, Chatsworth, two stages, 4,325 square feet SOURCES: Studios, Entertainment Industry Development Corp., Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley CAPTION(S): 3 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--Color) One of the most famous soundstages in the Valley is NBC studios
NBC Studios in Burbank, where ``The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is filmed for television. Photo courtesy NBC studios (2--Color) Construction coordinator Ed Vance, left, talks with producer Jim Weatherill at Valencia Studios. With the explosive growth of entertainment production in recent years, stages on studio lots are often booked for months. Hans Gutknecht / Daily News (3) Workers construct a production set at Delfino Studios in Sylmar. David Crane David Crane may refer to:
BOX: GROUND ZERO FOR VALLEYWOOD (see text) |
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