A $450-million Hollywood studio stacks soundstages, parking and bungalows in the sky
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Set us as preferred At a time when news about the pace of film and television production seems to be relentlessly bad, a Hollywood real estate developer is ignoring the headlines and building a brand new studio.Construction is far along on Echelon Studios Hollywood: an old-school movie studio with all the standard features, but stacked in a single building rather than spread out on a sprawling lot.The challenge was to design a 10-acre movie studio for a 5-acre site, architect Andrew Wright of RIOS said.“Everything is crammed as tight as it can possibly go,” he said.
Business Owners of independent studios across Los Angeles are struggling in the face of a historic downturn in production activity.Behind the $450-million venture is real estate developer and landlord David Simon, a true believer in Hollywood who came up with the idea of knocking down a former Sears store on Santa Monica Boulevard west of the Hollywood Freeway and building a studio that is set to open early next year.He is a rare optimist in a business that has been struggling.Demand for film facilities in Southern California has sharply fallen as production has dwindled in recent years.
In late July, the nonprofit FilmLA reported that feature film shoots were down 20% in the second quarter versus last year.Even worse, TV production — once the lifeblood of L.A.’s entertainment industry — decreased by 30%.Given the changes in the industry — the slimmer film and TV lineups, the established and experienced film hubs outside the Golden State and lower costs elsewhere — it’s unlikely production in L.A.
will reach the heights it once did.Simon launched the project about five years ago when there appeared to be bottomless demand for soundstages as cash-flush newcomers like Netflix, Amazon and Apple raced longtime studio powers to crank out movies and t...