Wave Staff Report
LOS ANGELES — East End Studios officially opened the doors to its downtown Los Angeles Arts District facility Jan. 21.
East End Studios’ Mission Campus is a 255,000 square foot facility featuring five full-service sound stages spanning more than 100,000 square feet.
The stages range from 14,000 to 36,000 square feet. The campus includes a suite of office, production, support, commissary, mill and outdoor spaces, plus ample base camp, parking, and direct-to-stage loading. The facility created approximately 1,500 construction jobs and will create an estimated 750 permanent jobs.
Shep Wainwright, managing partner at East End Studios, conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the studio that was attended by Mayor Karen Bass; CEO of FilmLA Denise Gutches; Lindsay Dougherty, director of the Teamsters Motion Picture Division and principal officer of Teamsters Local 399, and more than industry guests.
The project, with a total cost of approximately $230 million, is designed to the industry’s highest standards and is now the newest film and TV-ready production studio to open in Los Angeles.
“The Downtown Los Angeles Arts District has been a key focus for us for many years as one of the region’s most dynamic development markets,” Wainwright said. “Its deep cultural roots and unique character make it an ideal setting for a world-class, fully integrated film and television studio campus.”
“L.A. is the creative capital of the world and our entertainment industry is core to this city’s history and the backbone of our economy,” Bass said. “When we invest in our signature industry we are creating good-paying union jobs, expanding creative outlets and spurring new economic opportunities. I want to congratulate East End Studios on this milestone and look forward to continuing our partnership to deliver for Angelenos.”
East End Studios’ Mission Campus will be managed by industry veteran Craig Chapman, CEO of East End Studios, along with an expert studio operations team.
The Mission Campus is the most recent studio to open within East End Studios’ growing portfolio. In Los Angeles, East End Studios’ Glendale Campus, a 97,000-square-foot two stage facility, opened about a year ago.
Layton Construction served as the project developer and Bell Design Group, a Los Angeles-based architecture and design studio, led the way with architecture and master planning.
FilmLA CEO Gutches congratulated East End Studios for its latest project.
“East End Studios’ continued investment in Los Angeles is a strong vote of confidence in our city’s creative economy and workforce,” Gutches said. “The opening of the Mission Campus not only expands world-class production capacity in the Arts District, but also reflects a long-term commitment to keeping jobs, talent, and innovation here in Los Angeles.” Mayor Bass recently announced critical progress on implementing her Executive Directive 11 aimed at bolstering the entertainment industry. Among other things, Bass announced the Central Library will reopen filming for major productions this year sometime this year, the Port of Los Angeles has cut the time it takes to review filming applications and city staff are preparing a proposal to lower fees for filming at the Griffith Observatory.
In addition, the city Department of Transportation has extended staff hours to ensure timely on-street signage posting requests and changes for local productions and that FilmLA, the City’s film permitting partner, is developing a tiered permitting fee structure for low-impact productions, working in coordination with film liaison Steve Kang and the mayor’s office.
The Department of Transportation also has pre-approved certain closures in downtown Los Angeles, allowing FilmLA to authorize curb lane and local street closures in accordance with established manual guidelines and the Los Angeles Police department has identified activity and locations where the assignment of personnel can either be waived or decreased since the Mayor’s directive.
“Collaboration is key to protect, stabilize and grow our film and television industry and the important jobs it creates across our state and right here in heart of Los Angeles,” said Dougherty, the Teamsters official in attendance. “It is the commitment of Hollywood Teamsters, and Hollywood labor, to continue the advocacy work for programs, policies and investment in infrastructure that promotes a vibrant industry for our members and participates in a thriving local and state economy.
