 |
Seeing Stars: The Movie Studios

(now named MBS Media Campus)
1600 Rosecrans Avenue,
Manhattan Beach, CA / (310) 727-2700.

It's been more than 50 years
since the a new motion picture studio was built in Los Angeles County...
more than half a century since the legendary studios such as MGM and Paramount
opened their doors. But now there's a new kid on the block, and he's coming
on strong.
 With
Hollywood suffering from a shortage in studio/sound stage space, Roy E. Disney
(Walt's nephew) decided to take a chance and
build the spanking new Manhattan Beach Studios, near the Pacific
in the sunny South Bay region of the Los Angeles basin - a good 20 miles
away from downtown Hollywood. Located just a few blocks west of the 405
freeway, and only a few miles inland from the beach, it would seem an ideal
California location.
Within weeks after opening,
the new 22-acre, $90 million studio already had more business than it could
handle. With only five of its planned 15 sound stages finished, Manhattan
Beach Studios had already snatched a key client away from in Hollywood.
David E. Kelley Productions,
the Emmy Award-winning creator of "Chicago Hope,"
"Picket Fences," "The Practice"
and "Ally McBeal," used to tape their shows at Ren-Mar Studios.
But in June 1998, Ally packed
up her miniskirts and moved to the beach. From '98 on, "Ally McBeal"
(starring Callista Flockhart)
was filmed at Manhattan Beach Studios, as was "The Practice"
and "Boston Public." 
For years, they filmed the
smash hit "The O.C."
there (and at the local South Bay beaches - not in Orange County),
as well as the clever "Boston Legal" (with
James Spader
and William Shatner).
Currently, they film "Jane the Virgin", "Scorpion", "CSI: Miami", "Medium",
"90210" and "America’s Funniest Home Videos"
at the studio, plus the ABC series "Revenge".
The studio is also home
to Marvel Studios (which was recently acquired by Disney). As Marvel, it
was the base for the filming of the 2010 hit "Iron Man 2", much of 2011's "Thor", and 2012's "Captain America" and "The Avengers".
 |
In late 1998, another big
name moved in - at least temporarily.
Steven Spielberg's
DreamWorks took over five more of
the sound stages - to film their theatrical ghost story, "The Haunting,"
directed by the man who gave us the action hits "Speed" and
"Twister" (Jan de Bont), and starring Liam Neeson
("Schindler's List," "Star Wars Episode I:
The Phantom Menace") and Catherine Zeta-Jones
("The Mask of Zorro").
|
 |
In 2011, it was announced that the two sequels to "Avatar"
(the highest-grossing film of all time) will be filmed at Manhattan
Studios, as James Cameron's company, Lightstorm Entertainment, moves
its production operations to Manhattan Beach. They signed a
5-year lease to take over two big soundstages, totaling 115,000 square
feet.
They also filmed scenes from
the movies "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Daredevil,"
"Starship Troopers", "Almost Famous", "The
Hot Chick" and "The Panic Room" at Manhattan
Beach Studios. They have recently added a
small "urban backlot", a mock city street filled with various
two-story storefronts, brownstones & fire escapes, complete with sidewalks
& street lamps.
And they are now referring to the studio as "MBS Media Campus" (the "MBS" short for, of course, Manhattan Beach Studios).
An interesting side
note: Bastien and Associates, Inc., the architectural firm which
built Manhattan Beach Studios, took home some of the sets from "The
Haunting". The 'Grand Hallway' and 'Cleo's Bedroom' are
now part of Bastien's architectural office, in Tustin, CA. You can
see photos the former sets, now in use in Tustin, at http://www.bastienarchitects.com/haunting.html
|
Another
major tenant of the South Bay new studio was none other than 20th Century
Fox, which contracted early to lease at least five of the 14 new
sound stages for five years. (Rumors were floating that "The X-Files"
series would be shot there, but it stayed at Fox until it's demise.)
And short-term tenants have
been busy filming TV commercials there, for
companies like Jack In The Box and Honda.
In July of 1998, Raleigh Studios (Hollywood's
longest continually-operated studio) inked a five-year deal to manage and
operate the studio (those sound stages and space not leased by Fox), making
Raleigh "the area's largest independent studio group in terms
of stages." There was a new sign up calling the studio "Raleigh
Manhattan Beach Studios"...
But the Raleigh
period appears to have ended, as Raleigh now has new digs in Playa
Vista, which includes the hugesound stage where Howard Hughes once
built the Spruce Goose.
The Manhattan Beach Studio is now referred to as the "MBS Media Campus"
The 22-acre studio boasts cutting edge technology and amenities, including
five 25,000-square-foot stages and nine 18,000-square-foot stages, a commissary
and related office and production support space. The lot is fiber-optically
equipped and all stages have been audience rated for television production.
The new stages were designed and built to optimize production convenience
and efficiency. Most have contiguous access to their corresponding producer's
offices and stars' dressing rooms.
So don't be surprised to see
some of the shows' stars hanging around the local "Houston's" and
other Manhattan Beach restaurants near the studio.
(The Comedy
& Magic Club - where Jay Leno
is a regular, is located only a few miles southwest of the studio.)
Getting
there: The new
studio is located in the South Bay region of the Los Angeles basin, in
the city of Manhattan Beach, just a few blocks east of the Manhattan Village
Mall. From West L.A., just take the San Diego (405) Freeway south
(about 14 miles) to Rosecrans Avenue exit. Head west on Rosecrans (less
than a mile) to Redondo Avenue, and turn left (south) on Redondo.
[You can access
the studios' official website at: mbsmediacampus.com.]
Looking
for something in particular? Search the Seeing-Stars website!
|
|
|