Extant - Filming Locations - Episodes 9 & 10

Click on the photo to read about the location.

0:06:23: We see Sparks standing next to his car, on a rural road.

He phones Yasumoto and lies to him, telling him that "The Offspring" has escaped,
that he has no idea where it is, and that he should erase everything.

Sparks then breaks his phone and throws it away, before driving off.

This scene was shot in the hills high above Malibu, on the 300 block of
Vera Canyon Road (where it meets Pitsch Canyon Road).

Vera Canyon Road is just west of Kanan Dune Road, which is a main route leading
from Point Dume and the Pacific Coast Highway up into the Malibu hills,
over Mulholland, and eventually down into the Valley.

( This spot is just south of Calamigos Ranch, which we will see later. )

There is a small indented shoulder on the west side of the road here, just above
a tree-filled gulch, where they stopped the car and filmed the scene.

This same spot (and the ditch below it) is seen later, at 0:32:08,
when the abandoned car is found by Harmon & Kern.

Here is a Google StreetView of the spot:

0:07:40: Sparks drives alone to the "Wimberly Woods" campground, where he speaks with a
woman who knew his dead daughter. She remembers how the girl used to play in the woods.

Sparks checks in and stays in one of the geodesic tents there.

A good part of these two episodes take place here, at Wimberly Woods.

Under the influence of "The Offspring", Sparks believes that his dead daughter, Katie, is with him.
He phones his estranged wife and tells her to come there. She does, and also falls
under the influence of the Offspring's illusions.

So happy are they to have their dead daughter back, that they don't even question
when the Offspring "feeds" on two men (whom Sparks brought for it), leaving them mindless
slaves. Sparks even kills the friendly woman at the desk, in an effort to protect the Offspring.

Later, Molly is abducted by Dr. Morgan, and taken to Wimberly Woods, where she too
is brainwashed by the Offspring into seeing a dead loved one, this time her miscarried baby.

Eventually (at 1:06:54), Harmon & Kern follow the Sparks' wife's GPS to the campsite. During
the ensuing gunfight, Molly finally snaps out of it, but only after Harmon has been shot & killed.

"Wimberly Woods" is actually Calamigos Ranch, at 327 Latigo Canyon Road,
in the hills above Malibu. ( It is just north of the spot where Sparks left his car. )

Here is a StreetView of the entrance to Calamigos Ranch.

I recognized it immediately from the show "Bunheads", which was filmed at the
ranch and which used those same red & white buildings as their main sets.

( You can see a page of photos of that red & white cottage here. )

The ranch is also sometimes referred to as "The Biggest Loser Resort",
since that 'reality' show was also filmed at the camp.

What exactly is Calamigos Ranch? That's not an easy question to answer.

It's not strictly a movie ranch, per se, although they do have a lot of filming there.
Covering 130 acres, it's bigger than Disneyland, and serves a number of roles.

As an event center, it hosts weddings, bar mitzvahs, company picnics,
conferences, seminars, workshops - that sort of thing.

But it also contains a restaurant called the Malibu Cafe, which is open to the
public (Thursday through Sunday from 12 noon - 12 midnight).

Also on the property is a summer camp for kids called "Camp Summertime",
and "Milestones Ranch", an adult rehab center.

Here is the official Calamigos Ranch website.

0:43:45: We see Molly in a van driven by a Dr. Mason (an expert on extraterrestrials theory),
on a rural road,as he takes her to Wimberly Woods, to see "her child": "The Offspring".

They talk about her space mission, and she has a flashback of when she miscarried.

In the screenshot above, the camera is looking northwest, as the van
travels southeast on the 2800 block of Cornell Road, in Agoura Hills.

They are passing Paramount Ranch (on their west side).

Here is a matching Google StreetView of the same road:

At 0:46:56, we see a young girl looking at a pool full of floating lily pads.

The camera pulls back to show a plaza and a two-level colonnade. On the top level,
Sparks and his estranged wife look down on the child. The wife says that she
remembers how Katie used to like the lilies, and the memory is too painful.

Sparks tells her that if she lets him show her what he wants her to see,
if she then still wants to leave, he will bring her back

This scene was shot at the Skirball Center, a Jewish museum & cultural center located
at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd, in the hills of the Sepulveda Pass, where the
San Diego (405) Freeway cuts through the Santa Monica Mountains
as it leads from West Los Angeles into the San Fernando Valley.

That courtyard, with the lily pads, is called the Taper Courtyard.

The Skirball Center started out as a small museum, originally located near USC, dedicated
to the Jewish experience & history. It grew over the years, and in 1996 moved to this much
larger venue. In addition to the museum, the new campus also features a performing
arts center, conference halls, classrooms, libraries, gardens, and a café.

( Just a few weeks earlier, it was used as a filming location for
a scene from another popular TV show, "True Blood". )

Here is a photo of the courtyard and its lily pool:

photo © Alex Vertikoff/Courtesy of Skirball Cultural Center

0:47:55: A car drives past a building with a sign reading "Jackfield Municipal Center"

We see that Harmon and Gordon Kern are in the car.

They pull up to another building in the center and get out. They have followed the wife's car
via a drone's GPS, but when they spot her car, it is empty, and they realize that Sparks
has taken her somewhere else. They turn and go inside, where they talk to the cops.

This scene was also filmed at the Skirball Center, only this scene was shot out on the
main road (Skirball Center Drive) leading past the Center. The car is traveling south.

The "Jackfield Municipal Center" sign is fake, of course. In real life, there is no sign
on that rounded building, which is actually called the Magnin Auditorium.

After leaving the car, they walk into Main Entrance & Lobby.

( A later scene, at 0:50:58, where a cop shoots up the Jackfield County
Sheriff's office, was also filmed here at the Skirball Center. )

Here is a matching Google StreetView of that entry road.

0:51:51: Molly & Dr. Mason, still on the road, stop for lunch at "Lucille's Diner".

Over lunch, they talk about extraterrestrials and her impregnation in space.

Later, at 1:00:13, Molly returns to Lucille's Diner after birds attack her van.
She asks to use the phone, and calls John. She tells him about birds,
and warns him to get out.

Dr. Mason shows up at the diner and takes Molly away in handcuffs.

This scene was shot at The Rock Store, a roadside diner and biker pitstop,
located at 30354 Mulholland Highway, in Cornell / Agoura Hills.

It's about two miles northeast of Calamigos Ranch.

(They changed the signs, of course, adding the fake Lucille's logo.)

Back before the Great Depression, the same land was a hot springs resort that attracted
Silent Screen stars. The Rock Store opened here in 1961 as a grocery store,
and has become one of the most famous biker hangouts in the country.

Attracting everyone from motorcycle-loving stars (such as Harrison Ford and Jay Leno)
to Sons of Anarchy wannabes, it is a Mecca for bikers of all sorts. But most
people go there for the atmosphere and the biker culture, not the food.

You'll find their website at www.rock-store.com

Here is a Google StreetView of The Rock Store:

0:59:23: As Dr. Mason is driving Molly towards Wimberly Woods, a flock of birds appears,
and forms the familiar circular warning sign that Molly saw earlier at Claypool Industries.

She becomes alarmed, and asks Dr. Mason to stop, but he refuses. The birds begin
to attack the van, and it swerves into a ditch, allowing Molly to escape.

This scene was shot with the van heading south on Lake Vista Drive, just south of Mulholland Drive.

That's about a mile and a half east of The Rock Store, and about
five miles northeast of Calamigos Ranch ("Wimberly Woods").

Here is a matching Google StreetView of the location:

( At 1:17:17: there is another establishing shot of the Yasumoto Corp. )

(Click on the photo to read about that location.)