Historic film studio hits the market at top dollar even as filming dips

Los Angeles Times

4 days ago

One of the oldest movie studios in Los Angeles is up for sale, perhaps to the newest generation of content creators.
The potential sale of Occidental Studios comes amid a drop in filming in Los Angeles as the local entertainment industry faces such headwinds as rising competition from studios in other cities and countries, as well as the aftermath of filming slowdowns during the pandemic and industry strikes of 2023.
Occidental Studios, which dates back to 1913, was once used by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks to make silent films. It is a small version of a traditional Hollywood studio with soundstages, offices and writers' bungalows in a 3-acre gated campus near Echo Park in Historic Filipinotown.
The seller hopes its boutique reputation will garner $45 million, which would rank it one of the most valuable studios in Southern California at $651 per square foot. A legendary Hollywood studio founded by Charlie Chaplin in 1917 sold last year for $489 per foot, according to real estate data provider CoStar.
The Chaplin studio known until recently as the Jim Henson Company Lot was purchased by singer-songwriter John Mayer and movie director McG from the family of famed Muppets creator Jim Henson.
Occidental Studios may sell to one of today's modern content creators in search of a flagship location, said real estate broker Nicole Mihalka of CBRE, who represents the seller.
She declined to name potential buyers but said she is showing the property to new-media businesses who don't present themselves through traditional channels such as television shows and instead rely on social media and the internet to reach younger audiences.
New media entrepreneurs may not often need soundstages, 'but they like the idea of having the history, the legacy' of a studio linked to the early days of cinema, she said. It might lend credibility to a brand and become a destination for promotional activities as well as being a place to create content, she said. Mihalka envisions the space being used for events for partners, sponsors and advertisers as well as press junkets for new product launches.
Entertainment businesses located nearby include filmmaker Ava DuVernay's Array Now, independent film and production company Blumhouse Productions and film and production company Rideback Ranch.
Neighborhoods east of Hollywood such as Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park and Highland Park have become home to many people in the entertainment industry, which Mihalka hopes will elevate the appeal of Occidental Studios.
'We've been seeing film and TV talent heading this way for a while,' she said, including executives who also live in those neighborhoods.
The owner of of Occidental Studios said it's gotten harder for smaller studios to operate in the current economic climate that includes competition from major independent studio operators that have emerged in recent decades.
'Once upon a time, you did not have multibillion-dollar global portfolio companies swimming in the waters of Hollywood,' said Craig Darian, chief executive of Occidental Entertainment Group Holdings Inc., citing Hudson Pacific Properties, Hackman Capital Partners and CIM Group. 'They are not content producers, but have a long history of providing services for multiple television shows and features.'
Competition now includes overseas studios in such countries as Canada, Ireland and Australia, he said. 'When production was really robust and domiciled in Los Angeles, it was much easier to remain very competitive.'
Another factor threatening the bottom line for conventional studios is rapidly changing technology used to create entertainment including tools as simple as lighting.
'You used to know that equipment would last for decades,' Darian said. 'The new tools for production are becoming obsolete in far shorter order.'
Nevertheless, Darian said, the potential sale 'is not motivated by distress or urgency. Nothing is driving the decision other than the timing of whether or not this remains to be a relevant asset to keep within our portfolio. If we get an offer at or above the asking price, then we're a seller.'
Darian said he may also seek a long-term tenant to take over the studio.
Occidental Studios at 201 N. Occidental Blvd. comprises over 69,000 square feet of buildings including four soundstages and support space such as offices and dressing rooms.
It's among the oldest continually operating studios in Hollywood, used by pioneering filmmakers Cecil B. DeMille, D.W. Griffith and Pickford, who worked there as an actress and filmmaker in its early years. Pickford reportedly kept an apartment on the lot for years.
More recently it has been used for television production for such shows as 'Tales of the City,' 'New Girl' and HBO's thriller 'Sharp Objects.'
Local television production area declined by 30.5% in the first quarter compared with the previous year, according to he nonprofit organization FilmLA, which tracks shoot days in the Greater Los Angeles region. All categories of TV production were down, including dramas (-38.9%), comedies (-29.9%), reality shows -(26.4%) and pilots (-80.3%).
Feature film production decreased by 28.9%, while commercials were down by 2.1%, FilmLA said.