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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Indie Studio Adds Space for New Soundstage

ENTERTAINMENT – Mark Madler Independent studio Avenue Six is on the grow again. Just 18 months after the Van Nuys business built a New York City streetscape in its parking lot, construction crews were adding another 4,000 feet of production space in September. When a subtenant moved out, Avenue Six Founder and President Paul Reitzin seized the opportunity to use the entire building on Haskell Avenue for the filming of television shows, films, commercial and online programming. “We can have one large production that can shoot everything here,” Reitzin said. “It gives extra capacity and gives us more versatility.” Continual improvements to the studio have been a hallmark of Avenue Six since its doors opened in 2009. It’s what an independent operation has to do to attract potential clients. In addition to the soundstages and New York streetscape, Reitzin converted some parking spaces into a craft services area. Soundproof doors were put on the stages to cut down the noise from the nearby 405 Freeway. Other studio space in the Los Angeles area typically falls to one extreme or the other — too small or too big, so Avenue Six places itself in the middle, Reitzin said. “We can handle multiple spaces,” Reitzin added. “The large ones can handle anything, but they are expensive.” Another factor that prompted Avenue Six to install the new soundstage was becoming the home studio for a new weekday show starring Marie Osmond that airs on the Hallmark Channel. While filming “Marie” at the studios gives Avenue Six more exposure it does tie up one of the soundstages for an extended period. “When you get a long term show, you do not want to turn away the basic customers by not having the space,” Reitzin said. In addition to “Marie,” other recent productions at Avenue Six included a cooking infomercial by long-time television pitchman Ron Popeil and a cable movie about Christmas. “It was 110 degrees outside and they were in here filming a Christmas movie,” Reitzin said. New Beatles Documentary to Debut Cinema Libre Studio in Canoga Park is distributing a new documentary about The Beatles by Los Angeles musician and author Seth Swirsky. “Beatles Stories” collects reminisces of people who had an encounter with the Fab Four. Having a movie filled with famous actors, musicians, singers and other well-known folks was not what Swirsky had set out to do. He was more interested in getting the best tales down on film. But because of the The Beatles legacy, the interview subjects tend to fall into the celebrity category. “The Beatles did not have a whole lot of access to regular people,” Swirsky noted. Among the people Swirsky sat down with: Beatles producer Sir George Martin, Beach Boy Brian Wilson, Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley, R&B legend Smokey Robinson, New York Yankee Bernie Williams, former first daughter Luci Baines Johnson, and Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen. Inspired by the stories told by a guide on a Beatles tour in Liverpool, Swirsky worked on his film for about eight years. Screenings at film festivals attracted the attention of Cinema Libre, distributor of feature films, documentaries, foreign films, and titles with social or political themes. Swirsky said he had been contacted by other distributors but decided on Cinema Libre because the firm understood his film the best. “It’s like being in high school and being chased by all these girls,” Swirsky said. “You date the one that knows you best and likes who you are the best.” Of course, Swirsky has his own Beatles stories to tell, too. He met Sir Paul McCartney in a gym in 2009 after a run on a treadmill. He met Ringo Starr in 2011. In 1987, while at the offices of Warner Chappell Music, he met George Harrison. Several weeks later, he met Harrison a second time and the guitarist remembered Swirsky by name. When Swirsky asked if they could get together later that week to work on a song together, Harrison declined because he was already booked to work with his friend, Bob. “I was turned down for Bob Dylan,” Swirsky said. “Beatles Stories” will screen Oct. 2 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Swirsky will sign copies of the DVD at the Barnes & Noble at The Grove in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 13. DreamWorks Inks New Deals DreamWorks Studios has signed distribution agreements with four partnering companies to serve the European and Middle East markets. The first film from the Universal City-based studio to come under the new agreements is “Starbuck,” starring Vince Vaughn to be releases in 2013. The new partners for DreamWorks are Entertainment One for the UK and Benelux markets; Italia Film for the Middle East; Nordisk Film for Scandinavian markets; and Constantin Film for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The international partners are among the best distributors and a perfect match for the studios films, said DreamWorks’ President and COO Jeff Small. “This new network of relationships encapsulates the studio’s vision for capitalizing on the growing global marketplace,” Small said, in a prepared statement. The Walt Disney Co. distributes DreamWorks films in North America, Latin America, Asia, Russia and Australia. Indian media company Reliance Entertainment provides financing and has distribution rights in India. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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