$500 Million Soundstage Project May Rival Hollywood's Finest

Character actor Jack O'Halloran, best known for his roles in the movies "Farewell, My Lovely," "Superman," and "Superman II," has long envisioned plans for a gigantic movie-making studio. It would contain dozens of soundstages, post-production facilities, a hotel for the actors and crew, a commissary, offices, and enough room to build huge indoor sets.

But where would one find such a voluminous building?

On the northeast corner of the Long Beach, CA airport sits a huge -- 1.1 million-square-foot -- empty hangar. Built in the 1940s by the former Douglas Aircraft for the construction of airliners, it has been vacant since 2006... when Boeing stopped producing the MD-95/B717 airliner.

Sitting on 78 acres, the hangar was built robustly. It features 50-foot high steel-beam ceilings with enough strength to not only hang lighting and other heavy objects from, but so beefy it could support the weight of a 22 acre back-lot... on the roof! The floor itself is strong enough to support almost 1 million pounds per square foot, and also features 30-ton rolling cranes.

The Los Angeles Times reports O'Halloran and former Sony and EMI executive Jay Samit partnered together and put their ideas into motion over a year ago, when they approached Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, who then put them in touch with Boeing officials. "We're excited about it," Boeing spokesman Glen Golightly said. The property is expected to change hands early in 2009.

Prior to the interest shown by O'Halloran's group, called Long Beach Studios, both Boeing and city officials were having trouble deciding the fate of the enormous hangar. Hoping to entice investors, the building was rezoned earlier this year for use as a movie studio, and in case that didn't work out, also as a parking facility for RVs.

But instead of becoming a parking lot, a truly win-win scenario has developed: Boeing has found a buyer, Long Beach Studios has found a home, and the economy of Long Beach will benefit as well.

Despite similar projects that haven't fared very well and the recent arrival of other smaller studios in Southern California, they believe the Boeing facility to be the ideal location for their super-studio. "You can walk on the lot and never leave it," O'Halloran said.

Actors and producers working and living in a contained environment would promote a faster and more economical movie-making process, and would likely attract producers that otherwise would use studios out of the area.

The first phase, to be finished by 2010, will consist of 600,000 square feet of soundstages, post-production facilities, a hotel, interior walls, and parking. Phase two, consisting of another 500,000 square feet of soundstages, could be completed as early as a year later.

FMI: www.boeing.com/commercial/facilities/longbeachsite.html