The city of Long Beach is still waiting for word on a possible multi-million dollar movie studio.
Developments have stalled since news broke of a deal between the Boeing Company and Long Beach Studios LLC more than a week ago. Spokespeople from both sides are holding back on the details.
“Once all the elements of the deal are completed, a formal announcement will be made to all media outlets,” said Joe Marich, spokesman for Long Beach Studios chairman Jack O’Halloran.
Last Wednesday, the Long Beach branch of the Sierra Club urged Mayor Bob Foster and the City Council to continue wooing Tesla in locating to a new plant on a former Boeing site. Club members argued that the manufacturer’s green culture serves the city better, as opposed to a struggling movie industry.
If the deal is finalized, Long Beach Studios will renovate the former 77-acre Boeing plant north of the Long Beach Airport into a massive movie studio. Features include 40 soundstages, recording studios and post-production editing suites. Plans also include a 5-star hotel and spa to accommodate film crews.
Studio executives say the ambitious project could generate 2,500 to 3,000 jobs — more than double the jobs Tesla Motors, which is also competing for Boeing’s former plant, could offer.
O’Halloran has been emphasizing the studio’s job potential, but at the same time, he acknowledged that the heavily unionized movie industry does not always employ locals. If anything, the sheer number of film crews eating and shopping in the city could provide a boost to Long Beach’s economy, he told the Press-Telegram.
Downey Studios has already witnessed the lack of local jobs that a unionized industry can cause. Boasting two soundstages, the facility is a miniature version of the proposed Long Beach Studios.
Tom Messmer, vice president of Industrial Realty Group, which operates Downey Studios, told the Press-Telegram the studio is active in renting out space to production companies but local employment has been a disappointment.
Some argue that Tesla Motors, on the other hand, would have several benefits, including an ability to employ locally.
“Green businesses like Tesla are not only good for the city,” said Gabrielle Weeks, chair of the Long Beach Sierra Club’s executive committee, in a press release, “but good for the environment, good for business, and good for the people who can work locally, instead of commuting to distant sites.”
Weeks pointed out that ex-aerospace workers from the former Boeing plant could readily transition into producing environmentally friendly cars. The issue of unionization the movie industry presents could also be avoided.
For now, developments are slow, but economic concerns are only secondary to whether the deal is going to be finalized.