Silicon Beach

A flock of interactive digital filmmakers and computer graphic imaging artists has joined American Cybercast, which produces “The Spot,” in making Marina del Rey and nearby communities such as Venice and Culver City a haven for the digerati. The companies are drawn by the low rents, breathable air, plentiful work space and wooing from the city in the form of $96 million in tax breaks.

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Digital Domain - Founded: 1993

Mission: With a staff of 300 (including director/producer James Cameron and creature creator Stan Winston, both co-founders), the largest digital studio in L.A. has been the special effects mill for features “Apollo 13,””True Lies” and “Interview With the Vampire.” They also do theme park attractions, commercials, music videos and CD-ROMs.

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Sight Effects - Founded: 1990

Mission: Parent company to both the visual effects supervisors and artists of Insight Pix -- its computer graphic images (CGI) animation divisionand Digital Lab, its post-production facility. Shoots and creates visual effects for commercials and features, most recently the terrorized planes in “Executive Decision.”

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Boss Film Studios - Founded: 1983

Mission: One of the first CGI facilities in town, Boss Film -- led by four-time Oscar winner Richard Edlund -- boasts visual effects credits from career rejuvenators like “Cliffhanger” to career demolishers like Waterworld. With a staff of 75, including 40 “CGI guys,” it also houses a large model shop and produces attractions for Disney World/Epcot.

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American Cybercast - Founded: 1996

Mission: After last summer launch of “The Spot,” the Fattal & Collins ad agency has followed up with American Cybercast -- billed as “a TV network for the Web” -- with backing from super-agency CAA and chip-maker Intel. Since its debut Jan. 1, the company has grown from five employees to 26; its next episodic Web site will be the sci-fi endeavor “Eon-4.”

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Rhythm & Hues - Founded: 1987

Mission: Began as a CGI facility for commercials (they created the Coca-Cola polar bears) and branched out into visual effects for features, animation and theme parks, including EuroDisney. Co-founder Charlie Gibson won an Oscar for giving “Babe” a voice. Moved to an 80,000-square-foot warehouse in Mar Vista last year.

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DreamWorks Studios - Founded: 1994

Mission: Ground has finally been broken for what Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen tout as film’s first major studio in 59 years. They will be the anchor of a sprawling 1,087-acre complex that boosters call a “global prototype for the workplace and community of the future”: 15 soundstages and 25 office buildings/bungalows, plus an artificial freshwater lake. With Bill Gates and Paul Allen supplying startup cash, the focus will be feature and TV production, digital animation, records, interactive games and software. The cost? $750 million.

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Digital Planet - Founded: 1994

Mission: Creates Web sites for studios like Universal and Sony to promote and advertise upcoming films. Chairman and CEO Joshua Greer composed the first film promo Web page for the movie “Stargate.” Now working on original Internet-based entertainment, including “Madeleine’s Mind” and “Super Secret Agents of the ‘80s,” described as a “Charlie’s Angels” for the Net that will incorporate live action with a changing story line.