Ex-Factory May Become Movie Production Site

Hoping to capitalize on the critical need for movie production facilities in Southern California, a developer has announced plans to convert an old shampoo factory here into a state-of-the-art Hollywood-style studio.

Robert E. Selan, 42, an apartment and condominium developer, bought the 12-acre Redken Laboratories site last spring, planning to use it for a family sports center. But instead, he was persuaded that the massive former factory “is perfectly suited for filming,” he said.

He says he will construct several sound stages and a special-effects studio on the site, as well as offices for production companies.

Many investors are now looking into similar projects, said Darryl Seif, vice president of the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., a nonprofit group that issues permits for locations shoots in L.A.

Selan’s announcement comes just two weeks after an investment company of Disney scion Roy E. Disney said it will build 14 sound stages in Manhattan Beach. Other consortiums are also looking for sites, he said.

“There is a lot of interest. A lot of people who want to be No. 1 on the list,” Seif said.

Unlike Manhattan Beach, Canoga Park is not a particularly sought-after ZIP Code for movie lots.

But Selan’s plan could nonetheless work, Seif said.

“It’s not ideal. But it’s doable. . . . We love to hear this stuff,” said Seif.

Film production in L.A.--measured by the number of filming permits issued--is up 32% from this same time last year, sign of continuing heady growth of the film industry. This in turn has brought a severe shortage of studio space in the area.

Considerable obstacles to Selan’s plans remain. One is financing. Selan says he is close to signing a partnership deal with a developer who could afford the several million dollars it will take to convert the warehouse into sound stages for large-scale film production.

But he has also considered seeking loan money from the Valley Economic Development Center, a public-private consortium.

The hoped-for expansion will include installation of adjustable sound walls and a special-effects facility to create a “first-rate studio,” Selan said, sitting in Redken’s old wood-paneled executive offices.

Improvements may take place over the next three years, he predicted.

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Redken moved to Florence, Ky. two years ago, taking about 360 jobs with it, and leaving its 190,000-square-foot plant at 6625 Variel Ave. up for grabs.

Redken at one point had asked $12 million for the property. Selan would not say what he paid.

So great is demand for space to shoot movies and television shows in L.A. that Selan has already leased nearly all of the plant’s 102,000 square foot warehouse without running a single advertisement or building a single stage.

His tenant is Juno Pix, which is making a Wesley Snipes film called “Blade” and has leased Redken’s vast old warehouse, as-is, for seven months.

Juno Pix has transformed the gusty interior into a massive construction site, building among other things, a subway, and a faux nightclub.

Since opening the space for filming last summer, Selan’s company has been “inundated” with phone calls from location scouts and producers who are also looking for warehouse space, Selan said.

John Rooney, president of the Valley Economic Development Center, said Selan’s plans represent the first major incursion of the film industry into the west San Fernando Valley.

Although East Valley cities such as Glendale and Burbank have boomed with the growth of the film industry, the West Valley--considered to be too far from the Westside and Hollywood--has been disdained by entertainment companies.

Now, however, production space is in such demand that one Valley real estate broker says film companies are offering firms money to move somewhere else so their warehouses can be used for studio space. And this means the West Valley finally looks appealing.

“This could be the beginning of a trend,” Rooney said.

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Bob Engelman, producer of “Blade,” who was supervising construction of sets at the building earlier this week, said that in his eyes, Canoga Park is still “undesirable” because it is so far from the centers of the film industry.

And Selan’s building is problematic because it is riddled with support pillars that interfere with building sets, he said.

But despite all this, Engelman, who also produced “Mortal Kombat,” said that such “exceptionally big” spaces for filming action movies are hard to come by.

Marlene Hart, a production coordinator for “Blade,” said she doubts Canoga Park will take hold as the next entertainment mecca. “It’s a pain. Anywhere you need to go, it’s 45 minutes,” she said.

But because of booming demand right now, she predicted a new sound stage studio, even in Canoga Park, would succeed--”at least for the next 12 months.”