Months after exiting soundstages, Quixote sells gear rental businesses, prompting layoffs
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Five months after pulling back from most of its Los Angeles soundstage business, production services company Quixote is selling much of its equipment operation.
Equipment rental house Cinelease recently announced that it had acquired Quixote’s grip and lighting and production supplies assets in Los Angeles and New York. The transaction resulted in roughly 60 layoffs, Quixote said. Most of the affected employees were based in L.A. with a few in New York.
The production supplies business will operate as Cinelease Pro Supplies.
“Our sales team is reaching out directly to clients with active or upcoming rentals from these businesses and will work with Cinelease to help ensure a smooth transition,” the company said in an email on Sept. 15 to its clients. “It has been our privilege to serve you, and we look forward to continuing to be your source for production and events transportation.”
Four months after production services vendor Quixote said it would close much of its L.A. soundstage business, producer Manny Halley has leased one of its Pacoima facilities and plans to reopen it this fall.
In April, Quixote announced it was winding down most of its Los Angeles soundstage business, including its main commercial studio in West Hollywood and its North Valley studio in Pacoima. A producer has since taken over the Pacoima site.
Quixote has also closed its production services operation in Atlanta, following earlier closures in New Orleans and Albuquerque. Quixote’s Griffith Park studio will remain open.
Cinelease, a Los Angeles lighting and grip rental company founded in 1977, has been expanding in recent months. It has added rigging and fencing businesses and is pursuing work in live events and sports alongside film and TV.
Quixote was founded in 1995. Los Angeles-based real estate company Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. bought it in 2022 for $360 million, saying at the time that the acquisition would help address growing demand for soundstage space.
Quixote’s retreat comes amid a major slowdown in Hollywood production, as many productions leave California in pursuit of tax incentives around the world. The downturn has hit studio real estate hard. Radford Studio Center, which sold for $1.85 billion in 2021, was seized by lenders after its previous owner defaulted on its debt. Netflix agreed to buy the lot for between $330 million and $400 million. The Television City lot is also up for sale.
The story of how L.A. steadily lost much of its homegrown industry to other locales is a tale of hubris, escalating costs, political inaction and fierce competition from states and countries hungry for a piece of the Hollywood pie.
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of congressional leaders introduced a bill to create a federal film and television tax credit, the Motion Picture, Television and Entertainment Revitalization Act. It would establish a 20% tax credit on U.S. labor for eligible film and TV productions. Its path is uncertain, however. The House is in recess until after the midterm elections, and supporters hope to pass the bill at the end of the year.
“As we enter this next chapter, our Fleet team remains committed to providing the service, expertise and support our clients have come to expect from Quixote,” the company wrote in an email. “We look forward to continuing to work with you to make your visions a reality.”
Times staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
