Firing On All Cylinders

Engine Room Finds Flexible Quarters at Hollywood Center Studios

When boutique visual effects house Engine Room began scouting for a new site to house its production facilities, the thing it most wanted was flexibility. It needed a space where it could quickly ramp up when big projects arrive, and just as quickly scale back when the jobs are done.

It found the ideal solution at Hollywood Center Studios.

In August, Engine Room became the latest company to move onto the lot at HCS, setting up shop in a 3800 square foot site in newly-renovated Building 24. The space is large enough to accommodate the company's 20 visual effects workstations as well as the staff of its live action film unit.

"Coming to Hollywood Center Studios is a strategic move for us," explains Dan Schmit, a visual effects supervisor and cinematographer who founded Engine Room in 2001. "The opportunity to be in a production environment was the number one draw for us. After being on our own production island for a long time, the idea of surrounding ourselves with like-minded people had a lot of appeal."

While many visual effects companies are niche players, Engine Room has a hand in all the major production mediums. Its credit list includes the recent Weinstein feature Pulse Paramount's upcoming Freedom Writers as well as the Universal release of Nick Cassevettes Alpha Dog. Television credits include the Disney television series That's So Raven and The Suite Life, both shot at Hollywood Center Studios. Recent advertising work includes the new computer-generated theatrical logo for Lionsgate Entertainment, as well as broadcast spots for Tylenol and Target.

Engine Room is unusual in marrying a full-service computer animation and visual effects department with a live action unit that handles visual effects and other specialty shoots. The combination allows the company to offer soup-to-nuts services to its clients and gives it a leg up on the competition.

Being located on the lot is a great convenience to Engine Room's live action team, whose work often requires special effects stages. "At our former site, we had our own green screen stage, but we outgrew it," Schmit says. "Here, we have access to many stages. Stage 12, for example, has a beautiful new hard cyc that is ideal for the work we do…and it's several times larger than our old stage."

For Schmit, Hollywood Center's greatest appeal was almost limitless room for expansion, without a commitment to more space than his company needs. "It allows us to keep our overhead low and that keeps us competitive," he snotes. "And yet, when we need to expand, the infrastructure is already in place. We can set new CG artists down at a workstation that is fully set up and they can just go. Our business model is based on that flexibility. We believe it is the future of production."