Glendale Studios Boosting Its Volume of Productions By JACQUELINE FOX Staff Reporter The Makhanian family, the brother/sister/father machine behind Glendale Studios is in the early stages of transitioning from a small sound and stage rental company, to a full-fledge production house for its own products, including features, infomercials and cable shows. The saving grace for the company throughout what has otherwise proved to be rough times for many of its competitors as runaway production continues to take its toll on the local filming industry, is the firm’s healthy stable of infomercial filming contracts 89 this year so far alone. About two years ago, Al Makhanian, the founder, took what he’d learned from those clients and launched his own Direct Shopping Network, which sells primarily jewelry, and sales have been so profitable, the company is putting the finishing touches on a brand new studio for that show exclusively, which reaches roughly 17 million viewers through Direct TV and the Dish Network. The Makhanian family is now preparing to expand on that success with the launch of a second home-shopping product next year that will also offer jewelry, as well as fine art. “This was my dad’s vision, initially,” said Steve Makhanian, vice president of sales, who has also launched his own production company, Dreamquest Productions, which, if all goes according to the script, will begin ramping up production of the company’s own infomercials, feature films and products for the TV and cable markets over the course of the next two years. “What we are trying to do now is to move away from being a rental company and into producing our own products,” said Makhanian. “I’d say that runaway production is part of it, but the rental business is also very, very competitive.” Glendale Studios’ first major contract was with the producers of the syndicated sitcom “What’s Happening Now!” Others have included a multi-year contract to film “The Judge,” similar to “The People’s Court,” and a slew of infomercials including “Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo,” “Buns of Steel,” and “Body by Jake.” Current contracts include shows on the Food Network and ESPN’s “Rome is Burning,” as well as commercials for Subway, Burger King and IHOP. The feature list includes Disney Pictures “Freaky Friday,” 20th Century Fox’s “Garfield,” and Miramax’s “Down To You.”
