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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Saugus Becomes Baghdad as Mideast Sets Are in Demand

Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in Saugus has done a steady business renting its realistic Mexican market, Army camp and countless other sets to film companies since it opened six years ago. But back in 2001, producers for the television series “JAG” told owner Rene Veluzat they wanted a set the 100-acre ranch didn’t have. “They needed Afghanistan,” said Veluzat, who opened the ranch in 2000. Veluzat didn’t want to lose the business, so he got to work building an authentic Afghani town using any reference material to him which, lucky for him, was plentiful at the time since military forces were just starting to storm Afghanistan. “I watched CNN,” he said. “My buildings are duplicates of what’s over there.” Soon, he had a bona fide rickety Afghani village and, sure enough, the production companies came calling. Today, the Middle Eastern street is sometimes used two or three times a week, Veluzat said, with recent productions including the television series “Sleeper Cell” and “The Unit.” In fact, the demand for authentic Middle Eastern sets close to L.A. is so strong that Veluzat has expanded, adding a downtown Baghdad and Turkey nearby, and plans are also in the works to add another five buildings this fall. The complex now includes rows of dusty streets, dozens of diminutive storefronts and a large mosque. “I’ve spent a fortune,” Veluzat said. “It’s all Middle Eastern for me.” The demand for Veluzat’s sets is part of a general upswing in television and film activity around Santa Clarita. Blue Cloud tallied 35 productions and 130 production days for the first five months of the year, a boost from last year’s numbers, Veluzat said. He said the productions equate to millions of dollars not only for the ranch, but also for the surrounding area and its businesses. For example, the constantly changing sets require about 50 construction workers daily that have to be hired from the area. Production crews, sometimes as many as 250, also need to eat, buy gasoline and supplies, much of which is done in nearby Santa Clarita, he said. “That’s helping the economy. They’re buying two- to three-thousand gallons of gas a day for the generators,” he said. “It’s huge.” And there’s no sign of slowing down; Veluzat said of bookings for the ranch. He already has plans for his next set. “A South American town,” Veluzat said. “Everything I build, it rents. It doesn’t matter.”

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