Matthews Studio Equipment Inc. is settling into its new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Burbank, having moved from buildings it occupied for more than 40 years in another part of the city. A manufacturer of light and camera stands, dolly tracks and other equipment for film and television production, Matthews spent $10 million to buy and renovate a 44,000 square-foot building on Valerio Street adjacent to the Bob Hope Airport. The company began the move in early December, and while it has its machinery running and is shipping out orders, some finishing touches remain to be completed, said Robert Kulesh, vice-president of sales and marketing. “People who have known us for years say they are knocked out with it,” Kulesh said. Matthews for years had operated out of two buildings in Burbank that totaled only 35,000 square feet. One building housed the administrative offices, assembly area, warehouse, and shipping and receiving; the other, the machine shop. So the new building not only gives the company expanded space but consolidates work into a single location. “After the first year we will realize 8 percent to 10 percent more efficiency in operation,” Kulesh said. The new location had been the long-time home of SimEx-Iwerks Entertainment, a production and distribution company of large format and 3-D films for theme parks and other attractions. SimEx-Iwerks relocated to Santa Clarita Dream Boss DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. was named to Fortune magazine’s best places to work list for the fifth consecutive year. The Glendale animation studio was ranked No. 12, moving up two spots from last year’s list. The magazine ranks employers based on such factors as turnover, benefits, workplace flexibility and diversity. And rating a specific mention this year were the fresh-juice trucks that visit the campus to distribute free smoothies and the stipends employees receive to personalize work stations. Meredith Berens, the studio’s head of international human resources, said being named to the Fortune list is an endorsement of the collaborative culture at the studio. “It acknowledges we have a culture that includes so many diverse workers and has diverse thinking and ideas coming out of it,” she said. The selection process includes a survey filled out by employees and a submission the human resources department puts together that gives Fortune and the Great Places to Work Institute, a San Francisco consulting firm, a sense of what the studio is trying to achieve. This year the survey had a a 91 percent participation rate. DreamWorks Animation has about 2,200 employees divided between Glendale, Redwood City in northern California, and smaller offices in New York, London and Nashville, Tenn. While being named to the Fortune list is gratifying, more valuable is the feedback from employees about the work environment at the studio. Company executives can find out what they are doing right – and wrong, Berens said. A case in point was the campus medical clinic, an idea suggested by Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg about two years ago. Surveyed employees raved about its convenience. “It reinforced we had done the right thing,” Berens said. Reeling Them In Film and television location service firm Real to Reel Inc. has added the Hope Gardens Family Center in Sylmar to its list of properties available to host filming. The center in Sylmar, operated by the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles, serves homeless mothers and their children and prior to December had not been much used in feature films and television shows. Real to Reel Chief Executive Gary Onyshko finds Hope Gardens is not a tough sell to location managers. For one, it is a cost-effective place to shoot because the center has multiple buildings available for multiple scenes. More importantly – and this is a factor that Real to Reel promotes – the fees paid to Hope Gardens are used by the nonprofit to serve its clients. “The filmmakers are glad to know the proceeds go back into their programs,” Onyshko said. Hope Gardens provides transitional living quarters for up to 225 women and children and works to move them toward independent living. Since taking on Hope Gardens in December, Real to Reel has placed Comedy Central series “Workaholics” and “Review with Forrest McNeil,” CBS TV drama “Criminal Minds” and feature film “Max Rose” starring Jerry Lewis at the center. The center is proving popular because it has the looks most requested by location scouts including apartments, dormitories, multiple cafeterias and hospital hallways. The site also lacks palm trees so it can stand in for anywhere in the United States, Onyshko said. The challenge has been to make sure filming occurs with minimal disruption to Hope Gardens serving its clients,” Onyshko said. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or at [email protected].
Studio Equipment Firm Rigs Up Bigger Offices
