SUNSET GOWER STUDIOS + SUNSET BRONSON STUDIOS -

SUNSET GOWER STUDIOS + SUNSET BRONSON STUDIOS -

Our studios are built on a rich foundation.

Sunset Gower Studios and Sunset Bronson Studios coming together as one is the sort of thing that only happens, well, in the movies. The history of both begins at the dawn of Hollywood itself. Two of the film industry's most celebrated families first put down West Coast roots on Sunset Boulevard: the Warners and the Cohns.

Sam and Jack Warner, already old hands at film distribution bought a farm on Sunset Boulevard between Van Ness and Bronson Avenues in 1919 — Sunset Bronson was born. The area the Warner Brothers chose was already a buzz with low budget production companies, gaining the nickname “Poverty Row”. Harry Cohn came to Hollywood in 1922 to expand his own family business, he also set down roots on the Row, leasing a lot at 6070 Sunset Boulevard — Sunset Gower was beginning to take shape.

The two studios struggled to get their footing in an increasingly competitive city. The Cohns’ CBC Production concentrated on low budget silent films of dubious quality. Their focus on economics instead of talent earned them the sobriquet “Cabbage and Corned Beef Films” — the Cohns saw that change was needed.

The Warners had better luck with their talent pool. They were approached by Darryl Zanuck in 1924 — he brought with him the idea for Rin Tin Tin and the first Warner Brothers franchise was born. The films did well, but the studio was only a moderate success. In 1927, the Warners made a fateful decision — become early adopters of sync sound. They formed a new company, Vitaphone, and made a piece of cinematic history, The Jazz Singer. Sunset Bronson had produced its first cinematic milestone and the Warners’ studio was a powerhouse.

Success came to the lots at Sunset Gower as well. In 1924, the Cohns re-focused their Hollywood designs and Columbia Pictures emerged. The focus of the company was not the bottom line, but rather to find and develop undiscovered talent within the rapidly growing film industry. That new approach paid off big in the form of Frank Capra. His first film at Columbia, That Certain Thing, was a modest success in 1927 and cemented the relationship of the studio and the director. Capra honed his craft at Columbia culminating in It Happened One Night, his 1934 film that was the first to ever win the Academy Awards’ Big 5: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.

Both studios were enjoying golden moments in the Golden Era, as were their parent companies. With success came growth. Warner moved much of their operations to a newly purchased ranch in Burbank. The Sunset Bronson lot became focused on animation, shorts, and studio star projects. Columbia continued to develop top talent — purchasing all of the adjacent lots to their original buildings resulting in the 16 acres that make up the present day Sunset Gower lot.

Both lots began to take an interest in television production. In 1948, Columbia established Screen Gems, a television arm, it was the first studio to do so. Though KFWB, a radio station, had been broadcasting from Sunset Bronson for years it was in 1954 that the lot established itself as a leading television production space with the opening of KTLA. This coincided with the purchase of the Sunset Bronson lot by its southern neighbor, Paramount Studios. The Warner Era at Bronson was over.

Sadly, the Cohn era at Sunset Gower came to an end when Harry Cohn passed in 1958. His funeral, held on Sunset Gower Stages 12 and 14, is considered one of the largest in Hollywood history. With their founding companies moved on, the lots began a new phase in their history. As the studio system declined the lots shifted their focus to independent work as well. In 1964, Gene Autry purchased Sunset Bronson and turned it into a studio focused on independent theatrical and television productions. Sunset Gower, now owned by the Pick Vanoff Company, diversified its business model by offering music rehearsal spaces and indoor tennis courts in addition to production facilities. They now counted Frank Zappa, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr among their clients.

In recent years, the lots have focused attention on being top-notch production and post-production facilities. Hudson Capital saw that the experienced staff, long history, and deep integration with the industry made these two a match meant to be. Sunset Gower has completed its new Technicolor post-production facility and a majority of Sunset Bronson’s stages are fully digital ready. Sunset Gower and Sunset Bronson are a star couple in Hollywood with a lot less drama and a long future in sight.

http://sgsandsbs.com/history.php

The Future -

Our studios at Sunset Gower + Sunset Bronson welcome the opportunity to serve all of your production needs.

With 23 soundstages and over 700,000 square feet of production office and support space situated on approximately 28 acres in the prime Hollywood area, we are the preeminent independently–owned production facility in California. In an effort to stay ahead of our competition, we continue to invest significant capital to enhance our facilities with our goal to make Sunset Gower Studios + Sunset Bronson Studios your premier choice and one–stop shop when evaluating where to accommodate all of your pre–production, production, and post–production needs.

From feature films, television shows, commercials to music videos and photo shoots, we attribute our success in this industry to our continued ability to provide unparalleled customer service to our clients’ ever–changing production needs. While we embrace all of the history that our studios have to offer, we are forward thinking in our ability to keep up with the growing convergence of media, technology and entertainment.

Sunset Gower + Sunset Bronson is the future.....now!


http://sgsandsbs.com/future.php