Quixote production services vendor to wind down most of its soundstage business in L.A.
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Production services vendor Quixote said it will wind down most of its soundstage business in Los Angeles — including its main commercial studio in West Hollywood and its North Valley studio in Pacoima — as the industry continues to grapple with the slowdown in film and television work.
The company will also close its operations in Atlanta as part of the cost-reduction effort, Quixote parent company Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. said in a statement Tuesday.
Owners of independent studios across Los Angeles are struggling in the face of a historic downturn in production activity.
About 70 employees in Atlanta and L.A. will be laid off, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment. They did not provide a breakdown of how many layoffs would occur in each place.
Some equipment from Atlanta will be sent to L.A. and New York, where Quixote will continue its business in lighting and grip, communications rental services and production supplies and vehicles such as the Star Waggons trailers.
Hudson Pacific Properties expects to save about $21 million to $27 million a year. Quixote’s Griffith Park studio will remain open.
“Like many of you, we have persisted through the prolonged and ongoing slowdown in commercial, television and film production,” Quixote wrote in a Tuesday note to clients and partners. “But ultimately, industry conditions have forced difficult decisions.”
Hudson Pacific will instead focus on its commercial office business, as well as “higher performing segments of our studio business,” Mark Lammas, president of Hudson Pacific, said in a statement.
The Los Angeles-based real estate company bought Quixote in 2022 for $360 million, saying at the time that the acquisition would address the growing demand for soundstage space. Quixote was originally founded in 1995.
Hudson Pacific’s Sunset Studios business is not affected by the Quixote news. The company says its main Hollywood stages are 96% leased and new stages in Manhattan are completely full.
