Bringing Hollywood to Long Beach

photo courtesy of Chay Chhuon for the Daily49er

LB Studios are negotiating to transform the former Boeing 717 production hangar across from Long Beach airport into "Hollywood-style" movie studios, the Daily Forty-Niner reported. The 77-acre plot of land will be the foundation for 40 soundstages, one of which will be donated to the CSULB film department.

With the space constraints on campus, a room in the Fine Arts 1 building is currently multi-tasking as a classroom and soundstage. While smaller productions may be produced, anything with a larger scope is limited.

This soundstage donation will give CSULB students the opportunity to play on a more level playing field with USC and Chapman University students, who already have access to larger soundstages. In addition, it will also provide jobs and local internships for students who, up until now, have had to drive to Los Angeles.

Phase one of the studios' construction could be done as early as 2010.