Digital Revolution: Santa Cruz gets its very own Skywalker Ranch [GoodTimes]
By Christa Martin

The outside isn´t much to talk about: a boring old warehouse. People used to make gum here. But inside the mundane old Wrigley Plant, things aren´t nearly as dull. A couple of guys mill about upstairs, stepping over lots of movie equipment: Lights, chairs, big black boxes, a crew person´s treasure chest. This 5,000-square-foot chunk houses the cavernous upper story of the warehouse, is the Digital Media Factory: a place that´s about to get hopping. Filmmaker and producer Marty Collins serves as the proud papa.

The Digital Media Factory moved in to the abandoned digs about four months ago. Now, things are starting to clip along at a nice pace. While the gear still clutters the floor, plans are in progress to transform this room, and maybe, someday, the available surrounding 68,000-square-feet, into a type of Skywalker Ranch offspring. Until then, Collins and team are plugging away on various digital projects.

It´s in this lofty room where cinematic magic happens; commercials can get conjured up; voice-overs will be recorded; projects get edited; filmmakers stick around and don´t flee to Los Angeles. Big stuff like the Gwyneth Paltrow helmed film, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow could get under way here. Why? Because DMF offers a full service production studio and digital distribution center. This includes both blue and green screens, tools that Hollywood used when it filmed Sky Captain. When used, these screens thrust actors in front of a painted wall where they act with an imaginary background. Later on, computer whiz´s insert graphics behind the actors. Sky Captain earned accolades for offering an entire film with these special effects.

More than anything else, DMF is on the brink of making our little film community into something big. Not big in the “big box corporate” way, or in the “Hollywood Monster” way. Big as in a possible tourist attraction, big as in talented celluloid types might get to actually live and work in their own hometown and big because DMF is teaming up with all of Santa Cruz´s other film aficionados, creating a distinct movie-making hub. Organizers from both the Santa Cruz Film Festival and Cinemar (a filmmakers networking group) have voiced support for DMF.

“I see it as a synergistic arm of our many missions here,” says SCFF director and all around PR guru Jane Sullivan. “There´s a community here that needs a place like that.”

She says filmmaker and production services extraordinaire Eric Thierman of Impact Productions recently shot a political TV spot at the DMF. People like Thierman are beginning to take advantage of the multiuse facility. Besides Thierman´s TV piece, Collins says two other programs, kids shows, will be shot on site. Additionally, representatives from George Lucas´s Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) came by for a tour and a chat. Although the ILM folks are under a nondisclosure agreement, this much Collins will say: they are working on a six-year out project and have expressed curiosity about what Collins´ studio might be able to offer them. No joke. Santa Cruz is elbowing its way into being recognized as a bona fide moviemaking community.

And Cinemar is staking its own claim on the mammoth building. For the last year the filmmakers networking group has been without an official home. But it´s been finding refuge at Running Dog Studios on Front Street, the small acting studio of teacher Ian McRae. Yet Cinemar has begun to outgrow the cozy space. DMF can more than house Cinemar´s 100-plus members, many of whom attend the group´s monthly schmoozefest meetings. At these gatherings, producers, directors, screenwriters, actors and the curious chitchat, swap resumes, nosh on snacks and rub elbows. This month, they´ll move the schmoozing to the DMF at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 22.

“The idea of a production facility of any sort that caters to the larger community is a wonderful thing,” says Cinemar director Bruce Burns. “With synergy you get growth.”

Cinemar, DMF and SCFF, will be showing off the hub in January with a bells and whistles type of party. By then, the space will be spiffed up and guests can tour the spacious building. And if they conjure up their imaginations, they´ll see what Collins and friends are envisioning: a full-fledged movie warehouse, golf carts, cute little streets and all. If his dream transpires, this is what Collins and the rest of Santa Cruz County will witness in the next few years:

Maybe, just maybe, the acquisition of a huge chunk of the 68,000-square-feet that surrounds the boxed in DMF; other boxed in media related businesses; a sound stage to film full programs, or hold live music events or talk shows; a small digital cinema, replete with seating and screening capabilities; rooms for instruction and education, and the biggie—a water world.

Not Kevin Costner´s type of Water World, but something much more appealing. This “water world” would include a two-story pool/wet tank where underwater and surface miniature filming could ensue. A giant water tank already exists on the premises, so it´s a feasible project. Additionally, attached would be a “wet stage” where filmmakers could capture clips of “rain” or any cinematic experience that involves water.

Collins´ vision is enormous but he´s already compiling a team of hot-to-trot sharp filmmaking pro´s to work alongside him, and join in the dream. Chad Davies is one of these dreamers. A longtime stage actor who´s now crossing over into film pursuits, Davies serves as the PR and marketing man.

“[Santa Cruz County] has always suffered to some degree from the repercussions of what goes on in the valley,” Davies says. “The more different types of industry we bring in here, the better.”

John Carney, an independent producer, writer and special effects guru, who has worked on films such as The Perfect Storm, echoes the thoughts of Collins and Davies. He´s pining for this “creative environment … to feed off each other, the synthesis of veteran producers and young people with new ideas,” Carney says. “To give people an alternative rather than a big studio/big city … not everybody´s going to go down that road. … This is a place that can nurture those kinds of creative minds.”

To learn more about the Digital Media Factory, call 427-1785 or visit www.digitalmediafactory.net.

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