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MillimeterColumbia College Hollywood Renovation
Jan 8, 2008 2:41 PM
“Until we made this upgrade, we were working with decent but outdated analog equipment,” says Ronald Reeves, director of IT and production services at Columbia College. “The dynamic of the broadcast industry has changed dramatically, and in overhauling our TV studio, we wanted to be certain that the installation would be able to support the way the industry works in five or 10 years. Students attending the college now will graduate in three or four years. Our goal is to ensure that what we’re teaching students today will be relevant when they hit the mainstream.”
The radical overhaul at CCH didn’t just include the college’s television studio. Eighty-five percent of the campus, located in the historic Panavision building, was upgraded. Except for in administrative and secure storage areas, the college was made over, much of it to serve as a backdrop for student productions. All of the classrooms and restrooms were repainted in different styles, and a production designer was hired to design rooms, colors and schematics that would be visually appealing to the camera. The main part of the facility now incorporates two vignettes equipped with open ceilings so that production teams can drop in canvases and light from above.
A tour of the facility reveals the Easy Rider truck stop washroom, located adjacent the Victorian Brothel washroom. Two other washrooms reflect 21st-century, Italian-inspired design and an Art Deco look. The student lounge looks into a New England living room set on one side and an Irish pub and billiards room set on the other. Even the marble lobby, once the main entrance to Panavision, provides a suitable environment for upscale bar and hotel scenes. These permanent sets help students to spend more time on shooting and less on the time consuming challenges of building sets.
This focus on getting right to work is one of the characteristics that sets CCH apart from other film schools. Unlike larger schools, CCH encourages hands-on shooting from the very first quarter. As students get more experienced through training and working on their own and other people’s projects, they gain more opportunities to work with and get certified on the facility’s state-of-the-art equipment.
“Everyone wants to shoot, and so it is important that every inch of space can be used by our students,” Reeves says. “With the renovation of our facilities and upgrade of our production equipment and television studio, we’re even better positioned to help each student explore and define what his or her voice in the industry will be. It’s a very exciting time here for all of us.”
