New movie studio is launched in Las Vegas

Tuesday, May 25, 1999 | 11:27 a.m.

Hollywood film crews had to leave Las Vegas to shoot the movie "Leaving Las Vegas."

Crews were planning to do their location shooting in the city, but couldn't get room reservations because the shoot was occurring during Comdex, the giant computer trade show.

So "Leaving Las Vegas" left for Laughlin.

Marilee Lear vows that won't happen again because she plans to establish a facility that will have everything a Hollywood film crew would need, from sound stages and corporate offices to lodging and a commissary.

Lear, who does business as Marilee Lear Casting and Lear Entertainment, says she has cast movies including Casino, Con Air, Fools Rush In, X Files and Lethal Weapon IV.

Lear plans to announce today plans for the development of Lear Casting, a full-service home away from home for film crews. Anchored by seven sound stages within a 160,000-square-foot building purchased by her and her husband John Lear, Marilee Lear will be in an industrial park at 41 N. Mojave Road, near Charleston Boulevard.

It will have facilities onsite to accommodate crews shooting movies, television shows, commercials and still shots.

Lear has completed the acquisition of a frozen food storage building operated by H&O Foods and is converting it in a three-phase remodeling project to a Hollywood service center. The first phase is expected to be completed by July.

"Because the building was used to store food, it's superinsulated," Lear said. "So it's perfect for sound studios."

Most industrial parks in Southern Nevada are near railheads or the airport. While that's ideal for the transportation of goods, it isn't a quiet setting for movie-makers.

The new Lear studio's largest stage will be an 18,000-square-foot facility with 30-foot ceilings.

It'll also have a wardrobe areas, a commissary, a makeup art department, a props department and the electronics needed for grip work.

"It's so big, you could build an entire house on it," Lear said of the large sound stage. "Our plan is to have everything film companies need available right here in Las Vegas."

Because many crews come to Las Vegas to film scenes depicting action inside casinos, the Lear studio will have all the props and scenery for a 12,000-square-foot version of the real thing.

"The resorts have been really good about opening their casinos to film crews," Lear said. "They've been very accommodating, but it can be expensive. In some cases, they can't totally lock it down (close areas to the public)."

Having a mock casino inside a studio also allows underaged actors the opportunity to shoot scenes, a barrier for some productions.

Lear said because the studio property is on 7.5 acres, there's room for offices and housing on the site. An estimated 15,000 square feet of office space is available for crew executives, she said.

That should cut costs for crews and may encourage growth in the film industry in Las Vegas. She pointed out that Nevada already touts location shooting in the state because of the varied environments it offers.

"We have snow-covered mountains, we have lakes, we have trees in snow and we have sand dunes in deserts," Lear said. "There was a crew that filmed a beach scene for a production and they hauled a bunch of white sand down to the lake and created this little beach. And of course, we have Las Vegas. Film companies used to think they had to film casino scenes on the East Coast, but most of them know there's no place like Las Vegas."

Lear, who has lived in Las Vegas since 1971, said she already has been in contact with production companies that have filmed in Las Vegas. She would compete with at least one other local operation attempting to build a studio in Henderson.

"I've talked with Black Mountain Studio and my feeling is, the more the merrier. I think we can work together to bring more film-making to Las Vegas," Lear said. "Las Vegas is always called the Entertainment Capital of the World. We should include film-making in that as well, and that means building studios and sound stages to accommodate these Hollywood productions."

Lear declined to disclose the cost of her project and how it would be financed. And there is some concern about there being enough work for every studio being planned.

Mimosa Jones, president of the Las Vegas Entertainment Development Corp., said she has heard about the Lear project and is supportive of developing studios in Las Vegas. She said her organization, whose mission is to encourage economic development of the entertainment industry in Nevada, is working with a couple different studio projects.

"As long as we're all doing our jobs, we should be able to fill these stages," Jones said. "The challenge is in sustaining the infrastructure in an industry that is very cyclical."