View Single Post
  #1039  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2010, 12:50 AM
Johnny Socko's Avatar
Johnny Socko Johnny Socko is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
Do any of you know about a secret movie studio at the top of Laurel Canyon?

Until recently, I would have bet money that no such place existed.
(when I first moved to L.A., I briefly lived in N. Hollywood & drove through the canyon daily)





Below: Here's a small aerial photo.



unclassified usaf




They produced films such as this. (note Lookout Mountain Laboratory)


unclassified usaf





It's difficult to find very much information about this place.


You can read about it here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookout..._Force_Station



and here.
http://www.vce.com/LookoutMt.html



Now this is a place I'd love to sneak into.



I wonder if it still pretty much looks like this?
Ethereal: You MUST stop whatever you're doing and watch the DVD "Atomic Filmmakers", produced by Peter Kuran of VCE (the company you linked to in your post). It tells the story of the Lookout Mountain facility, and the men behind it. What a fascinating little corner of L.A. cinema history that place was.

Kuran made several other "Atomic" movies, my favorite of which was "Trinity and Beyond". All of the films include some absolutely spectacular A-bomb footage, and are narrated by William Shatner (FTW).

I love all of the VCE films. My only minor criticism is that some of the footage was enhanced by visual effects post-processing. VCE started out as a visual effects house, after all. But all of the DVD's are well worth viewing. They used to be available from Netflix, but they don't appear to be at the moment (although they're still in the catalog; you can "Save" them to your queue).

You can also purchase "Atomic Filmmakers" from VCE here.
Reply With Quote