A group of former employees of ILM and Kerner Optical have announced the launch of a new company, “32TEN Studios,” which will be based at the former site of ILM, at 3210 Kerner Boulevard in San Rafael, CA. The new venture will be employee owned, and will be headed by industry veterans Tim Partridge, who will serve as President, and Greg Maloney who will serve as COO.
The company will re-open the legendary soundstage built by ILM, making it available for rent to all Bay Area producers for Film/TV/Commercial and multi-media projects. The stage is approx. 6,000 square feet, and boasts a 20-foot high, two-wall coved green screen. Many of the most famous motion pictures of all time were produced in part on this stage, beginning with “The Empire Strikes Back,” and continuing on with “The Return of the Jedi,” the “Back to the Future” trilogy, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, “War of the Worlds,” “Indiana Jones 4,” “Transformers,” “Terminator Salvation,” and many more.
Persons shown in photo above: Left to Right: Anthony Shafer: Stereographer; Scott Smith: Technology; Geoff Heron: Practical FX Supervisor; Nick d’Abo: Model Supervisor; Vince De Quattro: VFX; Greg Maloney: COO, 32TEN Studios; Tim Partridge: President, 32TEN Studios; Marty Rosenberg: Director of Photography; Marty Brenneis: Technology; Sean House: Props; Greg Beaumonte: Camera Engineering
Adjacent to the soundstage is the 32TEN Theatre, a 138 seat, state-of-the-art screening room, which will also be available for clients along with wardrobe, make-up and production offices.
32TEN Studios will also offer fabrication services from full sets to models and miniatures drawing on the talent of the many model makers and special effects technicians that live in the area who were formerly part of the ILM “model shop”.
A complete CG pipeline will additionally be available to complete the practical shots.
Regarding the new company, Mr. Partridge said, “32TEN Studios is a collaborative venture, one that will hopefully attract other service providers and filmmakers in need of a vibrant location for their projects. We wanted to make this unique stage available to everyone and also provide a placed where the uniquely talented artists in the area can come together and create amazing work.”
“We want to build a creative community around this once legendary site, where many of us got our start in the industry” said Mr. Maloney.
About TIM PARTRIDGE
Before his role overseeing the practical effects and 3D Technology units at Kerner, Partridge was a key executive at Dolby Laboratories where, for over 20 years, he stood at the forefront of the entertainment and entertainment-technology industries. He was a key player in the introduction of “Dolby Digital” and led the development of “Dolby 3D.” As a Dolby sound consultant Tim worked on over 100 films, including “Goldeneye,” “Highlander,” “Shadowlands,” and “Willow,” to name a few. He also served the company in a number of other major posts, including that of Dolby’s Senior Vice President/ General Manager of the Film, Cinema and Broadcast Division.
About GREG MALONEY
Prior to co-founding 32TEN Studios, Maloney was a Stereographer and Lead Compositor with Robert Zemeckis’ ImageMovers Digital company. During this time, he was involved with the feature films “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” and “Mars Needs Moms.”
From 1989-2007, Maloney worked in house with ILM as a Compositing Supervisor, and earlier as a CG Supervisor and a Compositor. Among the many ILM projects on which he worked are “Twister,” “Star Wars: Episode 1,” “Men in Black 2,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Transformers,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” “Schindler’s List,” “Jurassic Park,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Forrest Gump,” “Planet of the Apes,” and three of the hit “Pirates of the Caribbean” feature films.
About 32TEN STUDIOS
Launched in early 2012 by longtime entertainment industry leaders Tim Partridge and Greg Maloney, 32TEN Studios is both a stage rental and practical FX production company located at the historic site of first ILM, and later Kerner Optical. The company provides its services to producers of major motion pictures, independent films, TV programs, commercials, industrials, web content and multi-media projects.
32TEN Studios is located at 3210 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael, CA, 94901. The phone is 800 717 3210. The website is: www.32ten.com