Quixote Studios
Quixote Studios is a film and photo studio in Los Angeles as well as a provider of production related vehicles, grip and lighting equipment, expendables and production supplies.
History
Quixote Studios was founded in 1995 by Mikel Elliott and Jordan Kitaen as a production vehicle rental company. Elliott and Kitaen were English majors at UCLA. In 1997, Quixote expanded by opening a photo studio in Hollywood catering to high end photographers. To accommodate the explosion of advertising production brought on by the dot com craze, in 1999 Quixote moved the studio operation to a larger facility in West Hollywood. In 2000 Quixote entered the motion picture production market by opening an expendables store in Hollywood called the Quixote Studio Store. Next, with the purchase and renovation of a 5.5-acre studio near Griffith Park in 2005, Quixote entered the television production market. A year later the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds established Quixote Griffith Park as its primary studio filming location. In 2007 Quixote purchased a majority interest in rival Smashbox Studios to create the largest boutique studio operation in Los Angeles.[1] True to its roots, Quixote continues to rent production vehicles but now offers a large selection of talent trailers and crew trucks used in television and movie production. In 2010, Quixote opened a studio in Boston. Following Louisiana's film tax credits, Quixote expanded their Studio Store offering in 2011 to the New Orleans market. NYC also has a small touch of Quixote with a Verde celebrity motorhome & a production motorhome to come early 2012. Throughout its 15+ years Quixote (and Smashbox Studios) has donated or discounted its facilities for a number of fund raising events and is on the forefront in the film industry of greening its vehicle fleet.
Notable Events
Audrina Patridge from MTV's reality drama The Hills, was featured in several episodes working as a receptionist at Quixote.[2]
Giorgio Armani hosted a party to celebrate Eric Clapton's charity auction of 100 guitars from his personal collection.[3]
The Christmas cover of "O Magazine" featuring Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres was shot at Smashbox Studios, the second of only two times Oprah is not featured alone on the cover, the first being Michelle Obama on the April 2009 issue.
The studios were featured in the finale of the seventeenth season of The Amazing Race.