User talk:EwingLuckyBrown

MOVIE TECH STUDIOS

Ewing "Lucky" Brown Ewing M. Brown began his Hollywood career as a child star playing one of the Little Rascals (the mean rich kid, Stinky) in the Our Gang comedies at Hal Roach Studios.

Over the course of seven decades, he has acted for every major studio in Hollywood. His favorite role was Charlie Ryker in the classic western Shane for George Stevens.

Mr. Brown has been in an enviable position, as an insider, to observe the Hollywood scene for over 60 years. He established himself in the production side of filmmaking in the early 50â€™s as head editor for Emperor Films, moving on to Robert L. Lippert Studios to take on editorial and production responsibilities.

In 1957, he formed his own company to handle production and post-production on Kingdom of the Sea and Divorce Hearing.

In a city where most companies rise and fall in the space of a few years, his 54-year-old company, MOVIE TECH STUDIOS is something of a rarity.

Itâ€™s no wonder he goes by his nickname, "LUCKY" Brown.

Movie Tech Studios is not only still going strong, but in 1976, Brown purchased his own property and built a complete production studio with facilities and equipment to handle every part of film production, from script to answer print, with a crew on hand and ready to go. The walls at Movie Tech display awards from all over the world for films produced and/or directed by Mr. Brown. Movie Tech has been involved in the production of not only feature films, but also numerous television shows, and over four hundred commercials and public service announcements.

As the head of a movie studio, with over 54 years experience in motion picture production, Mr. Brown is sometimes called upon by banks and the Internal Revenue Service to provide appraisals of both motion picture film and motion picture memorabilia.

Today, as president and owner of Movie Tech Studios, Mr. Brown is fully involved behind the cameras, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience traditionally found only in the major studios, which explains why the Hollywood Reporter calls Movie Tech "â€¦the Mini-Major Studio." Ewing “Lucky” Brown Continues His Hollywood Story FILMS: Studio owner opens bigger facility in Panorama City. .By Mark Madler

Monday, August 30, 2010

At an age when most of the peers of Ewing “Lucky” Brown are comfortably retired, Brown still continues to put in his time in the entertainment industry.

His Movie Tech Studios opens next month in a new location in Panorama City after more than 20 years in Hollywood. The studio can accommodate projects from webisodes to feature films.

After a career as an actor, editor, director and writer Brown isn’t ready to walk away.

“I enjoy my work,” Brown said. “I enjoy the picture business. I’ve been in it all my life.”

The location on Arminta Street, an area filled with light industrial shops, may seem an odd place for a studio but Brown said it fits right in.

There is other studio space nearby, a company making furniture used in film shoots, and across the street is AFX Studio owned by Oscar winner David Leroy Anderson and his wife, Heather.

Brown’s long career does not include any Oscar wins but he has plenty of stories about Hollywood and the stars he worked and socialized with. The walls of Movie Tech are filled with photos of Brown with these stars, many of them autographed.

As a child actor Brown worked with Mack Sennett. He later got into editing film, and learned how to do lighting from director Josef von Sternberg, for whom one of his uncles was an aide. He had another uncle who was also in the industry.

“I may not have had talent but I had relatives,” Brown joked.

Movie Tech was founded during the 1960s to serve film and television production, while Brown continued with his own career that eventually led to producing and directing the feature film, “A Whale of A Tale” in 1976.

At the former location on Seward Street in Hollywood, Movie Tech served as the location for commercials and infomercials and for second unit work on the crucially acclaimed dramas “Hill Street Blues” and “St. Elsewhere.”

Brown sold the Seward Street property in 2005 and came to the Valley to find a better site for the studio. Movie Tech is now in a larger building to which was added a 3,000 square foot space for sets and a high ceiling to accommodate boom mikes and plenty of lights.

There are also dressing and makeup rooms, a costume shop and a workshop for the cameras that Brown still likes to get behind as a director.

The added-on filming space is also roomy enough to drive a car up to the green screen, onto which can be projected different backgrounds.

“I can put you in Paris or on top of the Empire State Building,” Brown said.

Non-Fiction Stories

The first Westdoc conference for reality programming and documentaries that took place in September made a good enough impression that the event will be repeated next month in Santa Monica.

“It is addressing a market and an audience that had not been reached,” said Richard Propper, a co-founder of the conference and a producer based out of Encino.

Westdoc has already lined up more speakers than it had a year ago, and added this year are opportunities for reality producers and documentarians to meet with network executives to find out what their needs are and to pitch shows.

For the two days of panels, the show’s organizers did not want to repeat what was done last year so they came up with new topics.

There will be discussion on programming specifically for men and women; a look at changes on the production side with new equipment; financing for documentaries through “crowd funding” from the Internet; and how reality “The Biggest Loser” has expanded into secondary revenue streams with weight loss camps and products.

“Morality in Reality” will address whether the genre crosses the line.

“This asks bigger questions of those who make this content,” Propper said. “Is it a good thing to have catfights and people doing drugs on television?”

The keynote speaker at the conference is documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger, whose most recent work “Crude,” about environmental damage allegedly caused by Chevron led the oil company to go after footage shot for the film.

Westdoc takes place at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Santa Monica Sept. 13 to 15.

Musician Film Screening

After a lengthy process for music clearances and to find a distributor, John Scheinfeld is finally getting his documentary “Who is Harry Nilsson (and Why is Everyone Talkin’ About Him?)” into limited theatrical runs.

Scheinfeld, whose Crewneck Productions is based in Sherman Oaks, has shown the film in festivals and one-off screenings here and there but wider release was held up by getting clearance for use of the 50 Nilsson recordings heard throughout the film.

More of a cult figure than a bona fide star, Nilsson had a handful of hits (“Without You,” “Everybody’s Talkin’”), several Grammy awards and nominations and many wild nights with his pals John Lennon and Ringo Starr. The film includes television appearances, home movies and interview with friends, including Randy Newman, Yoko Ono, Jimmy Webb and Brian Wilson.

“Who is Harry Nilsson” will screen at the Laemmle Sunset Five on Sunset Boulevard beginning Sept. 17. Scheinfeld will introduce the film the first two nights and participate in a question-and-answer session afterward.

Lucky Brown and Movie Tech Studios Date: 9/13/2010 Album ID: 1075432 Photos by Michael Owen Baker View Slideshow Ewing "Lucky" Brown opens his Movie Tech Studios in Panorama City after more than 20 years in Hollywood. Ewing "Lucky" Brown is a hollywood veteran who is best known for his many production skills and for co-starring in the "B" movie classic "Astounding She-Monster"