As Quixote Sheds Studio Space, Manny Halley Takes Over L.A. Lease
As film and TV studio services giant Quixote cuts down its exposure to empty soundstages, the lease at one of its vacated locations has been taken over with plans to make it a home base for a production label.
Producer Manny Halley has inked an agreement with Quixote to take over its 125,000-square-foot Montague Street location in Pacoima, about an hour-ish drive north from downtown Los Angeles. Halley’s team plans to use the complex, which has four soundstages across six acres, as the base of his Imani Studio.
A rep for Halley tells The Hollywood Reporter that the company’s takeover deal will be a 10-year lease term starting Sept. 1, followed by three five-year options. The property is owned by industrial real estate giant Rexford Industrial Realty.
In May, Halley’s production label got a greenlight from BET to produce a new mockumentary series titled Lot Patrol, which takes place on “the chaotic backlot of a major Hollywood studio,” and appears to be a fit for the type of space at the former Quixote location. Brian Rikuda, evp at BET, added of the lease takeover: “Supporting Black ownership and entrepreneurship across the entertainment industry remains deeply important to BET. As Manny Halley expands Imani Studios into a 125,000-square-foot production home, we’re proud to continue our partnership.”
His prior credits include three movies based on the True to the Game novel by Teri Woods. Halley plans to produce Lot Patrol, a True to the Game series and animated series Dribble 2 Much at the location, his rep says.
Earlier this year Quixote, owned by studio operator Hudson Pacific, disclosed it was winding down leases at multiple soundstages including Quixote West Hollywood, which hosted commercial and music video shoots, as well as its Van Nuys lease at Quixote Central Valley. “Like many of you, we have persisted through the prolonged and ongoing slowdown in commercial, television, and film production. But ultimately, industry conditions have forced difficult decisions,” read a note to its clients at the time.
In prior years, the Pacoima location soundstage location had hosted shoots for MTV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, A24’s MaXXXine, Apple TV+’s Physical and Netflix’s Atlas. But a spending pullback from Hollywood studios after 2023 resulted in plenty of unused soundstage space in Los Angeles.
The average occupancy rate for major soundstages in the city was 62 percent as of the first half of 2025, permitting office FilmLA reported in March. Local and state officials are in triage mode and hoping to help producers cut red tape in order to keep production in Hollywood’s historic home. In a sign of the times, the state’s film commission director weighed in on Halley taking over the Quixote lease in Pacoima.
“Keeping production infrastructure active and investing in California’s capacity to support film and television is essential to our long-term competitiveness,” stated Colleen Bell, director of the California film commission. “Facilities like this help keep productions here, sustain good-paying jobs, and support the thousands of businesses and workers that make up our entertainment economy.”
“With Imani Studio, we have an opportunity to build on an experienced team, invest in the facility and create a production environment that serves filmmakers, producers and productions at the highest level,” Halley added, “Production must stay in California and we’re committed to creating a home for great work.”
Producer Manny Halley is building a studio base at a former Quixote location in Pacoima.
Dae Howerton & Dallas J. Logan
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