Nvisionate Studios - North Hollywood, California

L. E.

two friends had shot there and recommended it, so it seemed like a good choice. Wow, was I wrong.

Fast forward a few months to our tech scout. Venus has been less than responsive to our producer, making book the space weirdly difficult. We were like, do they not want our money? Sometimes more than a week would pass before we'd hear back. Odd, but ok. We finally manage to book the space. We do our tech scout, and it looks nothing like it did when we initially toured. We're planning to shoot in the bar. There's a massive hole in the wall. Like, the size of a human body, as if someone had body slammed the wall and no one bothered to fix it. The tarp-like fabric that covers the ceiling was falling in multiple spots. There was a lot of dust and dirt. Not great. But a crew was leaving just as we walked in, so we figured they must have trashed it, and surely it'd be back to normal in time for our shoot the following weekend. Oh how wrong we were.
We'd booked the space for a four hour pre-light the night before our shoot day. Instead of being able to pre light and set dress like we'd planned, we were forced to spend the time trying (unsuccessfully) to deep clean the disgusting space. Dust and debris were falling from the ceiling. There was a fridge and wall of shelving full of moldy bottles, open, half full of various mystery liquids. I'm talking about mold that looked like kombucha starters. the kind of mold that would take weeks or months to grow. The human sized hole was still in the wall (and, annoyingly, in our planned shots). We discovered that in some places the walls were patched with styrofoam. So much dust. Plus the bathroom was filthy and there was no hot water anywhere in the building. Our crew worked in masks, but most of us still got sick. And throughout this whole ordeal the Nvisionate staff were hovering and micromanaging, making sure we didn't use nails in the walls or move furniture the wrong way. When we brought up the serious mold problem to a staff member his response was, "oh yeah, we know." !!!?!!!!! Disgusting.

It's been about a week and a half since the shoot and I've heard from about two thirds of our cast and crew saying they've been sick. Cast and crew safety is my number one priority, and I feel just awful knowing that I put them in a dangerous situation. I've been fighting a gnarly respiratory infection too.

tldr; mold, negligent rude staff that'll micromanage you but not respond to your emails, no hot water, dust that'll make you sick. Avoid this place like the plague unless you want to catch the plague.

P V.

The production I worked on was fantastic and we filmed something gorgeous at Nvisionate. Unfortunately I cannot say the same about the people who run this studio. The set we filmed in was extremely ugly with a lot of pre-existing damage to the walls like holes and a torn ceiling with fiberglass dust in the air. Also, there were open bottles filled with moldy liquids- we think it had been there for years. When we asked the manager if we could throw those away, he insisted on keeping them as-is because “that’s what the owner wants”. We couldn’t even dump the contents. It was absolutely disgusting and was a massive safety issue for the crew. He would also deflect a lot of things to this “owner” when there were questions about moving things around. This same person was rude to the art department and his fake friendly demeanor turned sour towards them. He rushed everyone out of the studio when we wrapped even though the producer agreed to pay for extra time to wrap properly and last I saw, he was trying to deny her belongings that were in the studio. If I had to guess, I would say most of the issues could have been prevented if the studio employees were more flexible and communicated with respect rather than be resistant and blame everything on the owner whom we never saw and never had direct contact. I’ll make sure to share this experience to any production that’s looking for a cheap set. You definitely get what you pay for.

Marshall S.

Venus and Ricardo were both so accommodating and very professional. Super easy to work with and this place was very affordable. I highly recommend using this studio for any of your projects. Great location, great selection of rooms, and great quality service. They help you bring any story to life. They also have tons of equipment to use with your rental package, including lights, apple boxes, a few hazers, c-stands, etc.

Charlie T. S.

As a small business owner, I fully grasp the significance of supporting other small businesses. However, I must be brutally honest to protect future productions and fellow creators. This was, without question, the worst location I have ever worked with.

To begin with, more than half of my team fell seriously ill the day after filming, even though they were in perfect health before stepping foot in the venue. The space was absolutely filthy, despite the blatant lie that each set is “thoroughly cleaned” between productions. That was just one of many false promises made to us.

During our breakdown, we were consistently harassed and stonewalled with excuse after excuse, preventing us from having the necessary space to properly clear out the studio. It felt intentional and manipulative, as they conveniently start charging for overage; $37 for every 15-minute increment. The tactics they employed to delay our exit were nothing short of predatory. Not to mention, the employee shares that he gets "bonus" for certain things. Interesting...

Overall, the lack of care for their employees’ safety is shocking. When we reported mold and suspicious liquid in MULTIPLE bottles at the bar set, an employee flat-out admitted that he was powerless to do anything and that the owner would likely tell him to just “clean it out.” This is appalling. To put employees at risk over a filthy, replaceable $5 bottle shows complete disregard for their health and safety.

The bathroom was beyond disgusting—it was a health hazard. I was mortified to bring my team into such a repulsive environment. To make matters worse the kitchen not having a sink and the hot water in the bathrooms was shut off, we were very inconvenience. There was mildew in the refrigerator, and the drawers were stained and filthy, making the entire space feel unsanitary and unsafe. As a producer, I know conditions like this can ruin professional relationships and reputations, and this a threat to any production.

Communication was abysmal, riddled with delays and excuses. When I requested a phone call, I was told the person handling my booking, Venus, was sick. This was the second time I was fed this excuse. The first time, it was used to explain the delay in sending me the documents to secure a pre-light, despite our six-month struggle to lock it down for a single scene. When the paperwork finally arrived, it was rushed so last minute that I had to drop other projects just to meet their disorganized timeline set by the "owner."

To add insult, I later found out that Venus is actually one of the owners, something she failed to disclose from the beginning. I only discovered this after she called me following a negative review left by someone on my team. I answered the phone hoping she was returning something my team had left behind, only to be dragged into a 10-min conversation where she attempted to justify the review’s removal by explaining that one of her employees has Asperger’s, as if that excused the numerous issues we faced.

While that employee’s behavior was difficult, I believe it stemmed from fear, not Asperger’s as she claimed, and honestly, disclosing such personal medical information is a gross violation of privacy and professionalism. When I offered to bring my director into the conversation for a broader perspective and transparency, she agreed, but—predictably—delayed yet again due to illness. By this point, I have no doubt that this filthy space is the root cause of these health problems, and a deep cleaning is urgently needed, not only for everyone else's but her own.

There are countless more issues I could detail, but I’ll leave it at this: after my director left a 2nd review, I received a long, accusatory email filled with finger-pointing, instead of any real solutions. This speaks volumes about their lack of accountability.

I beg of you to think carefully before booking.

While Nick, another owner, wasn’t around often, he was kind when I did meet him. I appreciate that small token of decency.

OCd S. K.

Venus was very helpful and patient with a first-time producer like myself! Everything was very straight up and professional and supportive to small-time, independent filmmaking. The space was beautiful. It had good energy. I wish we could have used more of the sets. I hope to return many times over. Also, the rates were competitive. Nick, the manager, was very helpful, welcoming and supportive and had great energy! The space was recommended highly, and I can see why. The stage managers were very nice and sympathetic to our needs. Good energy!

Adam C.

Filming our short film at Nvisionate Studios could not have been a better experience. Everything from the perfectly pre-built sets, access to equipment and wardrobe, communication with their entire team, and the on-hand helpfulness from Jessica and Nick (they rock!), was exceptional. Plenty of amenities, leaving the entire cast and crew feeling right at home and comfortable. I hope this is the first of many projects we film at Nvisionate.

Michael P.

Great place to film mini films or scenes. CGTV uses a lot but variety of filming sets and ample street parking that helps SOO much! Great place and recommend for small projects

David

Just spent a full day filming here. Staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. Great variety of pre-built sets, with additional set dec options (fake plants, wall art, etc) available. They had some costumes available on site too, for an additional small and reasonable rental fee. Plenty of street parking for our cast and crew of 11 people. Their staff was responsive to emailed questions and very supportive and friendly throughout the process. Will gladly film here again!