Baja Studios

{{Infobox company |name = Baja Studios |image = Baja Tank ship 16451432420 afa83d8152.jpg |image_caption = Filming of ''Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' in 2003 |logo_size = |type = |traded_as = Baja Studios |former_names = Fox Baja Studios {{small|(1996-2007)}} |foundation = {{start date and age|df=yes|1996||}} |owner = José Galicot |key_people = |location_city = |location_country = Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico | area_served = Worldwide |industry = | products = Filming Studios, filming stages, filming tanks, productions, major filming studios, movie productions, box office | subsid = |revenue = |net_income = |assets = |num_employees = |homepage = }}

'''Baja Studios''' is a Mexican film studio near the resort community of Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, owned by José Galicot. It comprises the world's largest stages and water tanks designed for filming.<ref>{{cite web|title=Baja Film Studios Official Site|url=http://www.bajafilmstudios.com/|website=bajafilmstudios.com|accessdate=24 December 2017|archive-date=20 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320164445/https://www.bajafilmstudios.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> As well as major film work, the facility is used for making commercials, music videos, television series, and movies for television.

Originally built by Mexican businessman José Galicot and 20th Century Fox for the reconstruction of RMS ''Titanic'' in the 1997 film ''Titanic'', it has since then built some of the largest sets for numerous other films, including MGM{{'}}s ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', Amblin Entertainment{{'}}s ''In Dreams'', Warner Bros.{{'}}s ''Deep Blue Sea'', Phoenix Pictures{{'}}s ''The Weight of Water'', Disney{{'}}s ''Pearl Harbor'' and Fox's ''Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World''.

==History== [[File:Titanic Movie Cinema shooting. Airstar Lighting balloons.jpg|thumb|left|The filming of ''Titanic'' in 1997]] Baja Studios began life as a Mexican subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, a part of the global corporate holdings of Rupert Murdoch on land leased by the Hollywood studio. Specializing in the production of Mexican films, co-productions between the United States and Mexico, as well as exclusive productions by American companies that rented the facilities to film underwater scenes. Construction of the facility costing an estimated $20 million USD<ref>{{cite book|last1=Herzog|first1=Lawrence A.|title=Competing Globally Through The Tourism Industry: A San Diego-Baja California Perspective|date=2000|publisher=School of Public Administration and Urban Studies San Diego State University|page=18|url=http://www.lawrenceaherzog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/globtour.pdf|accessdate=19 January 2018}}</ref> began on 6 June 1996 next to the northern edge of a small fishing village (Puerto Popotla). Construction lasted 100 days.<ref name="sinking ship">{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Steve |date=December 19, 1997 |title=Cameron saves his sinking ship |pages=5 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-cameron-saves-h/127125795/ |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The corporation had an interest in breaking the power in Hollywood of the Teamsters Union;<ref>{{cite book|last1=Judd|first1=Dennis R.|title=The Infrastructure of Play: Building the Tourist City|date=2002|publisher=Cities and Contemporary Society|isbn=076560955X|page=237|edition=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ol_MPnAqFkC&q=baja+studio+murdoch}}</ref><ref name="Ross">{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=John |date=May 13, 1998 |title=Film studio a dud for its Baja neighbours |work=Montreal Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette-film-studio-a-dud-for-its-ba/127125095/ |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> the corporation had learned from the Wapping dispute. The studio's design was heavily influenced by the production needs of the first film to be shot there, James Cameron's epic ''Titanic'', where there was a requirement to shoot a {{convert|775|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} replica of the ship in a water tank.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Corey|first1=Melinda|title=The American Film Institute desk reference|date=2002|publisher=A Stonesong Press book|isbn=0789489341|page=67|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=17gUAQAAIAAJ&q=fox+baja+studios+titanic+length|accessdate=11 January 2018}}</ref>

Fox sold the studios in May 2007 to Baja Acquisitions (a consortium of "local financial interests") for an eight-figure US dollar sum.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Muttalib|first1=Bashirah|title=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/twentieth-century-fox-sells-baja-1117965539/|accessdate=10 January 2018|date=21 May 2007}}</ref>

There was a downturn in the area from 2007 when tourism lessened due to a local drug war and a tightening of travel restrictions.<ref name="LA_Times_Marosi2">{{Cite news |last=Marosi |first=Richard |date=January 3, 2012 |title=Studio hopes 'Little Boy' contributes to its comeback |page=AA5 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-studio-hopes-litt/127124544/ |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Popotla had become attractive to smugglers of illegal immigrants at night once the restaurant trade had closed for the day.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Berestein|first1=Leslie|title=Baja village has become smugglers' launch point (2010)|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-baja-village-has-become-smugglers-launch-point-2010mar01-htmlstory.html|accessdate=16 January 2018|publisher=The San Diego Tribune|date=1 March 2010}}</ref>

In 2018 a resurgence in filmmaking for Internet streaming by Amazon, HBO, and Netflix lifted prospects for the studio.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Vincent|first1=Roger|title=Resurgence in film making for streaming 2017|url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney-fox-lot-20171216-story.html|accessdate=3 February 2018|work=LA Times|date=16 December 2017}}</ref>

==Facilities== thumb|left|Film set at Baja Studios The studio is built alongside the ocean coastline, enabling an unobstructed view of the sea. It comprises {{convert|35|acres}} of land overlooking the Pacific Ocean,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marosi |first=Richard |date=January 3, 2012 |title='Titanic' film studio in Baja rises again |page=AA1 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-titanic-film-stu/127124434/ |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> with {{convert|2,000|ft}} of coastline frontage. The facility has 5 stages, 4 indoor and outdoor water tanks, street sets, and is a self-contained facility, with offices, scenery shops, wardrobe and dressing rooms. Two of the stages and three of the tanks are combined. There are four tanks with a combined volume of over 20 million gallons fed by a filtration seawater plant capable of delivering 9,000 gallons of water per minute.

Tank 1 is an infinite horizon pond which adjoins and overlooks the Pacific. Built to film ''Titanic'', it is a {{convert|360,000|ft2}} concrete pool with a full capacity of 17 million gallons,<ref name="sinking ship"/> used for exterior shooting, wet or dry, and consists of three depth levels from {{convert|3+1/2|to|40|ft}}. The tank can be emptied or filled in 40 hours. Alongside it is a {{convert|162|foot|abbr=off}} motor-driven tower crane, used for constructing film sets and as a lighting and camera platform. Fox employed mostly American technical personnel for the tank's construction, despite available Mexican resources. On completion of filming, the tank was drained of chlorinated water too quickly without management in one batch, ruining the fishing waters at Popotla.<ref name="Ross"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hart|first1=John Mason|title=Empire and Revolution: The Americans in Mexico since the Civil War|date=11 April 2002|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0520223241|page=495|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5hlrBmjcvQC&dq=rupert+murdoch+AND+%22Fox+Baja%22&pg=PA495|accessdate=19 January 2018|ref=Mexico in the New World Order}}</ref>

There is a smaller outdoor tank and another two built into an indoor stage.

;Studio tour Fox created a Studio Tour named Foxploration, which opened in May 2001 consisting largely of ''Titanic'' exhibits, Fox-derived displays, and items from other films, notably ''Master and Commander''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Studio Tour|url=http://www.thestudiotour.com/baja/|website=thestudiotour.com|accessdate=24 December 2017}}</ref> This tour closed.

==Films== [[File:2001 - Full size fake Tank Ship under construction 103-0314_IMG.jpg|thumb|right|Full size frigate model under construction on set]] *''Titanic'' (1997)<ref name="sinking ship" /> *''Tomorrow Never Dies'' (1997) (Second Unit) *''Deep Blue Sea'' (1999) *''In Dreams'' (1999) *''The Weight of Water'' (2000) *''Pearl Harbor'' (2001) *''Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (2003)<ref name="LA_Times_Marosi2"/> *''Kung Pow! Enter the Fist'' (2002) *''Ghosts of the Abyss'' (2003) *''Jumper'' (2008) *''All Is Lost'' (2013) *''Against the Sun'' (2014) *''Little Boy'' (2015)<ref name="LA_Times_Marosi2"/> *''Chappaquiddick'' (2018)<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Marcks|first=Iain|date=May 2018|title=Truth and Consequences|magazine=American Cinematographer|location=Hollywood, California, U.S.|publisher=American Society of Cinematographers|volume=99|issue=5|page=43}}</ref>

===Television===

*''Tremors'' (2003) *''Fear the Walking Dead'' (2016) – Season 2<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hank |first=Melissa |date=April 9, 2016 |title=Who's up for zombie hors d'oeuvres? |page=D2 |work=The Windsor Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star-whos-up-for-zombie-hor/127123916/ |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> *''9-1-1'' (2019) – Season 3 *''Selena: The Series'' (2020–2021) – Part 1 and Part 2

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baja Studios}} Category:1996 establishments in Mexico Category:Companies based in Baja California Category:Former News Corporation subsidiaries Category:Mass media companies established in 1996 Category:Mexican film studios