IN THE MOVIES

Photo by Maghan Hunt

Photo by George L. Winship, Editor

Chris Foxworthy points out different architectural details of how he envisions the sound stages to look to reporter Maghan Hunt, while Steve Durkee, director of development, listens.

Stillwater Business Park will be more than just a family-friendly movie studio by the time Chris Foxworthy, 60, the president and chairman of the board for Clarity Entertainment, is done with it.

In fact, it could well become a Christian version of Hollywood with a host of ancillary businesses to provide transportation, training, technical expertise and cultural amenities that will allow Clarity Entertainment to produce feature films, episodic programming for various networks as well as high-quality animated features and shorts while shuttling talent and investors directly to Redding via a charter airline that might one day offer commercial schedules, Foxworthy stated several times during a two-hour face-to-face interview.

While it may sound like pie in the sky, Foxworthy insists his company is backed by a large and growing number of Christian entertainers who have pledged up to $600 million to develop Clarity’s vision. Nondisclosure agreements prevent him from naming his investors publicly, but they include some of Hollywood’s top stars.

In fact, Foxworthy is currently exploring leasing or buying two other Redding properties — the Sharrah Dunlap Sawyer Civil Engineering building on Airport Road and the former KMS hair products manufacturing facility in the industrial park off Caterpillar Road — to lay a foundation for a full-blown movie studio with four sound stages in the Stillwater Business Park.

Foxworthy’s Clarity Entertainment has signed a nonbinding deal to pay $6.15 million for nearly 90 acres (half of lot 12 and all of lots 13, 14 and 15) in the 688-acre business park in east Redding, said Pat Keener, economic development liaison for the city.

“We have met with their (Clarity’s) board of directors and talked to their financial people,” stated Keener. “From every thing we’ve been able to learn, they appear to be a reputable company.”

According to Mark Lascelles, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Shasta County, the EDC has been involved to a small extent with the offers at Stillwater and they, too, have looked into Clarity.

“We try to find out as much information as we can about them,” stated Lascelles.

“We are treating it all as real until we see otherwise,” said Lascelles about the movie studio and their offer. “It is a very big production that they are trying to create. We are trying to support their efforts to the best of our resources and abilities.”

According to Foxworthy, the City of Redding met in closed session Tuesday, Nov. 15, and “has accepted our bid for half of lot 12” all of lots 13, 14 and 15. The first structure to be built at Stillwater will be a Casting Development office of 13,000 square feet on the southern half of Lot 12. A second building of 12,000 square feet will be used for set fabrication and equipment storage.

The overall concept is to build large sound stages with street scapes and city scapes on the exteriors that can double as backgrounds for exterior shots.

As for the sound stages, construction on the first four could begin by next September if the City of Redding is able to fast-track approval of building plans, Foxworthy said.

Meanwhile, Clarity needs to begin production by mid-April on other projects, he added.

The Airport Road property will provide a base of operations for the company’s digital animation studio with up to 75 employees. It’s first product will be the animated portions of “Duggy.”

Duggy is a yellow DC-3 airplane that teaches children how to follow their dreams. The Duggy Dream Team has three steps — dream it, team it and work it. Foxworthy said National Geographic is currently looking at the Duggy Dream Team project and considering airing a documentary about its purpose.

The former KMS building in Redding’s Mountain Lakes Industrial Park will eventually grow to include two small sound stages, a recording studio, equipment storage facilities for location shooting, a screening room and executive offices. It will house up to 150 employees when fully refurbished and expanded, Foxworthy said.

Foxworthy repeated several times through the course of his conversation with the Valley Post, that while he is intent on acquiring the two other properties, the main focus of Clarity Entertainment remains the development of studio facilities and ancillary businesses at Stillwater.

“It’s all part of the larger picture,” said Foxworthy. “We need to build credibility in the community first.”

Then the focus would shift to Stillwater and building the four sound studios planned for lot 14. However, one of the things Foxworthy and his 140 employees are waiting on are plans to re-route flight near the Redding Airport.

As of now, Stillwater has failed every sound test Foxworthy and his engineers have conducted. However, if Rod Dinger, airports manager for the City of Redding, is successful in getting FAA approval to reroute planes away from Stillwater, then Foxworthy and his investors will be able to move forward with plans to acquire most or all of the business park.

“I have never had municipalities so willing to work together and figure out a solution,” said Foxworthy, who currently has 36 screenplays ready to shoot.

Steve Durkee of Sacramento is Clarity Entertainment’s director of development of stories, screenplays and TV programming. He has a bachelor’s degree in ancient history from the University of Washington in Seattle. He also has a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Penn.

“I’ve always been writing and telling stories. History is all about telling stories based on research,” explained Durkee about how his degrees relate to Clarity Entertainment and producing content.