The Panoramic House in Joshua Tree, California

Dear Reader,

I'm driving on a dusty road that leads to the Panoramic House in the town of Joshua Tree.  The house resembles a cabin inside, with its wood panelling on the walls and furniture from the early 1960's.  The outside the house takes me back in time with lawn furniture that could had been used in the TV series "Mad Men".  The house is surrounded by Joshua Trees and Palm Trees.  In the distance is a rocky butte that seems to be made of many smaller rocks glue together by time.  The Panoramic house looks over the valley below, a majestiv view, perfect for a photo shoot, commercial, TV show or a feature.

There is not a lot of parking at this location, but you can fit two motor homes at this location and still have plenty of room to park at least five to seven other vehicles.  If you have a large crew you can arrange to park at Copper Mountain College, which is less than five minutes from this location off of Rotary Way and Hwy 62.

In terms of lodging there is the 29 Palms Inn in 29 Palms (760.367.3505), a rustic Inn, made of many cottages and a small pond.  There is the Best Western also in 29 Palms 760.367.9141 that can accomadate large and small crews.  Large vehicles can park on the street adjacent to the hotel.  There is the Holiday Inn Express in 29 Palms (760.456.7870), not advisible for large truck parking.  There is a RV dump station in 29 Palms, a Stater Brothers super market, as well as several gas stations that sell diesel fuel.

A GPS can be very tricky, especially if you are driving a large vehicle like I generally do.  The best way to this location is take Hwy 62 east from Interstate 10, make a right at Old Cooper Mtn Road (dirt road), left at Sullivan Rd, right at Cooper Mesa Rd.  This will take you to the location.  (Note, you cannot turn right on Copper Mesa Rd from Hwy 62.)  The road is soft in places, as our passenger van driver learned when he drove the van for a shot near Copper Mesa Rd and Highway 62.  The van got stuck, as did the AAA truck trying to pull the van out, fortunately a nice guy in a Nissan Frontier 4 X 4 was able to pull the van, and the truck out of arms way.  Be careful in this area for soft sand.  This property is on private property call Sylvia or Thies before you scout this location.

If you do plan on shooting at this location call Sylvia or Thies at Locations Unlimited 760.343.8327. If you need motor homes, portable restrooms or any questions about this location call me Michael Green at 818.317.7099.

Salt Flats in 29 Palms, California

If anyone ask me what my two favorite locations are; it has to be Superior Salt Flats/Dale Dry Lakebed. The reason is both locations offer a very unique experience in terms of look and atmosphere, and are located on the same property.  Superior is a salt flat surrounded by open desert. With rusting heavy equipment almost appearing to melt in the 110 degrees summer heat. The salt pond mirrors the sky above.    The place is void of any life forms.  Clearly you are on another planet, so it seems.  Yet Superior is only thirty minutes from Twenty-nine Palms, the nearest town or two and a half hours from Los Angeles.  The salt flats has stared in many music videos, commercials, fashion shoots and movies.  It is a one of a kind location offering a variety of backgrounds from salt ponds, to a salt dune, silo and a pieces of equipment that are just there, buried in the ground like bones of an extinct dinosaurs.

Dale Dry Lakebed is on the same property just a little further down a dirt road.  Since it is not on BLM land you have more latitude in terms of doing stunts, explosions or any other thing your shoot might require as long as you follow certain safety guidelines.  When you film at Dale, it is like you are in the middle of no where, there are few roads that would hinder your shot.  It is quiet.  The sunsets are amazing, the sunrises are spectacular.

Superior & Dale is only thirty minutes from Twenty-nine  Palms.  There is a Stater Brothers grocery store, CVS Pharmacy, Bank of Americ ATM, Denny's, an ARCO that sells diesel.  In terms of lodging there is the 29 Palms Inn 760.367.3505.  The Best Western 760.367.9141 is also another option.  The Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites  760.456.7870 is really nice, though has limited parking for large vehicles.  There is a dump station at the TwentyNine Palms Resort 760.367.3320.  If you want to know more about this location or other locations call Thies at 760.343.8327 (Locations Unlimited) or Sylvia at 760.343.8327.  If you need a motor home, portable restrooms, or craft service, call Michael Green at 818.317.7099. 

The Glass House in Joshua Tree-California

Dear Reader,

The Glass House is a bacherlor pad, with walls made of glass and a reflecting pool.  This location stills blows my mind, it it what I envision the future to look like in the 21st Century.  It is surrounded by Joshua Trees and desert brush.  The glass house looks like a place that the fictional cartoon character George Jettson would vocation on, on some distant planet with his wife and kids.  

The morning sun reflects off of the Glass House, as the crew prepares for a long day.  I carefully park my motor home away from the location as to not cause an unncessary reflection.  Fortunately there is a nice parking area for at least two RVs with enough room to open the slide-outs.  The cater finds a place in the shade to set up catering.  The assistant camera persons maneuver their gear into the house from the 3 ton truck parked nearby.  The house is bustling with people trying to get ready for the photo shoot.  An hour later and the models are ready for the shot.

The Glass House  is one of my favorite locations because it is so cool and futuristic looking.  It is the perfect place for a fashion shoot, commercial or music video.  I could also envisioned a good science fiction movie using this location.  The GH is a natural fit for the topagraphy, there are so many places to shoot from to obtain an awesome shot and get that desert feel. 

The GH is located about thirty minutes from Palm Springs off of highway 62 in the town of Joshua Tree.  There is plenty of parking for small crews, larger crews can park down the road or shuttle from Joshua Tree many hotels.  In the town of Joshua Tree there is a Walmart nearby, restaurants and grocery stores.  I can provide more information about this location, lodging options, local caters, craft service people and other vital information.  Feel free to call me, Michael Green 818 317 7099.  If you need a motor home, portable restrooms for this location or other locations, I can assist you as well.    

Means Dry Lake

Dear Reader,

The road is grated to Means Dry Lake; just east of the small town of Lucerne, Califonia.  Means is about two hours North East from Los Angeles. As always it is another early call time for me.  I have a small caravan of vehicles behind me.  The road is rough in places and I drive slowly, avoiding the ruts in the road.  After about 30 minutes on the dirt road, we make our way onto the lakebed.  In a 4 X 4 vehicle you can make it to the lake in less than 10 minutes going about 60.  Since Southern Califonia earlier this summer had monsoon  rains, the middle of the lake is a little muddy, but the outer edges are dry.  The production decided to base camp on the westerrn shore of the lake.  In the summer, very few people use Means Dry Lake because of the heat.  For filming this is not a bad predicament, especially if your production needs privacy.  Week days are probably the best days to film at the lake, weekends, even in summer, day campers do come to Means. 

Even though it was hot, since Means is in the high desert, the tempertatures never exceeded a hundred degrees, during our three day stay at Means.  We set up base camp so that the RVs created a circle, leaving a small opening for the ATVs and side by side to navigate and not to be seen by the public.  This is typical when you are filming unreleased vehicles, you want to create a sancturary so that preying eyes don't get a first look and pictures of such vehicles.   Since my RV has a large awning, I was able to create much needed shade for the crew.  

What makes Means Dry Lakebed such an awesome location for filming is that there is plenty of room to max out the speed on almost any given vehicle one might film.  You can film from  any direction without  seeing a highway.  There are zero structures to get in the way of a shot.  The topagraphy is amazing from a flat lakebed to rugged mountains or just plan open desert, with Joshua Trees and dry brush darting out from the landscape.  You are only 30 minutes from the town of Yucca, off of highway 62.  Yucca has a Walmart, two Stater Brothers, numerous restaurants and plenty of places to lodge your crew.  We stayed at the Best Western 760.365.3555, the accommodations were fine, plenty of parking for our large vehicles and they had a complementary breakfast.  About 15 minutes away from Means Dry Lake  is the town of Landers off of highway 247 or Old Woman Springs Road, there is a convenient store with a gas station.  I had to make numerous trips to get fuel for our portable generators and ice.

We had an excellent craft service person who took care of the crew.  She made sure everyone was hydrated.  Yolanda made these amazing healthy smoothies, coffee flowed all morning.  Yolanda had a wonderful crafty table with healthy snacks that she personalized with her baskets and personal touches.  Since it was hot, she set up the table inside my motor home.  My motor home the "Ambassador" has four slide-outs and is forty feet long.  It is set up to handle a wide variety of jobs.  It has a large four door refrigerator/freezer with plenty of storage space to store dry goods.  I have Wi-Fi, steamer, built in racks, make-up tables and more.  On larger jobs I rent a 2 room VIP restrooms or the Pusher porta potty with AC to keep people cool while they do their bussiness provided by Terrence Martin 310 663 1998.  Whatever your needs are I have a motorhome for the job.  If you have any questions about this location or other locations, please call me I would love to help you Michael Green 818 317 7099.

Blayney Ranch is an alternative to Joshua Tree National Park and is open for film shoots

I have clients from time to time ask me for an alternative to Joshua Tree National Park.  The answer is always the same, no.  That was until I was recently on a music video and I discovered Blayney Ranch located in Lake Los Angeles, about an hour and half from Los Angeles.  This location is in LA county and is a lot closer than Joshua Tree.  Since Blayney Ranch is on private property, there are few restrictions one would fine in a national park.

The ranch is fenced in, away from most major roads and one could film from almost any angle.  I had no problem gaining access to the ranch in my forty-foot motor home, though larger trucks might have a harder time navigating the entrance, though not impossible, if the driver drives straight into the location and backs out of the ranch. Another plus about this location, you are less than twenty minutes from Palmdale.  This could be beneficial if your shoot requires multiple days.  Palmdale has plenty of lodging options, restaurants, grocery stores, Starbucks and other useful businesses one might need for a production.

When one thinks about Joshua Tree National parks, one thinks about  Joshua trees and mountains made of fragmented rocks. The problem with Joshua Tree, you can only film in certain locations, you are about three hours without traffic from Los Angeles.  Getting a film permit is an arduous process, sometimes taking weeks to get permission and there is always problems with public intrusion.  This can be problematic if you are filming a sensitive product like an unreleased car or you have talent that wants and needs privacy.  

Since Blayney Ranch is on private property, hidden from most roads, you can film a car or a celebrity in private.  I found so many places to take pictures and since the property is on a hill there is a wonderful vista point to shoot the valley below.  The ranch looks so much like Joshua Tree, most people would not know the difference. 

If you want more information about Blayney Ranch call Randall Blayney at 818.621.6413.  If you have any questions about this location or other locations call me Michael Green 818.317.7099.  Also if you need a motor home or other services feel free to call me.