Quixote Studios - History

History

Quixote Studios was founded in 1995 by Mikel Elliott and Jordan Kitaen as a production vehicle rental company. Elliott and Kitaen were English majors at UCLA. In 1997, Quixote expanded by opening a photo studio in Hollywood catering to high end photographers. To accommodate the explosion of advertising production brought on by the dot com craze, in 1999 Quixote moved the studio operation to a larger facility in West Hollywood. In 2000 Quixote entered the motion picture production market by opening an expendables store in Hollywood called the Quixote Studio Store. Next, with the purchase and renovation of a 5.5-acre studio near Griffith Park in 2005, Quixote entered the television production market. A year later the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds established Quixote Griffith Park as its primary studio filming location. In 2007 Quixote purchased a majority interest in rival Smashbox Studios to create the largest boutique studio operation in Los Angeles. True to its roots, Quixote continues to rent production vehicles but now offers a large selection of talent trailers and crew trucks used in television and movie production. In 2010, Quixote opened a studio in Boston. Following Louisiana's film tax credits, Quixote expanded their Studio Store offering in 2011 to the New Orleans market. NYC also has a small touch of Quixote with a Verde celebrity motorhome & a production motorhome to come early 2012. Throughout its 15+ years Quixote (and Smashbox Studios) has donated or discounted its facilities for a number of fund raising events and is on the forefront in the film industry of greening its vehicle fleet.