Hailing from New York City, boutique production company Wavelength landed in L.A. for the first time – opening a 12,000-square-foot production studio in Sherman Oaks in March.

Founded in 2015 by Jenifer Westphal, Wavelength specializes in documentaries and narrative features, securing collaborations across the country while building an international presence in London. Its repertoire includes the Oscar-shortlisted documentary “32 Sounds” and the Sundance Film Festival’s top Grand Jury Prize winner “Cusp.” The company was also involved in producing the Tony Awards-winning Broadway musical “The Outsiders.”

Dipping its toes in the city known for its entertainment legacy, Wavelength President Joe Plummer says the “thrilling” move signals the boutique’s strategic growth.

“L.A. is a competitive landscape. It’s also a highly collaborative landscape,” Plummer says. “At the end of the day, we are in a creative industry, and we need to be where the creative minds and voices are.”

Beyond opening a physical studio, the company is also expanding its branded contents division. Matt Kline, newly appointed chief growth officer for Wavelength, says as brands focus on storytelling as a key sales strategy, Wavelength sees an opportunity to grow.

“Advertising agencies necessarily aren’t set up to do some of this more impactful, human centered storytelling that has been at the core of Wavelength since the very beginning,” Kline says. “Our ability is really about harnessing the best talent to craft the stories in any format.”

A changing landscape

Wavelength is joining an array of production companies that have recently expanded their presence in L.A.’s rapidly evolving entertainment scene.

Glendale-based East End Studios expanded into downtown L.A. with support from Mayor Karen Bass. The studio management and development firm, which currently operates four campuses in California and New York covering about 1.35 million square feet, opened its new Mission campus in the Arts District in late January. The campus spans over 255,000 square feet and offers offices, production facilities, and five fully operational soundstages for L.A. creatives.

Cinespace Studios officially unveiled its new Woodland Hills campus in early March with a ribbon-cutting event attended by Bass. Located at 21200 Victory Blvd., the 10-acre soundstage complex covers 180,000 square feet, featuring six 18,000-square-foot soundstages and 72,000 square feet of production offices in the San Fernando Valley. This opening marked Cinespace Studios’ first facility in L.A. and its sixth worldwide, following its hubs in Chicago, Atlanta, Germany, and its native Toronto.

“Los Angeles is where this industry was built, and where its future continues to be shaped,” said Eoin Egan, co-chief executive of Cinespace Studios, in a statement. “While the market is navigating a period of transition, we believe deeply in the resilience of this city, the talent that defines it, and the enduring demand for world-class production infrastructure.”

Industry disruptions

The city of Angels is seeing a fair share of disruptions: jobs are diminishing and productions have teetered. The merger agreement between Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and Paramount Skydance Corp. has drawn widespread concerns over massive layoffs.

Shoot days in L.A. were down to 19,694 last year, almost halved from 36,792 three years ago, according to FilmLA data. While L.A. County still has the largest available reservoir of sound stage space at 8.3 million square feet, FilmLA also points out that the county faces stiff competition in places such as the U.K. and New York City, which offer attractive tax incentives to filmmakers.

Studio occupancy levels have been steady, however, according to the FilmLA report. There are increased projects and shooting days for select categories – including both of Wavelength’s current focuses, documentaries and commercials. “Many positive, pro-filming policy developments have been enacted at the state and local level over the past nine months, and more are on the way,” says FilmLA spokesperson Philip Sokoloski in the report. “All of these efforts to promote local production bode well for growth in sound stage utilization.”

Ongoing mayoral support – which involves opening filming spaces and cutting filming fees at public locations – and tax credit for film and television from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office continue to boost up the local entertainment industry. After more than doubling the annual allocation from $330 million to $750 million, the governor’s office issued a recent round of tax credit to include animations and competition shows.

Wavelength shares that with the expansion, it is looking to hire across multiple teams.

“We’re very bullish, and we’re willing to continue to grow,” Plummer says. “Because at the end of the day, no matter how advanced the technology gets, you need human centered storytelling at the heart of it, and you need people who understand what that means.”