Morning View's Chances in Dixon Sink to Near Zero

Many in Dixon (including myself) have been clinging to the hope that even with danger signs, the Morning View film studio project would somehow work itself out and become a reality that would truly put Dixon on the map.

This was to be a gigantic $2.8 billion project, costing more than six times the projected cost of a new King’s basketball arena in downtown Sacramento.

But Sunday’s lengthy and damning article in the Sacramento Bee about Carissa Carpenter and the Morning View film studio project effectively spells the end of this venture. It’s the final nail in the coffin. (If you haven’t read the article, you can read it at http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/01/5464184/exec-pushing-dixon-film-studio.html)

Essentially, the well-researched Bee article, which began on the front page and continued on for four full additional pages, confirmed what some naysayers elsewhere in California (and beyond?) have been saying about CEO Carissa Carpenter for some time: That in her apparent quest to build a large film studio in northern California, she’s left a trail of unpaid bills, bounced checks and unfulfilled promises. There’s even an accusation that she siphoned money from her grandmother’s bank account, resulting in the grandmother having to leave a care home and depend upon charity.

The article details how she stayed one step ahead of the law, talking or finagling her way out of legal problems.

She would tell one party that she was financially destitute and practically homeless, but yet arrive for an interview with a Bee reporter in an expensive Mercedes Benz.

Her fallback, her modus operandi, when things get especially troublesome, has been to blame an extended menu of health problems.

If the Bee article is correct, she does have one valuable talent above all others: An uncanny ability to win officials and investors over to her dream of building Hollywood North. Over the years, she has induced some investors to open their wallets big time, with no results to show for it. It’s probably still happening, although I think the Bee article will dry up her money flow.

She certainly knew how to blitz Dixonites with visions of movie stars and directors hobnobbing around town.

The Bee reporter or reporters spent some time with Mayor Batchelor and City Manager Lindley, noting their enthusiasm for the project. However, the mayor came off looking like a star-dazzled country boy. Lindley said he’d thoroughly looked into Carpenter’s background before working with her – say again, please?

However, I think that since the reporter or reporters spoke with them a month or two ago, there’s been a decided cooldown in city hall toward Carpenter and Morning View. A disenchantment, to say the least. A recognition that Carpenter’s big talk and big plans don’t reflect a viable business.

The Bee article described one of Carpenter’s previous movie studio plans over in the Sacramento area. In this instance, according to the article, she actually had investors lined up to bankroll the project – with one proviso – that someone else manage and run the project. She apparently refused to give up the CEO’s role, and the project fell apart.

People in a small town like Dixon can be particularly trusting. It’s the kind of town where a handshake might seal a deal rather than using legal papers and a notary. You take someone at their word and give them a fair shake to set up a business or a project. So this was fertile ground for Carpenter to dangle jobs, philanthropy, the movie business and tax revenue in front of us.

I’ve taken to calling her the “Wagnerian enchantress.”

The Bee article hinted that in the past she has used some of the money provided her for studio projects for personal expenses. I suspect she has a driving need to be seen as a Donald Trump (according to the Bee, she tried to buy an $18 million mansion in Beverly Hills in 2004) – while when the going gets rough, she’s not averse to writing a bad check or two.

Once upon a time in Dixon, movie sets with castles and Wild West towns were to be built. Big movie cameras were to be whirring away while directors wearing berets used bullhorns to direct hundreds of extras. A sexy starlet was to step out of her personal trailer and wow the grips and electricians. Unfortunately, the credit card being used to bankroll this was declared invalid, and continued swipes through the card reader were of no use. So all the sets, movie cameras, directors and actors simply went poof! and the morning’s view once more consisted of the brown earth of farmers’ fields.

Still, I’m wondering: What kind of role will the best actress of all – Carissa Carpenter – take on next? 

(Note: The image of a photocopy of Carpenter's bounced checks was taken from a video shot by the Sacramento Bee. It was shown to them by Warren Roche, owner of the Topanga Canyon Inn.)