Morning View's Silent Spring: What's The Status of the Film Studio?

The budget for the proposed $2.8 billion Morning View film studio in Dixon is being "scrubbed and fine tuned," according to Rob Naylor, a spokesperson for the project. 

“Major international financial institutions are looking at this and have been looking at it quite seriously for six months,” he added.  

But things have been quiet on the Morning View front for several months now, especially compared to all the public movement that took place when the project first popped up last Fall.

On one hand, the recent silence makes sense: Morning View says that letters of intent to sell have been signed by 500+ acres worth of landowners in Dixon and in Solano County. Now, project budgets are being finalized before purchase agreements are signed, at which point escrow would begin and $100,000 would be deposited in the City’s account to cover the entitlements process. (Rezoning the land and such). 

Those are behind-the-scenes tasks, which helps explain the lack of perceived progress. Plus, the land purchases have non-disclosure agreements and Morning View is a business, which entitles them to a level of privacy. 

But it’s also worth noting that Dixon Patch published this paragraph 119 days ago, on January 31:  

[City Manager] Lindley says that from his vantage point, progress is being made quickly – not slowly. Especially considering the stall created by Measure N. Lindley said that any day now, Morning View will wire $100,000 to the city to pay contractors and cover the city’s costs of working on the project.
We reached out to Lindley several times this week, by phone and email. We haven’t received any reply, so we don’t know any specifics about what’s happening on the City’s end at this point, or how the City feels about the delays. 

It’s unclear how much time or money they’ve sunk into the project up until now. Lindley said in May that staff hours have been minimal, but Carpenter and Naylor at Morning View have regularly praised the work being done by the city to support the project, so it's clear that at least some city resources are being directed toward Morning View. 

"What's clear is the city has done everything in their power to get this set up," Naylor said Wednesday. "They've been absolutely fantastic. We couldn't be in a better political situation." 

As long as that $100,000 hangs in the balance, the community will wonder what's happening with the project. And if city resources are indeed being used, then the community's curiosity is justified. 

CEO Carissa Carpenter, who has been routinely open and candid with Dixon Patch, has said repeatedly that the project won’t require public funding. Morning View will foot the bill for the studio, and Dixon will feel the benefits. 

So, what next? 

Naylor said that once the budgets are in place and "they finally feel comfortable giving us the first stage of financing, then we can get started with the entitlements.” That’s when the city will be paid and escrow will begin. 

Carpenter revealed in May that the target opening date had been bumped from January 2015 to October 2015, citing early delays like Measure N. She said that the January date had a film project tied to it, and that the project would now wait until October. 

Share your thoughts below. 

We’ll continue to follow the story and reach out to those involved. If you have any questions, send them to Dixon@patch.com and we’ll try to follow up.