Michael Hackman

Michael Hackman switched his company’s focus to soundstages and studios about 11 years ago, and quickly became the biggest owner of film and content creation-based real estate in Hollywood and globally.

Hackman Capital Partners (HCP) recently secured unanimous approval from the City of Los Angeles to complete its $1 billion plan to add almost 1 million square feet of offices and soundstages to the iconic Television City studio (which HCP acquired for $750 million in 2018), with officials saying the project was critical to the future of the entertainment industry in its historic home of L.A.

Waiting in the wings are the plans to spend another $1 billion to expand the Radford Studio Center — another premier studio campus in L.A. that HCP acquired for $1.85 billion four years ago — with 20 to 25 more soundstages.

HCP’s main advantage is its size, with 145 soundstages and another 60 in development around the world. Its portfolio has housed countless production hubs over the decades, including at Raleigh Studios, Sony Animation Studios, Manhattan Beach Studios and the historic Culver Studios.

But HCP’s differentiating factor is its operator affiliate, MBS Group, which provides production services for hundreds more soundstages and studios worldwide, supporting more than 1,000 productions annually. 

And, sure, the film industry is spreading away from L.A., but Hackman has been doing that for years too. HCP now owns studios in New York, New Orleans, Canada, Ireland and throughout the U.K., including the largest studio in London that opened earlier this year.

Further, HCP is active in mixed-use and Class A office development, and it manages more than 35 million square feet at more than 400 properties. For example, in September, HCP partnered with Laurie Samitaur Smith to manage a 26-building, mixed-use portfolio called Conjunctive Points in its hometown of Culver City, Calif.

The month prior, HCP and Affinius Capital secured refinancing from Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo toward Culver Steps, an office and retail development it built adjacent to Culver Studios and the accompanying $620 million Amazon Studios expansion. The streaming giant also leases all 80,000 square feet of office space at Culver Steps, which is above anchor retail tenant Erewhon — the most expensive grocery store chain in the nation.

“As the entertainment industry finds its footing following an unprecedented period of disruption, we see 2025 as a year of recalibration and opportunity,” Hackman said in a statement shared with CO. “Content isn’t going away, and we remain confident in the long-term strength of the global content production industry. Hackman Capital is focused on building and modernizing best-in-class campuses that support the needs of top-tier content creators. With early signs of stabilization, such as growing investment in original programming and expanding tax incentive programs, we’re confident that our global studio platform is well-positioned for the next phase of industry growth.”