Son of Modest Mexican Immigrants To Build 200-Million-Dollar Studio

The construction of “Grandave Studios At Banning” under the helm of their C.E.O. Ruben Islas, is now underway. A 200-million-dollar film studio project, “Grandave Studios at Banning” is expected to not only generate about 8,000 local jobs and an average revenue of 1 billion dollars, but also more opportunity for Latinx-led film and television projects.

“Grandave Studios At Banning” will be entering into a land use agreement with the city of Banning, CA, for the lot currently occupied by the Banning Municipal Airport, owned by the city of Banning. Built in the 1940’s, the single-runway airport is still operational and will remain so during construction. There will be no disruption of airport services once the studio project has been completed.

“Grandave Studios at Banning” will include a designated security office, corporate offices, cafe, retail stores, 18-20 energy-efficient “dome structure” sound stages, a water tank, outdoor “brownstone” filming facilities, storage facilities (rentable), and parking. Exact square footage has not been determined at this time as the design has not been finalized.

Behind “Grandave Studios at Banning” is Ruben Islas, the son of very modest Mexican immigrants, now a successful businessman, who created Grandave Capital. A film financier with an emphasis on Latinx projects, affiliated to movie sales company Grandave International (Venice’20 My Tender Matador) and Latinx production company Broken English Productions (Omar Chaparro’s 7th & Union), Grandave Capital helped finance several movies such as Cole Hauser’s Panama and Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter.

Open to all types of productions, “Grandave Studios at Banning” will be a preferred filming location for the projects produced by Broken English Productions and financed by Grandave Capital in their efforts to increase underrepresented visibility and opportunities. Groundbreaking is anticipated in January 2022 with a scheduled completion by January 2024.