The Ventura Media Center on 800 North in Orem will soon be changing ownership.
The present owner, Ventura Entertainment Group Ltd. of North Hollywood, Calif., has agreed to sell the studio to an unidentified buyer.Terri MacInnis, from Ventura's investment relations department, said, "The buyer asked not to be named until the deal is finalized."
The proposed sale, which is expected to close in about 40 days, would allow Ventura to retain preferred access to the Orem studio for three years.
Ventura purchased the studio from the Osmond family in 1988.
Roger Lefkon, newly appointed president of Ventura in California, said, "The decision to sell the media center . . . was prompted by a strong desire to concentrate all of our energies and resources on television and motion picture development and production."
Many of the company's holdings are in California. MacInnis said the Orem studio is just "one cog in the wheel" and the company is pulling back to its core to "regroup."
Lefkon said, "We believe that by eliminating the administration and capital drains the production facility . . . (has) placed on us, we will be better positioned to show a profit by our fiscal year-end in June."
MacInnis said she couldn't say how the change would affect Orem, but the media center has only six full-time employees, and they might be retained for awhile.
Ventura is in the process of filming a series for the Arts & Entertainment cable-TV network at the Orem studio, called "Hollywood Detective," and filming should continue.
Barbara Black, director of the Orem media center, was unavailable for comment because she was on location with the filming for the series.