The potential for turning Burton Village into a cornerstone of the Northeast Ohio film production industry was spotlighted April 26 at Schoolyard Studio – the former Berkshire High School.
The potential for turning Burton Village into a cornerstone of the Northeast Ohio film production industry was spotlighted April 26 at Schoolyard Studio – the former Berkshire High School.
Film, television, commercial and music industry professionals attended the unveiling of the area’s largest sound stage, meeting and greeting invited local personalities and touring the sets, stages and opportunities in the 96,000-square-foot building.
Guests were treated to live performances by area bands, such as Public Chase, on the 10,000-square-foot soundstage occupying the former school gym, and networked with industry professionals.
During a brief interview in a former classroom, studio owner Det Chansamone said the capacity of the building was multiplied by the addition last fall of an 18-foot-square “elephant door” on the east side of the building to accommodate large production sets.
Semi-trucks could pull up on the new concrete driveway and unload on the docks. Halves of a plane fuselage could be craned into the building for filming a movie, he mentioned as an example — one that highlighted his ability to think big and into the future.
Chansamone invited film industry professionals, as well as the media and area leaders to the four-hour event last Friday.
“There’s definitely a lot of interest. This is where talented people can connect, people with the same interests and talent level. Like-minded people,” Chansamone said.
Since breaking ground for the transformation in September 2023, he has worked to encourage talented local residents to invest their time and energy into learning how the film industry works, starting with the physical structure.
“We are trying to create a program to promote the trades,” he said, mentioning electrical, welding and carpentry as essential to supporting acts on stage.
He plans to target young people interested in the theater.
“Once they get exposed to the full gamut of behind-the-scenes, they get to see where they want to go,” Chansamone said.
After being signed in, guests were greeted and assisted by volunteers from Burton and the 1st Team Actor Studio on Cleveland’s west side while Schoolyard Studio’s Heather White helped visitors and professionals network.
Celebrities graced the Schoolyard halls, including Frank Amato, recently inducted into the Rock Godz Hall of Fame, and his wife, Lisa Dillon.
Amato started his entertainment career as lead singer with several Cleveland bands. He and his brother, Tommy, shared the stage for the popular 80’s band Beau Coup. Amato now runs a production company with Dillon, a long-time area radio personality, and helps other bands shape their sounds, according to www.CoolCleveland.com.
Richard Korby, senior audio engineer and production manager for The Franklin Theatre near Nashville, Tenn., attended Berkshire Schools through 1979.
He said he was volunteering his time to help Chansamone with the event.
“It’s funny to walk around these hallways, fun to look around,” Korby said, sitting in the costume room at Schoolyard Studio. “I was more into the industrial arts. I didn’t step on stage in this school until a month ago. Getting into music was an accident.”
Learning to play bass guitar led him to music production and management and world travel for several decades, coming home for the holidays until settling in Tennessee.
His production history is sprinkled with names like Jake Owens, Brad Paisley and the Straight No Chaser, an a capella group seen on PBS, he said.
When visiting Coffee Corners Antiques & Coffee House in Burton Village during a stop-over recently, he heard about Chansamone’s venture and went to check it out.
“Det knows his business,” Korby said, noting the studio can provide rehearsal for groups on tour in the Midwest for artists who don’t want to rehearse in a typical venue.
He added he is looking forward to Schoolyard’s recording studio in phase three.
Also hanging out in the costume room was Middlefield resident Jackie Gallagher, recruited by Chansamone for her talent with a needle.
“He’s kept me very busy — couches, draperies, costumes,” she said, adding she catered the food in the lobby for the event.
White said she and Chansamones were happy to see the crowd, estimated at over 200, excited to tour the venue and to meet and visit with luminaries from the theater late into the night.
“People came and stayed and stayed,” she said April 28. “We are very thrilled with the turnout – especially thrilled that they stayed. It was great to see everybody talking and laughing.”
White said winners of the two free half-day shoots were Angela Boehm Casting, of Cleveland, and Ty Chenell, a digital creator, model and actress.
“They have rooms already set up to film #getconnected @schoolyardstudioohio,” Chenell posted on Facebook. “What an amazing space to shoot a movie or whatever creatives need a space to create.”
Berkshire Schools Board of Education President John Manfredi was excited about the re-purposing of the building, sold when the doors to the new school opened.
“Last night was a tribute to everything they’ve done,” he said in a phone interview April 27. “Det and his wife are so kind, so involved. People around here have embraced them. It’s much different from LA — I think it’s a good match.”
Manfredi said the school still feels like home to him, despite the transformation of the gym.
He added the bands were grateful to be chosen to perform for the unveiling and he had realized the Chansamones added apartments where performers can stay while their film is in production.
“Not everybody wants to go to LA to make a movie,” Manfredi said, calling the evening a success.
“I bet it exceeded their expectations,” he said. “It sure exceeded mine.”Schoolyard bandANN WISHART/KMG
Public Chase was one of two bands from Northeast Ohio who performed at the unveiling of the Schoolyard Studio in Burton Village April 26. The gymnasium of the former Berkshire High School has been transformed into a sound stage.ANN WISHART/KMG
Det and Kiyomi Chansamone opened Schoolyard Studio April 26, giving area leaders and theater professionals a chance to network and view the transformation of the former Berkshire High School into a sound stage and film production venue.ANN WISHART/KMG
Celebrities graced the Schoolyard Studio grand opening including Frank Amato, recently inducted into the Rock Godz Hall of Fame, and his wife Lisa Dillon. The former Berkshire High School has been repurposed by Det and Kiyomi Chansamone as the largest film production venue in Northeast Ohio.ANN WISHART/KMG
Richard Korby, senior audio engineer and production manager for The Franklin Theatre near Nashville, Tennessee, came home to Burton for the April 26 unveiling of Schoolyard Studio in the former Berkshire High School.
Middlefield resident Jackie Gallagher, recruited by Chansamone for her talent with a needle, talked to visitors at the grand opening of Schoolyard Studio April 26.
