Mana Storm Productions Brings Creativity to Hacienda

Company is Shooting to be Bay Area's One-Stop Shop for Entertainment Media

What do you get when you combine a group of friends, all of whom are graduates of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and possess the talents of filmmaking, television production, writing, and Internet expertise? You get Mana Storm Productions, LLC, recent new residents of Hacienda.

"Pleasanton is a great place to do business," says Mario Morales, Jr., President of Mana Storm. "It's centrally located and whether our customers are in San Jose or San Francisco, we are still accessible to them."

Founded in San Francisco in 2003, the owner-operated company's primary business and purpose is the development and production of motion pictures for the big screen, and for the small screen of television. Even though San Francisco is the Bay Area hub for the entertainment industry, Mana Storm wanted to be more accessible to businesses in the East Bay and to reach new markets in the Tri-Valley and beyond. "We wanted to get away from San Francisco and reach out to new markets," explains Morales. "Besides, we were tired of the long commute and Pleasanton is a friendlier and more affordable area."

According to Morales, Mana Storm Productions was created to give a voice to the underrepresented filmmakers and screenwriters of diverse cultural backgrounds, and to celebrate the art of the independent film. The company is also involved in the production of television commercial ads, music videos, industrial and corporate promotional videos, and public service announcements.

"We're a video production house with a wide range of services for businesses, too," explains Morales. "We want to become their key marketing tool."

Other creative services include video game and movie trailers, interactive press kits, and documentaries. The company also produces a customized two-to-three minute video on a business card-sized CD-rom that can showcase a business to clients, complete with video interviews and motion graphics.

Mana Storm's office, located at 5627 Stoneridge Drive, has production facilities on site. "We have a studio in the back for filming and have 'green screening' for special effects," explains Morales. "We also shoot on location as needed, and all video production is done in HD."

Projects completed by Mana Storm Productions include television commercials for The Gap, Crate & Barrel, the Ford Focus automobile, music videos for Jump5, and public service announcements for Partnership for a Drug Free America. Currently, the company is producing a television pilot titled "Adina's Deck: The Exclusive Detective Agency Specializing in Solving Cyber Bully Mysteries," which centers around four tech-savvy girls who solve their peers' Internet crimes.

For more information about Mana Storm Productions, visit its website at www.manastorm.com.

Photo: Jamison Boyer (top) works at a digital editing suite while Mario Morales works on a computer-connected keyboard to create a soundtrack.

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