Lookout Mountain Air Force Station

Lookout Mountain Air Force Station (LMAFS) is a Formerly Used Defense Site used as a private residence on Wonderland Avenue, Los Angeles, California. The USAF military installation produced motion pictures and still photographs for the United States Department of Defense and Atomic Energy Commission from 1947-1969. In 2011, the property was put up for sale for over $6 million (USD). When it was placed up for sale in 2011, the residence was a 50 thousand square foot, eight bedroom building on a 1.5 acre property.

The 100000 ft2 facility was built on 2 acre in 1941 as a World War II air defense center to coordinate radar installations. The studio was established in 1947 and its purpose kept secret. The studio consisted of a complete stage, 2 screening rooms, a helicopter landing pad, a bomb shelter and 17 climate controlled film vaults as well as two underground parking garages. With the latest equipment the studio could process both 35 mm and 16 mm motion pictures as well as optical prints and still photographs. The nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site were filmed in various formats including CinemaScope, stereophonic sound, VistaVision and 3-D photography.

Personnel
The studio contained staff from many prominent studios alongside its military staff. Civilian personnel from Warner Brothers, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and RKO Pictures worked at the studio in functions such as producers, cameramen and directors. W. Donn Hayes (1893–1973), coiner of the American Cinema Editors (ACE) title and past president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, worked at Lookout Mountain as his last career assignment; he had been in the film and television industries since 1916.

Field staff included photographers who were airmen assigned to the USAF 1352d Photographic Squadron, formed out of the 4881st Motion Picture Squadron in 1952. In the mid-1960s, Michael R. Potochick was the group commander.

An airman assigned to LMAFS was at ground-zero during the MB-1 Genie detonation in Nevada.

Films
Between 1947 and 1969, some of the over sixty five hundred movies made of nuclear explosions were "Produced by United States Air Force Lookout Mountain Laboratory" of the Air Photographic and Charting Service, e.g.;


 * A New Look at the H-bomb (H-bomb and Other Smash Hits).
 * Part 1: A New Look at the H-bomb;
 * Part 2: Operation Cue;
 * Part 3: United States Civil Defense in action;
 * Part 4: Let's Face It! (1954; 13 min)
 * Part 5: What You Should Know about Biological Warfare (1952: Produced in cooperation with the Federal Civil Defense Administration). Produced by Reid H. Ray Film Industries, Inc.


 * Hollywood's Top Secret Film Studio (Atomic Filmmakers) (VHS) updated and rereleased on DVD in 1999 as Hollywood's Top Secret Film Studio - The Atomic Filmmakers. Directed by Peter Kuran. DVD includes the documentary Atomic Filmmakers: Behind The Scenes.


 * Trinity and Beyond, (1995) documentary directed by Peter Kuran.


 * Nukes In Space (1999). The development of the military intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Directed by Peter Kuran.


 * Atomic Journeys: Welcome to Ground Zero (1999). A tour of U.S. atomic test sites in Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Mississippi, and Alaska. Directed by Peter Kuran.


 * Nuclear Rescue 911: Broken Arrows & Incidents (2001). Documentary directed by Peter Kuran.