Tony Slate, Woodshop
The story of Mr. Slate is one of the more inspirational on the Sunrise backlot. Tony lost his hearing, as well as three fingers, working as a woodshop teacher in several Los Angeles public high schools. Without his fingers, sign language was a near impossibility, but that did not stop the determined teacher from landing a carpenter job on the set of Don't Go Downstairs. From that point on, the sets and scenery for many of Sunrise's best known films came from Tony Slate's woodshop, located behind Stage 7 under the shadow of the Sunrise parking garage. Because of our constant production schedule, Tony's shop is always buzzing with the sounds of skill saws, jigsaws, sanders, and drills.