Temma Keatan Hammond

A WOMAN OF ENDLESS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

BY JUDI MOREO

What would it be like to be born in Hollywood to famous parents and spend your entire childhood playing in the movie studio your parents owned? Would you be fascinated? Would you think it was unusual? Would you imagine yourself growing up and creating a fascinating lifestyle?

Temma Keatan Hammond had just such a life. She was an only child of Harry Keatan, a silent film star and personal stand-in for Charlie Chaplin, also a friend. The two famous men built studios in Hollywood across the street from each other on La Brea Blvd.

Her mother was a writer and director and also taught acting. For Temma, it was a constant education, which made her life a full-time adventure, and she loved it! Her life was always busy in filming or the business of running a studio. She attended Los Angeles Community College for two years, but at seventeen, she quit to help her dad run his studio because of family medical challenges.

Harry Keatan

Temma’s parents built studios in Hollywood (Geographic Films) for forty years, which produced documentaries such as The Trails of Marco Polo and B-movies—mostly westerns and 50s-style cops & robbers films. That is where she acquired her fascination with the behind-the-scenes world.

One way or another, Temma has been involved in the entertainment industry her entire life.

Never wanting to be in front of the camera, Temma learned all she could learn about movie-making. Even though her interest is not in technology, she is fascinated with the creativity that is possible because of it. She followed in her parents’ footsteps, building studios, filming documentaries, and bringing projects to life. For over forty-five years, she has been involved in producing, directing, writing, company management, and production in film, network television, stage, and radio, as well as studio design and building.

Temma Hammond is now the CEO & Founder of the Golden Network TV, an internet streaming network conceived by her specifically for senior citizens. Temma felt that the needs and wants of seniors today range from such issues as health, travel, family, legal, recreation, and loneliness. No channel was addressing these needs. The Golden Network streams over 500 classic movies and television shows, including Groucho Marx, Betty White, Jack Benny, and Red Skelton. There are also documentaries, educational and “how-to” shows including cooking, art, and live interviews currently being produced. This global streaming network can be viewed through ROKU and the internet. You can watch the shows 24/7 on your cell phone, computer, or Smart TV.

Owner, Harry Keatan, stands in front of Midwest Studio, circa 1920’s.

And if that is not enough to keep her busy, Temma is the director of the professional acting troupe, The Jesters, and is a part-time instructor at UNLV on acting for camera and improvisation workshops, which she has taught for forty-five years in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and Reno.

As an ambitious young woman, she established Destiny Productions in Los Angeles with Vladimir Alenikov, an award-winning international director, writer, and photographer from Russia. She produced the first Russian/American live musical stage show and produced and filmed The Silver State, a 90-minute documentary on Nevada. She created and developed a Drama Therapy Program for children and adolescents at Pine Grove Psychiatric Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. At Disney Studio in Burbank, California, Temma worked in the motion picture division in production and as the assistant to Vice-President Jeffery Katzenberg. She was Head of Research for KTTV’s daytime talk show, Hour Magazine, starring Gary Collins.

Temma later owned and was the Conejo Valley Film Workshop director, establishing interactive groups combining all students in the Ventura County school system. She formed TAK Enterprises, a music production company that was the first to produce, market, and promote the stars of NBC’s daytime soap opera, Days of Our Lives. She produced four record albums and brought daytime stars to nighttime programming. She founded the Greenhouse Production Company, producing and managing musical groups, establishing a touring dance company and a four-woman touring group, Hollywood Freeway.

Interior shooting at Harry Keatan Studio, 1962.

When opportunity came knocking on her door in 1993, she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and established Silver Mirage Productions. She designed and built the first sound-proof studio in Las Vegas. Silver Mirage clients included: Martin Scorsese and Robert Di Nero with Universal Studio’s film Casino; Whoopi Goldberg with Warner Bros., filming Bogus; Harry Blackstone Jr’s magic show for Bally’s; Jon Secada’s production at the MGM and various corporate events. She directed and produced live stage performances at the Showboat Hotel, the Cashman Club, the Summerlin Performing Arts Center, and the Silverton Hotel. Also, she wrote, directed, and produced commercials for Nevada Chiropractic Center, Take Off Inches Salon, Our Fate music video, and E.A. Collins Mountain Falls Development. She directed and produced marketing packages for Collins Building Method and produced the half-hour television show Football Insider.

Due to a tremendous number of projects offered to her in Northern Nevada, Temma moved to Reno, Nevada, for a few years. There she produced employee training videos for the State of Nevada and received two national awards.

She also produced the sitcom pilot Two for Tee, as well as Anti-Meth & Anti-Heroin Public Service Announcements for the Washoe County Juvenile Probation Department hosted by four-time Emmy Award, Tony and Golden Globe winner, Bryan Cranston. She produced a short feature entitled Smokin’ Spurs, a full exercise video for obese children, and a documentary, Dayton Gold, for the town of Dayton, Nevada. Her documentary on the 100-mile extreme runners in Tahoe was released on PBS station KNPB Reno and the television program, “Herb Larson’s Off Hand,” which featured Governor Kenny Guinn.

From left: Girlfriend of McDonald Carey, McDonald Carey, star of Days of Our Lives, Temma, Ed Mallory, star of Days of Our Lives, Joyce Bulifant, Ed Mallory’s wife.

She developed film/video production workshops for Western Nevada College and Truckee Meadows Community College and began producing live events for Sunday Mentee’s at The Knitting Factory in Reno. This was done in conjunction with a non-profit organization to help raise funds for their groups, such as Lacy J. Dalton for the Let’em Run Foundation. Temma produced commercials for The Reno Film Festival’s Funny Girl at The Nugget Hotel/Casino, Project Compassion for disabled Veterans, Saving the Wild Horses from Slaughter, and directing an original musical production of Finding Love at Carson City Children’s Museum.

Temma formed Silver Star Studios, Inc. and established the largest sound stage and entertainment center in Nevada, with clients such as Samuel L. Jackson, BB King, Andre Agassi, Jackie Chan, American Sweethearts, The Mexican, Mac 10, Little Bow Wow, George Clooney, General Motors and Pizza Hut. As Director of Studio Operations for Studio 702 in Las Vegas, she negotiated with all unions and production crews for clients. She formulated all contracts and agreements for the studio and worked with the Nevada Film Office to help promote Nevada’s film and television industry. The radio show Keep Talkin was aired for several years, starring teenagers from the area’s high schools interviewing adults in the business community and politicians such as Senator Harry Reid and John Ensign, along with teachers, law enforcement officials, and other community leaders. It was a one-hour radio show that ran for ten consecutive years on “KWNK” and ABC & CBS stations and aired on CNN News.

Harry Keatan Comedy Short, silent film 1917.

She has now returned to Las Vegas, and I had the opportunity to ask her what advice she had for a young person aspiring to enter the world of entertainment today. Her answer, “Today’s entertainment business is very different with all the technology and the world of computers. Wanting a career in movies, television, and all forms of entertainment, you have to work hard and have patience and perseverance. It can bring much satisfaction. The world of artists is ever-changing and a very rewarding lifestyle.”

Temma Keatan Hammond’s childhood imaginings grew into a life of creativity and accomplishments. Did she surpass her wildest dreams? Or is there even more to come?