Coronavirus: Fresno company stops amusement park projects to make protective gear for community

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- For a company that has built its reputation on turning fantasy into eccentric works of art, the folks at Monster City Studios in Fresno have stopped production projects for amusement parks to begin making face shields and masks to help keep people safe during the global health crisis.

"We got deemed non-essential and we thought we got all this equipment here," says Monster City Studios VP of Design James A. Powell. "We got robots, we can do a lot of stuff. Why don't we try to help out in some way?"

That's where the idea to produce face shields was born.

Powell was able to bring back a small portion of his staff and they immediately went to work on learning how to design the essential protective gear.

"Two or three months ago, we were making things for Universal Studios and Disney," he said. "I had no idea that we would be making face shields."

But here they are; this team of creative artists and fabricators are now putting their skills to use on shields that are now being shipped all across the country.

Everything from hospitals to security firms are snatching the protective gear.

"We wanted to create a face shield that wrapped up around the forehead just to cover the whole area," Powell said. "Something that was cheap, but fairly effective and really easy to clean."

Orders can be placed here with a cost of about $25.

They'll also set to begin production on Respirator Masks that should be ready to sell in the next week or two.

For more news coverage on the coronavirus and COVID-19 go to ABC30.com/coronavirus