kcet studios
a brief visit to the kcet studios on sunset boulevard on a quiet morning .
leave a review and let everyone know what happened when you worked with kcet studios .
opened in 1912 as vitagraph studios, making it one of the oldest studios in hollywood .
bought facilities from american national studios in dec. 1954; leased space at california studios prior to this
kcet' s first studios, on 1313 north vine street in hollywood, circa 1964. adjacent to kcet was the abc vine st. theatre, where' the joey bishop show' was being taped. | photo: kcet archives
at one time, the lot was home to monogram studios, before it moved to its new home where kcet is today .
studios constructed (as equity studios) in 1946... built primarily as a rental lot leasing space to independent producers
seeing stars: the television studios. . (formerly the original warner bros. studios, now tribune studios) (now named
capital studios at sunset gower
) 5800 sunset boulevard, hollywood, ca. / (323) 460 - 5500
kcet' s al jerome retiring as ceo of embattled public tv ...
you can tour several full - fledged movie studios in the general hollywood area. universal studios hollywood charges $ 36 for their tour; paramount studios asks $ 15 per person to tour its venerable back lot, and warner brothers studios charges $ 30 for their vip tour .
today it is the home of kcet - tv, who purchased it in 1970 .
kcet recently embarked on perhaps the most perilous journey in its 45 - year history .
kcet - tv said to be in talks to sell landmark studio to ...
originally located on the south side of melrose avenue, peralta studios moved across the street on marathon in 1917, later becoming brunton studios, then united studios before paramount - famous - lasky took over in 1926 .
gunsmoke (arness prod. / cbs / filmed at several studios & ranches )
kcet is capable of handling both multi camera tv production and film projects at its facilities in burbank .
kcet - tv, the los angeles public television station that split from pbs in january, has closed a deal to sell its landmark hollywood studios to the church of scientology for an undisclosed sum .
1969 - sold to toronto - based osf industries, ltd. and called beverly hills studios
first warner studio was on sunset blvd. in hollywood in what is now ktla television studios
[ for more information on this subject, you can access kcet' s official website at: urltoken. ]
the expected sale comes as kcet has embarked on perhaps the most perilous journey in its 45 - year history .
this is part of the new era for kcet; this is part of the second stage of the transformation of kcet from an affiliate of pbs to an independent media center ,
kcet president and ceo al jerome told the hollywood reporter .
we are in active discussions with several facilities. we are looking for the right environment for our future .
built in 1921, this 17 - acre hollywood movie studio was originally the historic columbia pictures studios .
the largest collection of hollywood studios is on the urltoken website. all the photoare available for purchase .
public tours of judson studios take place every second thursday of the month at 2: 15 pm .
longtime movie and television studios in urban los angeles county have been sought - after investments in recent years. nbc studios in burbank was acquired by santa monica developer m. david paul & associates in 2008 .
update: in late 2008, ktla studios was merged with sunset - gower studio (next door), to create the new capital studios. the lot will be known as
capital studios at bronson
, while ktla will be known as
capital studios at sunset gower
. together, the new studio will cover 28 acres, with 23 sound stages and 700, 000 square feet of office production space .
founded in 1915 by thomas h. ince as triangle studios... sold to samuel goldwyn in 1918
the 4. 5 - acre property on sunset boulevard was formerly the home of monogram pictures and allied artists, among other film studios. since 1970 it has been owned by kcet, america' s largest independent public television station .
kcet' s weekly news magazine investigates and reports on the issues that affect southern california, from the economy to the environment .
. the studios here have since been demolished; today there' s a gelson' s on the site .
financially strapped kcet - tv has sold its landmark sunset boulevard studio to the church of scientology for an undisclosed price, the station said .
thanks to mike, from movieshotsla, i learned that the exterior of the former kcet studios was also featured as the city emergency hospital where dr. miles j. bennell (kevin mccarthy) was evaluated in the 1956 horror flick invasion of the body snatchers .
kcet, which has been struggling to rebuild viewership after its split from pbs, plans to move to a smaller location, real estate brokers say .
i drafted the article you' re referring to, when i worked at kcet. marc, god bless him, corrected it. :) teresa rogers
chapter menu - studio tours = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = the warner bros. studios vip tour the paramount studios tour the universal studios tour the sony pictures studio tour the kcet (monogram) studio tour the nbc studio tour melody ranch paramount ranch = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
the state of the art virtual stage is controlled by an orad hi tech systems video and graphics platform. three robotic cameras, each with its own ultimatte controller, allow for multi camera production. the 1500 sq ft stage has a green screen with hard coves and a green floor. kcet also has a traditional stage with a full 360 degree black cyc and a white scrim. the stage is 36' x 64' with a 17 foot high grid and a black tile floor. kcet has 15 avid edit suites and satellite and fiber capabilities, plus an insert stage for uplinks. kcet' s new facility is located at the pointe, centrally located in the burbank media district adjacent to the burbank studios (formerly nbc studios) .
kcet president al jerome did not return a phone call and email seeking comment about the negotiations. church of scientology officials also did not respond to requests for comment
financially strapped kcet - tv is in talks to sell its landmark sunset boulevard studio to the church of scientology, according to people who know about the pending deal .
in the mid - 1980s, cbs built an annex to television city to house two additional large studios, 36 and 46. later, upstairs rehearsal halls in the main building were converted into studios 56 and 58 .
- from history of cbs television city: urltoken
the lot
in west hollywood (formerly samuel goldwyn studios) (google maps street view photo) aerial view of
the lot
( formerly samuel goldwyn studios) (bing maps) the rejuvenated goldwyn backlot in the fugitive (with thanks to chris s. )
urltoken website. there are more than 2000 vintage photos of early hollywood movie studios on the website and all images are available for purchase .
jerome wouldn' t pin the decision to sell the property on financial problems, noting that kcet planned for a dip in viewership in the aftermath of splitting from pbs .
the church acquired the facility from longtime owner kcet in 2011, but the history of the sunset boulevard property goes back much further than that. named a historic - cultural monument in 1978, the historic complex was constructed in 1912. it served as a production studio for a long string of failed movie producers before kcet scooped it up in 1970 .
17k jpg file known as the renmar studios today, this site was used by metro pictures as an outdoor set in the 20' s before metro became part of mgm in the 1924 merger. the studios were built in the 1940' s and called the motion picture studios. it has been the home of a number of television productions including danny thomas'
make room for daddy
. 846 cahuenga blvd. , central hollywood .
and so the landmark moment when kcet first signed on the air on september 28, 1964, only burnished the vine building' s historic credentials. not only was kcet the first los angeles station devoted exclusively to educational programming, it was also among the city' s first uhf channels. other stations had already claimed the available vhf channels - - 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 - - and so kcet broadcasted at channel 28 on a frequency not all television sets were then equipped to receive .
all of this can get a bit dry at times. some guides do spend a bit too much time explaining technical details. but this free tour actually shows you more of the behind - the - scenes workings of a studio than either the paramount tour or nbc in burbank (both of which charge admission). the tour at kcet may not be as slick as the tour at nbc studios, but it provides a much more authentic experience, and it' s free. as such, the kcet tour is a notable bargain .
kcet' s studio buildings contain 300, 000 square feet of space, according to real estate data provider costar group. tenants who rent space there include broadcasters huell howser and tavis smiley .
los angeles - based kcet, which is struggling to rebuild viewership after its recent split from pbs, plans to move its operations to a smaller location, real estate brokers said last month .
but most of the famous warner bros. films were done at their
new
studio in the valley. following the success of
the jazz singer ,
warner bros. bought out first national studios in burbank and moved most of their operations into that san fernando valley community in 1929. burbank is still the home of warner bros. studios today, which continues to produce hit films such as
batman .
( see separate page on warner bros. studios. )
since 1970, the place has been home to a television studio, the public tv station kcet, which is famous in its own right. kcet has created such acclaimed pbs series as
cosmos
( with carl sagan) and
meeting of the minds
( with steve allen), as well as such award winning dramas as
i never sang for my father .
this followed a rather disasterous move on the part of kcet, in which (angry over high fees) they broke off their long - time relationship with pbs and became an independent public station .
in l. a. story, kcet studios stood in for the kyoy 14 news facilities. the exterior of the structure was shown in one of the movie’s opening scenes, in which harris arrived at work to give his daily wacky weather report. in the scene, he drove through the studio’s east entrance, which is located near 1441 north hoover street .
industry also called it
the formosa studios
, since its entrance is on formosa ave. , w / santa monica blvd. bordering its north .
in 1948, columbia establishes a television arm, housed under the revived screen gems banner, which makes it one of the first studios to invest in television .
r - k - o studios was at one time located along gower street in hollywood, adjacent to paramount studios. desilu founders, lucille ball and desi arnaz acquired the lot in 1957 and sold it ten years later to paramount. with that merger, the former r - k - o main entrance became a side entrance for paramount .
labels: artclass pictures, dorothy sebastian, greta granstedt, james j. jeffries, regis toomey, tec - art studios, they never come back, weiss bros .
nbc originally planned to relocate the tonight show from the burbank studios to universal, but in the aftermath of the jay leno / conan o' brian debacle, and after leno insisted on the show returning to the burbank lot, nbc - universal is now renting the burbank studios from the investment group to which the company recently sold the property .
was buying the 3. 5 acre lot for $ 800, 000. community television of southern california the station’s parent company, finalized its purchase of the property in 1971. kcet relocated from its original home at
kcet' s first studio facility in hollywood opened in 1948 as the headquarters of the mutual - don lee broadcasting empire. circa 1949 photo courtesy of the security pacific national bank collection - los angeles public library .
at one point, it was used as lambert' s van & storage, with only three of the nine sound stages occupied by a production company, television center studios .
commercial real estate broker paul stockwell of cb richard ellis group, who represented kcet, declined to comment. broker john repstad of binswanger / realty advisory group, who represented the church of scientology, also declined to comment .
, bought the lot. this was after ralph had converted stage a for sound and just a year after he built what is today’s stage b of kcet. the lot became home to like’s action pictures and, later ,
we are dedicated to providing you with articles like this one. show your support with a tax - deductible contribution to kcet. after all, public media is meant for the public. it belongs to all of us .
the price is not disclosed, but the 4. 5 - acre studio has an assessed value of $ 14. 1 million, county records say. kcet will stay there up to a year while seeking a place to move .
walt was a key figure in the founding of this valencia arts college. the idea began
partly as a clever way to funnel an army of skilled animators into the disney studios ,
the
as a result, kcet, the largest independent public tv station in the country, will leave the 4. 5 - acre property at 4401 w. sunset blvd. it is currently surveying the los angeles area for new studio space .
of the walt disney studios (though it was called disney brothers cartoon studio at the time). beginning in 1923, walt and his brother roy worked together with another animator here on a series of shorts called
the oldest family run fine art glass company in the world, judson studios was established in 1897 as a local stained glass shop by william lees judson, usc’s first fine arts professor, and his three sons .
in 2002, mary tyler moore and dick van dyke worked together together again (at the kcet studio), for the first time since the old
dick van dyke show
. they were making a pbs production of
the gin game .
the sleek, mid - century modern production facility at 1313 north vine street in hollywood had already acquired the patina of television history by 1964, when community television of southern california moved in and launched the region' s first educational tv station, kcet .
kcet will remain at 4401 w. sunset blvd. for as much as a year while searching for a new base of operations. the station is in discussions with several production facilities it might move into as a tenant or owner, president al jerome said .
while perusing through my extensive backlog of stalking photographs recently, i realized that there were a few l. a. story locales that i had yet to blog about, one of which was the former site of kcet studios in los feliz, where harris k. telemacher (steve martin) worked in the 1991 comedy. i had actually stalked the spot way back in may, but, for whatever reason, never got around to writing about it. so here goes .
rko studios was once located along gower st. in what is today the western 1 / 4 of the paramount lot (you can still see the giant rko globe at the corner of melrose & gower today) .
in january, the station exited pbs and became the nation' s largest independent public broadcasting station. kcet officials had tangled for months with network officials over dues, claiming that the $ 7 million the station had to pay annually represented more than its fair share .
i visited the kcet studio in the early 70' s and clearly remember a connected row of tiny, identical, mustard - colored craftsman bungalows, at least 6, on the lot. i wondered if they were originally intended as small dressing rooms or whatever .
in january, the station dropped pbs and became the nation' s largest independent public broadcasting station. kcet officials had tangled for months with network officials over dues, saying the $ 7 million that the station had to pay annually represented more than its fair share .
in 1986 metromedia sold most of its television interests to the news corporation, and kttv became a cornerstone station of the new fox broadcasting company. as a result, the studios became the fox television center .
- wikipedia article
one of those stations is ktla television - the local channel 5 here in los angeles. the ktla studios are located in the back (south portion) of the historic lot. ktla has quite a proud history all its own .
13k jpg file this old door opens into the warner bros. hollywood studios on formosa street just south of santa monica blvd. built in 1920 and called the hampton studios, they were purchased by the mary pickford company in 1918 and renamed pickford - fairbanks studios in 1919 following the merger of hollywood' s
first couple
. fairbanks early classics
robin hood
( 1922) and
the thief of bagdad
( 1924) were made here. the name above the main gate became united artists in 1921 although ua did not take ownership until 1928. ua controlled the studio until 1939 when samuel goldwyn became a partner and the studio was renamed the samuel goldwyn studios. goldwyn acquired complete ownership in 1955, after a long and bitter court battle with mary pickford. frances goldwyn, sam' s widow, left the studio to the motion picture home, who sold it in turn to warner bros. in 1980. 1041 formosa, central hollywood .
the effect was immediate. kcet' s ratings have plunged without its familiar schedule. and individual donations — the lifeblood of any public broadcaster — have taken a sharp hit as well. march pledge drives raised much less money than expected, according to a station insider who spoke on condition of anonymity .
allied artists, a subsidiary of monogram, was formed in 1946. in 1964, they headed for new york and the studio became a rental lot. in 1967, colorvision purchased the property and continued to rent it out. in 1971, the public broadcasting station, kcet, purchased the studio .
stalk it: the former kcet studios, from l. a. story, is located at 4401 sunset boulevard in los feliz. the entrance that harris drove through in the flick can be found near 1441 north hoover street, in between fountain avenue and sunset drive. the area where he parked is located just south of the intersection of sunset drive and north commonwealth avenue. the city emergency hospital gate from invasion of the body snatchers can be found near 4368 sunset drive, slightly east of where harris parked his car in l. a. story .
old walt loved him some tam o' shanter. conveniently located near his hyperion studio, walt was a regular customer with a favorite table (# 31) .
even after disney studios moved into the valley, walt remained a regular ,
says
speculation has centered for months on whether kcet would sell its historic los feliz studio lot in a bid to raise cash. asked about the possibility last fall, jerome confirmed that the station had informally discussed selling the facility, but he characterized those talks as routine and stressed that a deal was not imminent .
the switch operates nine studios in four convenient locations - - new york, ny, burbank, ca, los angeles, ca, and london, uk. ideal for live shots, media tours, and voice overs with direct connectivity to the switch network .
. she is quite a fine little actress and seems very much a reflection of her time. no wonder she played so many working class girls in those early years of sound, when studios actually, at least some of the time, would attempt to reflect the real life struggles fought amongst ordinary joes outside the gates of hollywood studios. artclass, meanwhile, which had begun production back in 1929, folded later in 1932 although the brothers weiss continued to issue bottom of the barrel product well into the decade and beyond .
monogram pictures was a fairly small studio, as hollywood studios went, with equally modest goals. along with republic pictures, monogram was home to the b - movies of the 1940' s, most of which were shot in a hurry, on the cheap .
the los angeles - based church of scientology was incorporated in 1954 and owns dozens of properties in los angeles county, including the former cedars of lebanon hospital at sunset and l. ron hubbard way. the former kcet property is a few blocks from the church' s recording studio in silver lake and near its los angeles headquarters .
in 1972, the nearly bankrupt columbia pictures sold its hollywood location at sunset and gower and moved over the hill to burbank in the san fernando valley, where they shared space on the warner brothers lot (renamed for a while as
the burbank studios
) .
the real street used in the blondie movies was right near cbs studios. i took some photos when i was there last year. one of the houses was later recreated at the columbia / warner ranch... which later became the i dream of jeannie house .
gunsmoke exterior street was built using two stages linked together at the original warner bros. studios on sunset near gower, now the ktla studio. [ that is why ] the look of the show is so artificial, as it was not shot outdoors much at all .
aerial view of red studios (formerly ren - mar, desilu - cahuenga, metro pictures, etc .) (bing maps) aerial view of desilu - cahuenga studios in early 1960' s (click for labelled lot layout) (courtesy bison archives) original stages 1 and 2 where the andy griffith show was filmed today the home of red studios' stage 6 (the faded
2
on the stage door does not date to the desilu era as one might assume, as this was originally the door to stage 1) (google maps street view )
desilu playhouse
audience doors at 847 lillian way for stages 8 and 9 (our miss brooks and i love lucy respectively) same location above seen today... the old
desilu playhouse
audience doors for stages 8 and 9 (google maps street view )
after breaking off from pbs to address more independent broadcasting topics, kcet—southern and central california’s community television station—moved from its hollywood campus to a multi - tenant 14 - story office building in burbank, and hired gensler for the new site' s renovation. to accommodate the recording studio, an “acoustical box within a box” had to be allowed to penetrate from the 5th - floor plate to the bottom of the 7th - floor slab by cutting through the 6th - floor. a “ribbon liner, ” akin to a mobius band, connects production studios with public areas, which include the visitor reception area, a donor gallery and a community / screening room .
but longest - continuously - producing movie lot in hollywood offers the public a behind the scenes guided tour which is absolutely free! this historic studio was the former home of monogram pictures and allied artists, and now houses the broadcasting facilities for los angeles' own pbs tv station, kcet (channel 28). they made their first film back in 1912 .
when we left pbs in january, we knew this was a [ period of ] transition for us ,
jerome said .
this is the third time in the 15 years i' ve been at kcet that we' ve evaluated whether the present studio lot is the right fit for us going forward. it' s not a new issue .
the original warner bros. studio in hollywood, now home to ktla - tv channel 5 and other entertainment companies, was sold for $ 125 million in 2008 to los angeles real estate investment firm hudson capital. hudson also bought sunset gower studios, the former columbia pictures headquarters, for $ 200 million in 2007 .
, a company who’s history stretched back to 1915, bought the lot from like in 1943, having rented the studio for years (they had been based at the former tiffany studios nearby at 4516 sunset). while under the monogram moniker, the studio produced tons of movies, mostly in the ‘b’ and ‘c’ categories .
29k jpg file part of the paramount lot now, these studios were built in 1921 and called the robertson - cole studios. joseph kennedy bought it as fbo studios in 1923 in his ill - fated foray into filmmaking. rko pictures bought it in 1928 and in 1941 rko produced orson welles' screen classic ,
citizen kane
, as well as other welles' films. rko was responsible for the pairing of ginger rogers and fred astaire, producing two musical vehicles for them a year from 1934 to 1937. rko was instrumental in establishing
film noire
as a popular genre with such films as
murder my sweet
( directed by edward dmytryk) ,
notorious
( alfred hitchcock), and
while the city sleeps
( fritz lang). desilu bought the studio in 1953 following the success of the television series
i love lucy
. the blue globe in the picture is the old rko globe. 780 gower street, central hollywood .
getting there: kcet studios is located on the north side of sunset boulevard, just east of hillhurst (between hillhurst and hoover). / from from the hollywood (101) freeway, take the sunset boulevard exit; head east (about two miles) on sunset boulevard to just past hillhurst avenue (and before hoover street), then turn left (north) into the studio lot. stop at the guard booth and tell the guard that you are there to take the tour. / from hollywood & vine, take vine street two blocks south to sunset boulevard, and turn left (east) on sunset boulevard. go three quarters of a mile to the hollywood freeway, then follow the directions above .
42k jpg file raleigh studios has grown during the past 15 years to become perhaps the largest, best equipped, independent studio in town. the studio was built during the 1920' s by william h .
billy
clune and called the clune studios. clune also built clune' s broadway theater in downtown los angeles. the studio was the california studio in the 30' s when william boyd and gabby hayes made their popular
hopalong cassidy
films here. future president ronald reagan filmed
death valley days
here in the early 1960' s when the studio was aptly called the producers studio. 650 n. bronson, central hollywood .
most of the studio' s back lot was sold off in 1961 to alcoa when century city was developed, and some of the studio' s facilities have been relocated elsewhere to make room for the shopping center. but a good part of the old fox studios have survived and still remain busy making movies and tv dramas
getting there: ktla studios is located on sunset boulevard, between van ness avenue and bronson avenue (just west of kttv / fox studios). / from the hollywood (101) freeway, take the sunset boulevard exit. go west on sunset two blocks, and the ktla studio will be on your left (south) side. (look for the large broadcasting antenna out front with the letters
ktla .
) / from hollywood & vine, take vine street south (two blocks) to sunset boulevard. turn left (east) on sunset and go east about half a mile. the studio will be on your right (south) side .
the station will remain at the 300, 000 - square - foot sunset boulevard facilities, which date to 1912 and have been home to several movie studios, for as long as a year before moving to new digs. jerome said the station' s next headquarters will likely be a
little bit smaller
than its current property .
kcet is said to face financial troubles after severing its relationship with pbs; prior to the split, the station had fought over dues with the programming provider. as a result of the change, the station no longer carries shows such as charlie rose and sesame street and has filled it schedule with news programs and documentaries. since january, orange county’s koce - tv has operated as the local pbs outlet .
general service studios was important to desilu because by the 2nd season of i love lucy they had rented the entire facility. but because of it' s small size, they moved to motion picture center. not sure how long they rented gss for or if they still had a presence after i love lucy and our miss brooks moved .
rko hollywood studios at n. gower and melrose (became desilu - gower in 1957) aerial view of former desilu - gower facilities (now the western quarter of the paramount lot) (bing maps) desilu - gower' s soundstage new york street in the untouchables filming star trek on stage 9 at desilu - gower (courtesy
birdofthegalaxy
)
in 1938, walt put money down on 51 acres in burbank, and in 1940 his new studios were up and running. the burbank campus includes a couple of buildings that were previously at the hyperion location (the others were demolished) —one, a small bungalow that once held offices for disney' s publicity and comic strip departments, is now used
the monogram studio backlot was located where the current los angeles pbs station kcet is located. the studio, at that time, had 3 sound stages, if i remember correctly and a very small backlot area which consisted of a new york street. then, in the late 1950' s, the studio converted the ny street into a western street (photos on my web site: urltoken )
- jerry s .
dropping the pbs brand meant getting rid of the dues burden but also losing signature shows such as
sesame street ,
news hour
and
charlie rose .
kcet switched to a lineup of documentaries and news programs, as well as repeats of old pbs stalwarts such as
prime suspect .
the pbs shows were picked up by koce - tv in orange county, which became the region' s primary network outlet .
the old studio was also home to two local radio stations: kmpc (all sports) and k - lite (easy listening). for years, the studio was the place where they taped the game show
jeopardy .
( i took the test for the show here myself .) but
jeopardy
has since moved to sony pictures studios, in culver city .
31k jpg file nestled against the franklin hills in east hollywood is the front gate of abc' s local affiliate, channel 7. although abc uses this location primarily for local broadcasting these days, in 1917 this was the site of vitagraph studios, one of the most prolific and popular producers of the silent screen era. built by film pioneers stuart blackton and albert smith, vitagraph was one of the largest early studios in hollywood, employing such stars as lillian and dorothy gish, mary pickford, adolphe menjou and rudolph valentino. this photo was made looking east off talmadge avenue, named for norma talmadge, vitagraphs' premier leading lady. warner bros. acquired vitagraph in 1925, and sold the studio lot to abc in 1949. 4151 prospect ave. , east hollywood .
, it turns out, was a pretty big cheese as an actor in the late teens and early twenties. why didn' t i know he was so famous ?) it was when charles ray productions took over the property that this good - looking brick building was built. (kcet uses a sunset boulevard address, but to get a look at the exterior of the old studio, you need to drive around the block – something i had never done. )
alas, there are no public tours of the studios. your only hope of seeing the inside of this studio is to get tickets to the taping of one of the shows produced here. recently, they taped
judge judy ,
love connection
and
malibu, ca
on the lot. when available, you can get tickets to show tapings from
audiences unlimited .
the scientologists say they will use the studios which have a satellite upload link, to shoot and broadcast video content espousing the organisation' s worldview .
it is a perfect fit, in both size and location, for the expansion of the church of scientology' s production of religious and social betterment audiovisual properties, and we welcomed the unexpected opportunity to acquire it ,
the church said .
today, kcet is the home local favorites such as of
life & times ,
california’s gold ,
visiting... with huell howser
adventures from the book of virtues ,
the great war ,
and children' s programming such as
storytime
and
the puzzle place .
the pbs network has been given birth to exemplary programming such as
upstairs, downstairs ,
i claudius
and
the civil war .
even though there really is a district in the city of los angeles called hollywood, the
hollywood
of movie and television production studios encompasses a much larger geographic area. warner bros. and disney are in burbank, columbia pictures in culver city, while universal pictures is located in universal city - the name chosen by carl laemmle for the chicken farm he purchased on the outskirts of los angeles in 1914 .
the good news for the preservation - minded is that the church has proved to be an exemplary caretaker of the many historic properties in its portfolio. local historian and la conservancy member marc wannamaker tells la weekly he couldn’t be happier about the church’s purchase of the kcet facility .
we' re not big scientology fans, but when it comes to saving the properties, i don' t care who they are. they' ve been very good stewards of their buildings ,
he says .
this web site attempts to document the hollywood and vicinity studio, backlot and ranch facilities utilized for television production in the early years of television and through the 1970' s. the information below is derived from the collective knowledge and research of the membership of the
studiobacklots
yahoo group, as well as from a variety of official and unofficial web sites on studios and their backlots and ranches, and on vintage television series .
the building had opened on august 18, 1948, as the headquarters of the mutual - don lee broadcast empire. designed by claud beelman - - the architect behind such local landmarks as the eastern columbia building and the culver hotel - - and his associate, herman spackler, it was larger than its compact, three - story profile suggested. inside were 14 separate broadcast studios, including four large sound stages with auditorium seating for live audiences .
big town the lone wolf life of riley mayor of the town the cisco kid (syndicated series) favorite story mr. district attorney the o. henry playhouse (syndicated series) authors playhouse adventures of superman (1953 - 54) (syndicated series) gunsmoke (first few years) death valley days (syndicated series) have gun will travel (cbs) (early episodes, under california studios) sea hunt (syndicated series) (a few episodes )
ah yes, the scene [ in
sunset boulevard
] where the guard challenges
max
when he wants to drive miss desmond onto the lot to see mr. demille, who is shooting on stage 18... . that would be the bronson avenue gate... i love that scene .
jones, remind your friend that without me ther would be no paramount studios .
ah, the golden days... . .
rko / desilu was the entire western 1 / 4 of the lot. the lot was originally 2 studios, with a massive backlot between them. eventually paramount replaced the backlot with stages and office buildings. the oldest part of the former desilu lot is the buildings at lucy park. it originally had arches but they were demolished due to structural problems. too bad they did not rebuild them since they are what made the building stand out in the tv shows that shot there .
but la weekly suggests that church officials may also be buying properties like the sunset boulevard studios as a shrewd business investment. as a recognized religious entity, the church enjoys tax - exempt status, but as such cannot seek profit or accumulate large piles of money. as such, the church may be investing its cash in real estate to grow its $ 1. 5 - billion empire. a spokesperson for the church tells la weekly that it owns more than 30 properties in the greater la area .
in 1964 paramount sold ktla along with the sunset studio to cowboy star gene autry. in 1985, ktla along with the sunset facility was purchased by tribune broadcasting, a division of the tribune newspaper empire. in 2008 tribune sold the physical studio to hudson capital, llc, but retained ownership of ktla. ktla is still housed there. but today they merely lease space. the studio is now called sunset bronson and is owned by the same investment group that owns sunset gower studios, the former home of columbia pictures .
- richard p .
[ warner brothers ] continued to maintain it [ the hollywood lot ] as a working studio [ even after they took over first national studios in burbank ]. in fact, when the burbank lot suffered a bad fire in back in 1934, jack warner assured everyone they would still meet their production goal since they still had the hollywood studio. in 1937, warner brothers leased the long building that fronts sunset to a bowling alley concession. they turned the sound stages into the world' s largest bowling alley called hollywood lanes. as a kid i went there with my dad .
on the tour, you' ll go behind - the - scenes to see huge barn - like sound stages, giant satellite dishes, and television control rooms alive with tv monitors and control panels with a dizzying number of buttons. you' ll get a close - up look at all the elements that make up a television station: tv cameras, lights, teleprompters, sound - mixing rooms, computer character generators, color control panels, tape bays... and you' ll even visit the director' s booth. along the way, your tour guide will help explain the way these elements work together to get the final broadcast out to a waiting public. you' ll also see the sets for shows like
life & times
and the kcet news .
30k jpg file in 1911 the nestor film company rented a tavern and a barn on this site and turned them into hollywood' s first studio. nestor films merged with universal studios in 1915. cbs built columbia square on this site in 1938, and the studio facilities were home to many classic radio programs .
lux radio theater
,
beulah
,
gene autry' s melody ranch
,
my friend irma
,
life with luigi
, and
the jack benny show
were among many produced here. today the buildings are occupied by cbs local affiliate kcbs tv, channel 2. 6101 sunset blvd. , central hollywood .
it was charles ray who constructed the first sound stage on the property, stage one (now known as studio a) :
the last word in studio construction... completed just three months from the day on which mr. ray... turned the first shovelful of earth. perhaps the most striking feature of the studios is the glass enclosed stage, topped by a glass roof. the sides may be removed to permit openings when the shooting of street scenes is required... the placing of a tank beneath the stage was a unique arrangement... the installation of electrical equipment will insure a wealth of sunshine for daylight pictures as well as for night scenes ...
22k jpg file in 1938, the nbc radio building was located at the corner of sunset blvd. and vine st. in hollywood, just down the street from the cbs columbia square - also completed in 1938. hollywood became not only the center of movie production, but also the center of radio production. the hollywood studio no longer exists, but nbc' s burbank headquarters houses both west coast corporate offices, and production facilities. this nbc main gate leads to the taping studios and executive offices. it is here that
the tonight show
has been taped since johnny carson was a fresh face. the show is still broadcast from this location, starring new host, jay leno. 3000 w. alameda avenue. , burbank
20k jpg file charlie chaplin built this studio in 1918 after signing a contract with first national pictures for more than one million dollars following the release of his first masterpiece ,
the tramp
. all of chaplin' s classic movies were made here, including
the kid
( 1920) ,
the gold rush
( 1925) ,
city lights
( 1931) ,
modern times
( 1936), and
the great dictator
( 1940). more recent occupants have been cbs and red skelton. in 1966, herb alpert and jerry moss purchased the property, and made it the home of a & m records. the jim henson company purchased the historic studio in april, 2000, resettling the muppets and all operations from the raleigh studios. 1416 la brea ave. central hollywood .
20k jpg file from an inauspicious beginning in 1925 in a storefront studio in the los feliz section of hollywood, the animation genius walt disney expanded his studio first to a location now occupied by a mayfair grocery store, and then to his campus - like headquarters on buena vista street in burbank. greatly revitalized in recent years, disney' s new state - of - the - art animation building symbolizes the company' s meteoric rise after 20 years of doldrums following founder walt disney' s death. the building is the focal point for the many animated film projects produced since disney' s dramatic reversal of fortune. the animation building is located just south of the buena vista studios (built by walt himself in 1939 on 51 acres that he purchased for $ 100, 000). 500 s. buena vista, burbank .
just about all the original sound stages at rko pathe had internal sound - proofed doors that opened up so two, even three stages could become one. stages 2, 3 & 4 were all interconnected. stage 2 had a higher roof for filming scenes simulated inside a theater. stage 2 was the theater stage while stage 3 had the auditorium seats. paramount had the same setup with stages 6 & 7. mgm had the biggest theater stage which was combined 5 & 6. stage 6 had a clearance of 80 feet making it the highest stage of all the major studios. at the old vitagraph studio in east hollywood (later home to kabc tv), there was the vitaphone stage used for the wb film 42nd street. it was first used for the jazz singer. part of it, the higher section, still exists .
thomas k. ince was a flashy and charming self - made man who helped make hollywood. born on november 16, 1882 in rhode island, he climbed his way from part - time actor to director of some of the first westerns and civil war pictures. his wife, st. louis native elinor
nell
kershaw, was an actress whom he had met on the broadway stage. nell often helped write and edit his early films, and in 1911 they moved to california. ince quickly set about revolutionizing the movie industry. he is credited with developing the first detailed shooting script and for creating the first modern studio - - the 460 - acre ranch in the pacific palisades known as inceville. at inceville, he developed the studio unit system, with producers controlling different shingles, and later founded the studios that went on to become mgm and paramount .
30k jpg file originally called the jasper studio when it was built in 1919, this is the site of howard hughes 1927 production
hell' s angels
, starring his
discovery
jean harlow. francis ford coppola bought the studio in 1980 as headquarters for his zoetrope production company. in 1983 zoetrope vacated the studio and it was reincarnated as the hollywood center studios and is a busy center of independent productions. directors (and brothers) ridley (
alien
,
blade runner
) and tony scott (
top gun
,
crimson tide
) occupied the studio during the 1980' s. george burns, who celebrated his 100th birthday on january 20th of this year, was an occupant until his recent death. the great comedian invariably went to his office on this lot every monday thru friday. all the world will miss him. 1040 las palmas avenue. central hollywood .
22k jpg file paramount' s story begins in 1916 when adolph zukor merged his famous players film company with lasky films to form famous players - lasky. the following year zukor took over paramount film distribution and the new company was named paramount pictures .
america' s sweetheart
, mary pickford provided the box - office punch for zukor as he built paramount into the nations leading film company. paramount acquired the united studios lot in 1926 and continues to occupy them. paramount' s roster of stars included rudolph valentino, gloria swanson, clara bow, gary cooper, the comedy team bob hope and bing crosby, cary grant, w. c. fields, mae west, william holden, alan ladd, as well as dean martin and jerry lewis. paramount was home to directors cecil b. demille, joseph von sternberg, ernst lubitsch, henry hathaway, preston sturges, and billy wilder. this photo shows one of the two new main gates on melrose avenue. the famous old gate still exists and will be featured in a future album. this is the only major studio still resident in the
real
hollywood. 5500 melrose ave. , central hollywood.
the kcet studios , located at 4401 sunset boulevard in hollywood , california is the longest continuously-producing studio in hollywood . since its establishment in 1912 , the studios located at the site have been the home of motion picture producers , including lubin , essanay , willis and inglis , j.d. hampton , charles ray , ralph like , monogram pictures , allied artists , and colorvision . since 1970 , it has been the home of public television station kcet , but in april 2011 kcet announced that it had sold the facility to the church of scientology . 
the kcet studios, located at 4401 sunset boulevard in hollywood, california is the longest continuously-producing studio in hollywood. since its establishment in 1912, the studios located at the site have been the home of motion picture producers, including lubin, essanay, willis and inglis, j.d. hampton, charles ray, ralph like, monogram pictures, allied artists, and colorvision. since 1970, it has been the home of public television station kcet, but in april 2011 kcet announced that it had sold the facility to the church of scientology.
the kcet studios, located at 4401 sunset boulevard in hollywood, california is the longest continuously-producing studio in hollywood. since its establishment in 1912, the studios located at the site have been the home of motion picture producers, including lubin, essanay, willis and inglis, j.d. hampton, charles ray, ralph like, monogram pictures, allied artists, and colorvision. since 1970, it has been the home of public television station kcet, but in april 2011 kcet announced that it had sold the facility to the church of scientology.