The motion picture industry, which started in Los Angeles at the turn of the previous century, has inspired and changed the world since its inception.
Attendees can easily see the iconic locations where Hollywood blockbusters were filmed to walk in some famous footsteps, and meetings and events can even incorporate some movie magic in their events.
Here are five golden opportunities to do just that, plus a few that are a little off the beaten track.
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1. Hollywood Sign
The ever-iconic Hollywood Sign was most recently seen at the close of the Paris Olympics, accessorized with the Olympics symbol and megastar Tom Cruise. Seeing the actual Hollywood sign will bring goosebumps to the skin of any movie lover.
Surprisingly, erected as “Hollywoodland” in 1923, the sign was made specifically for a housing development. (About 25 years later, the last four letters were dropped, and the Hollywood Sign became all about the dream.) While getting close to the sign is prohibited, hollywoodsign.org provides information about several hiking trails and the one DASH bus nearby. There are many tour guides, public and private, looking for groups.
2. Griffith Observatory
The Griffith Observatory can be seen in most L.A. panoramas in the Hollywood Hills near the Hollywood Sign. The Observatory has remained free to the public since its debut in 1935. It’s most significant for being the location for Rebel Without a Cause. The movie’s star, James Dean, died shortly after production. A bust of Dean commemorates the association. Visitors like to take a picture of the bust with the Hollywood Sign in the background. Event space is available at the observatory, so groups can meet within sight of the two and drink in a sweeping view of L.A.
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3. TCL Chinese Theatre
Sitting below the Hollywood Hills, Hollywood is a pastiche of new-builds and vintage landmarks. One of its most recognized locations is the TCL Chinese Theatre. The movie palace opened in 1927 as Graumann’s Chinese Theatre, the second of entrepreneur Sidney Graumann’s themed theaters along Hollywood Boulevard (his first was the Egyptian).
In the ’70s, the name was changed to Mann’s, and in 2013 to TCL. It has remained an operating movie theater and a landmark for Golden Age nostalgia, featuring concrete slabs imprinted with the hands, feet and signatures of stars both bygone and freshly minted.
TCL Chinese Theatre has appeared as itself in dozens of movies, from such classics as A Star Is Born and Singin’ in the Rain to favorites like Blazing Saddles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Speed. It offers tours and also event space.
4. Union Station
Prior to the Jet Age, cross-continental railroads ferried Hollywood’s aspiring writers, directors and stars to the Golden West, where they disembarked at the famous Union Station. Completed in 1933 as the largest railroad terminal in the West, Union Station still operates as a transportation hub. Its unique Mission Moderne style, however, makes it a favorite location for neo-noir films like To Live and Die in L.A., Bugsy and The Dark Knight Rises.
The station is also an event venue offering five spaces—the Ticket Concourse, Waiting Room, Fred Harvey Room and the North and South Patios—available for groups.
5. North Beverly Drive
From Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard to clusters of freeways that unexpectedly peel off into parts unknown (Clueless), the streets of L.A. are famous scene-stealers (most recently in the Fast & Furious franchise). But none is more responsible for selling the L.A. state of mind than the palm-lined lanes of North Beverly Drive—specifically, the stretch between Wilshire and Sunset—seen in hundreds of films and TV shows.
Places to eat, drink and shop are always close, and at the juncture of Beverly and Sunset is the famous Beverly Hills Hotel. L.A. traffic may be renowned for its stop-and-go snarls, but traveling along North Beverly Drive is a slice of bliss.
Honorable Mentions
Downtown L.A.
Set in the oldest part of the city (pronounced as “Los Angle-eez”) are City Hall, Angel’s Flight, Pershing Square and other iconic locations included in such classic noir films as D.O.A., Kiss Me Deadly and I, the Jury; as well as neo-noirs like The Blade Runner, Chinatown and L.A. Confidential.
In DTLA (as many locals refer to downtown) people are most curious about the Bradbury Building (“It’s the most researched building on our website,” according to the Los Angeles Conservancy, which conducts several DTLA walking tours).
The Bradbury Building has not only appeared in Blade Runner, 500 Days of Summer, Double Indemnity, Chinatown, The Artist and more, it’s still frequently seen in TV series like Bosch. Some locations, like the Millennium Biltmore Hotel (also the site of the first Academy Awards) and the Grand Central Market, offer atmospheric meeting spaces.
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Downtown Skyline
Los Angeles’ skyscrapers may be few, but they have become the starring attractions in shoot-em-ups like Die Hard and Heat, and disaster movies like Earthquake, Dante’s Peak, San Andreas and more. (Note: While these plots take advantage of the city’s infamous earthquake activity, scientists have assured that such crises are unlikely.)
Luxury high-rises like the Level have recently gone up to supplement older, historic structures that include the striking Eastern Columbia Building. These include the nearby Level, which offers meeting and event space.
Notables
“If you ask about TV and music locations,” said Lisett Chavarela, director of communications for Los Angeles Conservancy, “two worth noting are the Charmed house on our Angelino Heights Tour and the Los Angeles Theatre on our Broadway Historic District Tour, which was featured in a BTS video.”
Cheatsheet
If there’s no time to see any or all of these locations, groups can always “catch up,” as it were, with the scaled-down attractions at Hollywood Land, a themed area within Disney California Adventure Park featuring live entertainment, attractions, dining, shopping and more.
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Touring the Dream Factories
“Gone Hollywood” was the phrase used to explain the migration of America’s best (and some less so) to Hollywood studio back lots, where, as seen in the Coen Brothers’ film Barton Fink, they became part of the Hollywood system in exchange for oodles of money.
The back lots, where movies (and later, TV series) were produced, became everything from Babylon (Intolerance) to burning Atlanta (Gone with the Wind) to the New York apartment of TV’s most famous married couple (I Love Lucy).
For all the talk about the breakdown of the studio system starting in the late ’40s, it’s surprising to what degree the old studios are still in production. Some also have rides and attractions.
Here are some classic and latter-day studios that are available for touring and special events:
- Warner Bros. Studios Hollywood operates a full-service catering and event space, a retail outlet and tours that include a partnership with TCM for deeper insights into classic movies. However, part of Warner Bros. remains a working studio, so photography is sometimes prohibited.
- In addition to the regular tour, Universal Studios Hollywood offers tours (one featuring a video of Jimmy Fallon) plus rides and attractions like Fast & Furious Supercharged. The studio can also host groups of up to 20,000.
- Paramount Pictures Studios. In addition to tours, Paramount offers a studio app that provides additional information about signature movies like The Godfather and Titanic. Event space is available in up to 32 stages, themed back lots and more. These can hold up to 5,000 people and catering is provided.
- Sony Pictures Studios appears to be the hardest-working studio in Hollywood, offering production services from facility rentals to costumes to post-production mastering. Its special events are catered by Wolfgang Puck, no stranger to the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown!
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