Category Archives: Entertainment

Business, Culture, Hollywood, Revitalization, Theatre

Hollywood Reinforces its Entertainment Reputation

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Last week, the CIM Group and the Pantages Theatre made a very significant announcement for Hollywood.  The two companies announced that they have signed an agreement to bring Broadway productions to the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland, beginning in 2020.

The Hollywood Pantages Theatre, owned by the Nederlander Organization, is truly one of the treasures of Hollywood. The visual splendor of the theatre complements the wonderful Broadway productions produced there.  An evening at the Pantages makes for a magical and memorable evening.

The stunning Dolby Theatre is known worldwide as the home of the Academy Awards and other award shows, but this announcement is very good news for Hollywood.  The agreement between these two legendary venues means that Southern Californians will be able to enjoy more Broadway productions and lengthier runs on popular productions.

This will especially be beneficial for Hollywood restaurants and retail businesses as more people are drawn to our community on a nightly basis.  It also “further cements Hollywood as the entertainment capital” for Southern California, as the press release making the announcement stated.

As the President & CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce I follow what is happening elsewhere that might pose competition or create problems for our community.  Recently, I have started seeing press releases and news stories from Downtown L.A. boosters hoping to supplant Hollywood as the “entertainment capital”.   Downtown is truly going through an amazing renaissance, and we wish them well … BUT, let me tell them that Hollywood does not plan to roll over and play dead so that they can take our place.

There is only one Hollywood.  We are the entertainment brand – in fact, one of the strongest brands in the world.  Over the years, we have worked hard to maintain that brand.  The Hollywood Walk of Fame, for example, is one way we constantly reinforce our entertainment reputation.  We have the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theatre, the Pantages, the El Capitan, the Egyptian, the Dolby and so many other entertainment venues.  Japan House, our unique new cultural center celebrates its grand opening this weekend.  Just as Downtown is undergoing a renaissance, so is Hollywood.  Having been here for 26 years, I have truly witnessed the amazing comeback of this community.   Three new hotels opened last year and three more are under construction this year that will provide even more opportunities for entertainment.

I am optimistic about Hollywood.  There is a lot going on here, with more office construction currently than any other community in Los Angeles County, and thousands of units of housing under construction.  Even with that, it is critical that we not “rest on our laurels” but seek to stay competitive with new attractions.

I feel confident that Hollywood will continue to have a bright future, because of companies like the CIM Group and the Nederlander Organization that recognize the opportunities here and which are investing millions of dollars to enhance our entertainment offerings.  Nothing like a little friendly competition to keep us on our toes, but so long as Hollywood continues to attract major investors and new stakeholders, I don’t think we will have to worry.  After all, we are HOLLYWOOD!

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Leron Gubler has been serving as the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the past 26 years. His tenure since 1992 continues to oversee the great comeback story of Hollywood.

 

City of Los Angeles, Economic Development, Entertainment, Filming, Hollywood, Jobs

Studio Purchase Is Good News for Jobs

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Earlier this month, Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. announced that it had finalized a $200-million acquisition of the historic Hollywood Center Studios. This is the third studio acquisition in Hollywood by Hudson Pacific. Based on their track record, it is very good news for Hollywood.

Hudson had previously acquired Sunset-Gower Studios and Sunset-Bronson Studios. They will now own a combined 1.2-million square feet of facilities at the three studios, including 35 soundstages on 41-acres. The acquisition makes Hudson Pacific the largest independent owner-operator of sound stages in the nation.

I first became acquainted with Hudson Pacific when they purchased Sunset-Gower Studios in 2007. They were in a competition against several other firms for the property. Theirs was the only proposal to keep Sunset-Gower as an independent studio. The other developers planned to replace the studio with housing.

While there certainly was the need for housing, I was very concerned about the potential loss of industrial space, especially since Hollywood only has about 200 acres zoned for industrial uses. It was a time when Hollywood’s future hung in the balance. Many entertainment-related firms had exited Hollywood in previous decades, including almost all of the television stations. We were very concerned that Hollywood might lose its historical role as a commercial center.

Fortunately, Hudson Pacific did get the property, and they followed up by investing in the infrastructure and revitalizing the studio. Technicolor moved into a new 115,000-sq.ft. building at Sunset-Gower, making it their North American headquarters. This was the first major entertainment firm to move into Hollywood in decades.

In 2008, Hudson Pacific acquired the Sunset-Bronson lot. At that lot, they have built 423,000-sq.ft. of office space, all leased to Netflix. Their projects, along with others completed by Kilroy Realty and J.H.Snyder, have helped reestablish Hollywood as a commercial center. With 2,800 housing units under construction and another 7,200 in the pipeline in Hollywood, these projects will help us to maintain an important jobs-housing balance.

So the announcement that Hudson Pacific has acquired the historic Hollywood Center Studios bodes well for Hollywood. Hudson, in making the announcement of the purchase, also stated that they plan to move forward with a new 100,000-sq.ft. creative office building and a 350-space parking garage at the lot, which will be renamed Sunset Las Palmas.

For those not familiar with this lot, it is one of the most historic and oldest operating studios in Hollywood. It was founded in 1919 by a partnership formed by C.E. Toberman, John Jasper and C.W. Bradford. At the time, C.E. Toberman, who was the “Mr. Hollywood” of his day, had plans to convert Hollywood Blvd. (which was a mishmash of residential, retail and industrial uses) into a grand street and wanted to remove all industrial uses from the boulevard. The creation of the lot, christened Hollywood Studios, Inc., helped accomplish that goal. Over the years, the studio became home to iconic television shows like I Love Lucy, The Addams Family, Jeopardy, and legendary films like Hell’s Angels, When Harry Met Sally, and The Player.

Hudson Pacific has been responsible for bringing hundreds (if not thousands) of jobs to Hollywood. They have played a major role in the revitalization of Hollywood. On June 22nd, they will be honored with our Excellence in Economic Development Award at the annual Hollywood Economic Development Summit. The honors are well-deserved. On behalf of the Chamber, let me say that we appreciate having such great partners as Hudson Pacific in our community.

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Leron Gubler has been serving as the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the past 24 years. His tenure since 1992 continues to oversee the great comeback story of Hollywood.

City of Los Angeles, Entertainment, Hollywood, Jobs, Measure S

Keep the Momentum Going in 2017

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As we begin 2017, I am optimistic about our future prospects in Los Angeles and Hollywood. When it comes to jobs, Los Angeles County has been moving in the right direction. In 2016, employment grew by 65,300 jobs and the unemployment rate declined to 5.1 percent.

Here in Hollywood, the news on the jobs front is also positive. Viacom has begun moving into its new home in Columbia Square and Netflix will be moving into the new Icon tower at Sunset-Bronson Studios within the next month. Netflix announced a week ago that they will take an additional 92,000-sq.ft. of office space at their new Hollywood home, bringing their total to more than 400,000-sq.ft. on that campus. Between these two companies, another 1,500 jobs will be added to the Hollywood market. These are good jobs that will provide opportunities for Hollywood residents and ancillary businesses.

Other positive prospects in Hollywood at the beginning of the year include the opening soon of two hotels – the Dream Hotel (which includes several restaurants) on Selma Avenue, and the Hampton Inn on Vine Street. Between them, about 300 hotel rooms will be added to the market and they will provide hundreds of jobs.

Later this year, we should see the completion of J.H. Snyder’s 1601 Vine Street office building and the Kimpton Hotel. There may also be a few additional ground breakings this year – provided Angelinos do not approve the ill-advised Measure S.

For the past year, we have debated this initiative that would place a two-year moratorium on significant building within Los Angeles – singlehandedly killing jobs, housing and reasonable growth in our city. The vote on this measure is coming up on March 7th.

Proponents say their measure will force the City to update community plans and to outlaw “spot zoning” and that it should only last two years. In actuality, it is much more complicated than that. Among the proponents are some of the people who sued to invalidate the Hollywood Community Plan Update in 2012.  Thanks to their efforts, the community is forced to operate under an antiquated plan that was adopted in 1988. What are the chances that any new community plan approved by the city will go into effect without a lawsuit challenging it?  In reality, the moratorium called for by Measure S could last for years under such a scenario.

L.A. city and county residents this past November overwhelmingly voted for reasonable growth. They passed Measure M, which will generate $860-million a year to accelerate the construction of a working mass transit system for this region. L.A. city voters also passed Measure HHH, a $1.2-billion bond to build housing for the homeless.

The passage of Measure S could put the brakes on plans to add density around mass transit stations and it could also make it very difficult to build housing not only for the homeless, but housing for anyone in Los Angeles. It would also apply to needed public improvements such as expansion of hospitals, etc.

I am indeed an optimist, and believe that voters will reject a measure that makes it difficult to implement the objectives that they just approved in November. However, it behooves all of us to do our part in educating our friends and neighbors about the negative ramifications of Measure S and to get out the vote!

L.A. is moving in the right direction on jobs. We need to continue that momentum. With the defeat of Measure S, I am convinced this will be another positive year for L.A. on the jobs front. Let’s make it happen.

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Leron Gubler has been serving as the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the past 24 years. His tenure since 1992 continues to oversee the great comeback story of Hollywood.

City of Los Angeles, Economic Development, Entertainment, Hollywood, Jobs

Master Plan Is Of Paramount Importance

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Last week, the City held a public hearing on the proposed 25-year Master Plan for Paramount Pictures. This storied studio, which dates back to 1912, is the last remaining major studio located in Hollywood proper. Warner Bros., Columbia, Fox and Disney got their start here, but all moved out many decades ago. As hearings go, this one was cordial. Even those who had issues were on their best behavior. Everyone understands how important Paramount is to our community.

As Chamber President & CEO, I pointed out how critical Paramount is from a jobs standpoint. With 5,000 people employed on the lot on an average day, Paramount is our jobs anchor in South Hollywood. That is important to our economy because there are numerous ancillary jobs nearby that depend on Paramount – whether a restaurant or prop house or catering truck.

These are by and large middle income jobs. And that is important in Los Angeles – which is the most expensive city in the nation on an income to housing costs basis. It costs a lot to live here. With sharp declines in the aerospace and manufacturing sectors since the 1990s, it is vital that we grow our homegrown entertainment industry.

When you consider that there are only about 200 acres in all of Hollywood that are industrially zoned, it means that we must maximize the jobs on the industrial land that we do have. And Paramount occupies 56 acres, plus an adjacent six acres used primarily for parking. That is more than a quarter of our entire industrially-zoned land.

In order for Paramount to survive in the very competitive entertainment sector, it must be able to expand to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. It was pointed out at the hearing that Paramount is the last of the major studios to update its master plan. That provides them with the perspective to see what their competitors are doing.

It also clearly delineates why they need to plan for technologically advanced sound stages with adjacent production offices, new climate control and lighting systems. It explains why they will need high-tech post production facilities, and adequate parking. It demonstrates why upgraded employee amenities are planned. It is all about competition.

Over the next 25 years, under the proposed plan, Paramount will invest $700-million with a $1.1-billion economic output during construction, which will generate 7,300 construction jobs. However, for me the more important figure is the number of permanent jobs that will be accommodated on the lot once the plan is fully implemented – 12,600 jobs with $3.1-billion in annual economic output. Those are jobs that will enable employees to truly have a “living wage”. Those are jobs that many of our children will occupy.

A year ago, the State of California approved AB1839, which vastly increased funding to compete for entertainment jobs, and to bring them back from other states, due to their film tax credit program. In the subsequent year, we have seen just how successful the program has been. We now have a chance to grow this industry once more – and we must, if we are to demonstrate to the State that their investment was worthwhile.

What I heard at the hearing were typical concerns – traffic, the height of some buildings, making parking structures attractive, the preservation of historic resources, signage. These are issues that I’m sure will be addressed by Paramount as it moves forward with its plan. I did not hear any issues that were insurmountable. We encourage the City to approve a reasonable plan for Paramount and for our community. We all have a stake in Paramount’s future.

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Leron Gubler has been serving as the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the past 24 years. His tenure since 1992 continues to oversee the great comeback story of Hollywood

Business, City of Los Angeles, Community, Economic Development, Employment, Entertainment, Hollywood, Hollywood Chamber, Jobs

Viacom Announcement is Huge for Hollywood

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For those of us who have been working to revitalize Hollywood for many years, the news last week that Viacom has agreed to rent 180,000-sq.ft. of space at Kilroy Realty’s Columbia Square development is welcome news indeed. The media titan has agreed to move its cable television networks MTV, Comedy Central, BET and Spike TV to the complex now under construction on Sunset Blvd. at Gower. How big is this for Hollywood and Los Angeles? Well, let’s just say it is H-U-G-E!

For the City of Los Angeles, the announcement makes a statement that Los Angeles can indeed attract major entertainment firms. Some of the jobs are being relocated from other sites in L.A., but a significant portion are coming here from Santa Monica and Burbank. And these are prestige companies, the type that any city would do almost anything to attract. Not only will these businesses strengthen the tax base of the City, but they will also bring jobs here by the hundreds – to the tune of more than 600.

For Hollywood, the announcement is proof that the Hollywood comeback is for real. For most of the past three decades, companies were leaving Hollywood. We can point to this as evidence that the jobs outflow has now reversed. Furthermore, these employees will spend dollars in Hollywood, at restaurants and retailers, which will strengthen our economy. Finally, it substantiates the fact that Hollywood will remain an important commercial district within the metropolitan region.

For the developers, the announcement will create momentum as far as attracting other companies to Hollywood. Kilroy Realty, Hudson Pacific and J.H. Snyder have made a significant bet on the future of Hollywood by investing here. Hollywood currently has one-million-sq.ft. of office space under construction, more than any place else in Los Angeles. Trophy deals such as this confirm that they made the right decision.

For the Community, the arrival of Viacom is also a huge victory. We have touted the goal of creating a truly great live-work community, where people can reside with only an occasional need for a car. That means putting jobs and residences in close proximity to each other and to transit options. And these are companies that give back to the community. Viacom, through its Paramount arm, has for years organized their annual Viacommunity Days of service, and I imagine we will now see more of that from the new Viacom divisions. Furthermore, we can anticipate that these and other new firms moving here will become part of the community by supporting local arts, education and social service programs.

So, this is indeed a big win for Hollywood. And I can’t think of a better way to bring in the holiday season and to end the year than this. May the momentum continue in 2015!

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Leron Gubler has been serving as the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the past 22 years. His tenure since 1992 continues to oversee the great comeback story of Hollywood.