Although you can see splashes of color on some of our trees, fall is Southern California usually means warm weather and Santa Ana winds. It's also the advent of the holiday season ushered in by Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos populated with pumpkins, goblins and lots and lots of skeletons.
But it is Hollywood after all, and Kathy Flynn takes us on a tour of local movie sites made famous by murder and mayhem, supernatural and otherwise. It seems a day doesn't go by that we don't see a movie crew somewhere on our streets. We recently were titillated as director Quentin Tarantino set back the clock transforming part of Hollywood back to the 70s to shoot his latest film.
It must be a thrill for students at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy whose campus is a little more than a block off the famed boulevard to be studying in the midst of a movie set. Talk about immersion! AMDA students come from all over the world and their classrooms in an Art Deco tower built in 1929, is across the street from another Hollywood icon, Capitol Records. They live in the day to day reality that for a lucky few, dreams do come true.
Talk about dreams! The grand dame of historic Hollywood buildings, the Villa Carlotta's recent transformation has created quite a sensation. The transition was not without angst as longtime tenants had to relocate for the extensive restoration to take place. Keldine Hull's article tells how the new owners gave the aging structure a new lease on life as a long-term stay boutique hotel.
Don't miss Why I Love Hollywood by Kate Linder, Hollywood's sweetheart.
Also, for you statistic junkies, read about the new survey conducted by the Economic Development Committee of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in Oscar's Hollywood column. It's hoped that the good news will attract more retail business into the area.
And so, we embark on another of Hollywood's seasons-unpredictable, ever changing, exciting, electric with creativity, growth and new beginnings.