Sunset Gower Studios (Los Angeles, California)

USA / California / West Hollywood / Los Angeles, California / North Gower Street, 1438
 place with historical importance, film/video production studio/facility, television studio
1438 North Gower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 467-1001
www.sunsetgowerstudios.com/

This 6 city block area has an amazingly complex history, beginning in the early days of Hollywood when it was a conglomeration of tiny studios that changed hands on a regular basis. Small studios were regularly bought and sold, torn down and rebuilt, consolidated and separated, until Columbia Pictures bought the entire area and made it the studio lot for several decades. In the 1970's it was bought by the Pick-Vanoff Company. It continued to be torn down and rebuilt.

The area was known as "Poverty Row" because of the number of failed small movie companies that occupied the many tiny studios that dotted this lot.

Studios came and went throughout the teens and twenties, none having much success, that is until one of these tiny studios broke away in the mid 20s. That tiny studio is now know as Columbia Pictures.

Columbia bought all the sound stages, consolidating them under a single ownership, closed off the street that ran through it (Beachwood) as the main gate, and began tearing down and rebuilding the lot. The lot has been rebuilt over and over, and continues today with some new massive construction.

Eventually Columbia grew too big for the lot, and moved in with Warner Brothers on their Burbank lot until being bought by Sony and moving into the former MGM lot in Culver City.

Between 1972 and 1977 the lot sat vacant, but was purchased by private investors, Pick Vanoff who turned it into Hollywood's largest independent rental lot. Later they renamed it Sunset-Gower.

In 2004 it was purchased by GI partners, who began extensive renovations, and in 2008 expanded to include the old Warner Brother Sunset studio two blocks away, purchasing it from Tribune Broadcasting.

The Sunset-Gower Studios lot is the home of such classics as Frank Capra’s "It Happened One Night" in 1934, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" in 1936 "Funny Girl," and "The Caine Mutiny," The lot has been the home to top new films such as "The Good Shepherd" and "The Good German," the NBC-TV hit series, "Heroes" and Showtime Network’s series, "Dexter" also occupied several sound stages as have "The Amanda Show," "Deal or No Deal", "Six Feet Under," "JAG," "Married... with Children," "Soap," and "I Dream of Jeannie."

Currently owned by Hudson Capital, and has a sister studio, Sunset-Bronson, just to the east on Sunset.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Gower_Studios
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°5'46"N   118°19'16"W

Comments

  • "Bewitched" was likewise shot at this same studio, I believe on stage 4.
  • Likewise, I believe that most, if not all of the indoor scenes from the original 3 Stooges shorts having been shot at this same studio, but the stages used as of this time at least to my knowledge still remaining unknown.
  • Well, you must be right, as at the time the studio was known as Columbia Studios, the studio that produced the Three Stooges (and actually saved Columbia from bankruptcy).
  • According to information from the book " The Three Sooges Scrapbook", some or possibly all of the three stooges shorts were filmed on stage 3. While other information indicates that "I Dream of Jeannie" was filmed on either stages 8 or 9, and both of which were as was stage 3, located on either side of stage 4 which was used to film "Bewitched". In fact, many of the exterior as well as interior sets, including furniture and other props from 'Bewitched' were frequently used on " I Dream of Jeannie" and vice versa and can be spotted on various episodes of both, as well as other shows shot at Columbia's Gower studios during this same time period. Tom
  • From new information I found, it would appear that "I Dream of Jeannie" was shot on stage 8 right next to stage 4, the "Bewitched set. In fact, both shows used many of the same props and sets (including rooms) interchangably, with some slight differences. Likewise, some of the ideas from many episodes of both shows appear to have been borrowed from one another. One can check out the website called Bewitched@HarpiesBazzar.com. I believe it is, for further detailed information on this particular subject.
This article was last modified 3 years ago