Reliance-Majestic and Griffith-Fine Arts Studios (Los Angeles, California)

 place with historical importance, interesting place, film/video production studio/facility, historical layer / disappeared object

4516 Sunset Blvd. (aka 4500 Sunset Blvd, aka 4534 Sunset Blvd.).

This parking lot and grocery store was the site of many historical studios.

Built in 1909 as Revier Laboratory (aka Fox Film Co., not to be confused with William Fox Film Corp.), then occupied by Kinemacolor Studios until they went out of business in 1913. Kinemacolor produced the first color motion pictures. In 1913 Mutual acquired the assets of Kinemacolor, including their Hollywood studio.

1914 LA County plat map shows ownership of the northern half under RH Chambers and shows several building on the lot

Taken over by Reliance (later Majestic-Reliance aka Triangle-Fine Arts-Griffith) in 1913, producing many of DW Griffith's early Hollywood films (after leaving Biograph in NY). Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance" were shot here in 1914-16.

In 1918 Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa (of Bridge on the River Kwai fame) took over for producing his own films, naming the lot Haworth Studio. He budgeted his films at $350,000 of which $200,000 were his salary. Quite a tidy sum for the late teens. He shut down in 1921.

In 1921 ownership passed to Gooden Studio Motion Pictures Films.(Arthur Gooden Productions). Tattenahm Productions also located here during this year.

It was a rental lot until 1927 when it became Tiffany-Stahl, becoming just Tiffany in 1932, and in 1934, California Tiffany. (Tiffany was founded in 1921 by movie star Mae Murray and director John M. Stahl. Stahl later took over the company and renamed the studio Tiffany-Stahl).
Monogram was based her for a time (circa 1931-1937).

In the later 30's it taken over by Talisman who used it as a rental lot until 1943, with a brief stop in 1940 as a branch of Columbia, renaming it Sunset Studio and moving its Three Stooges unit here.

The studio burned down in the 1960s and a super market was built on the property.