Feature Film Residential Use and Aspirational Depictions of People Within Los Angeles, California

Feature Film Residential Use and Aspirational Depictions of People within Los Angeles, California

Item Type text; Electronic Report

Authors Grantham, Laura

Publisher The University of Arizona.

Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

Download date 04/10/2021 09:17:27

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/632166

Feature Film Residential Use and Aspirational Depictions of People within Los Angeles, California

Laura Grantham

______

MASTER OF SCIENCE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2019

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank all the University of Arizona GIST staff who have been such wonderful teachers.

In particular, I thank Chris Lukinbeal who worked heavily with me on this project. I also thank

Naveed Ahmed, who helped obtain information from the Imdb servers. Finally, I thank my family and friends for their support.

To Mom, Dad, and Suzi. Without whose love during this time, I would have not had the ability to complete this project.

To my dearest friends. Without whose support during this time, I would have not had the strength to complete this.

To my dogs. Without whose love and attention, I would have completed this project in a timelier manner.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 4

LIST OF TABLES ...... 5

LIST OF FIGURES ...... 6

ABSTRACT ...... 8

INTRODUCTION ...... 9

METHODS ...... 12

Study Area ...... 12 Data ...... 14 Density Analyses ...... 17 Hot Spot Analysis ...... 17 Kernel Density Analysis ...... 19 Spatial Join Analysis ...... 20 Business Analyst Online ...... 21

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...... 22

East Pasadena ...... 22 Agua Dulce ...... 28 Encino ...... 32 Hollywood ...... 36

CONCLUSIONS ...... 41

APPENDIX A: DOMINANT TAPESTRY MAPS GENERATED FOR EACH NEIGHBORHOOD ...... 42

REFERENCES ...... 48

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Movies Filmed in East Pasadena between 2008 and 2011 ...... 24

Table 2 Movies Filmed in Agua Dulce between 2008 and 2011 ...... 29

Table 3 Movies Filmed in Encino between 2008 and 2011 ...... 34

Table 4 Movies Filmed in Hollywood Between 2008 and 2011 ...... 38

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Promo for New Girl (Imdb 2019) ...... 10

Figure 2 Screenshot of the Loft in New Girl (Imdb 2019) ...... 11

Figure 3: Map of Los Angeles County ...... 12

Figure 4: The Thirty Mile Zone ...... 14

Figure 5 Residential Feature Film Locations ...... 15

Figure 6 Cadillac Jack's Cafe and Pink Motel ...... 16

Figure 7 Hot Spot Analysis of Filming Locations ...... 18

Figure 8 Heat Map of Filming Locations ...... 19

Figure 9 Kernel Density of Filming Locations ...... 20

Figure 10 Most Used Neighborhoods ...... 21

Figure 11 Tapestry Segmentation Infographic for East Pasadena (Esri 2019) ...... 23

Figure 12 Date Night Movie Poster (Imdb 2019) ...... 25

Figure 13 Above: Screenshot from Date Night (Date Night 2010) and Below: Google Street View of 620 Vallombrosa Dr ...... 26

Figure 14 Google Street View of 608 Vallombrosa Dr ...... 27

Figure 15 Tapestry Segmentation Infographic for Agua Dulce (Esri 2019) ...... 29

Figure 16 Example of House Located on Agua Dulce Movie Ranch (Film History 2019) ...... 31

Figure 17 Example of Trailers Located on Agua Dulce Movie Ranch (Film History 2019) ...... 31

Figure 18 Top Left: Vasquez Rocks Bottom Left: Frankenstein Right: Lion King (Film Hisotry 2019) ...... 32

Figure 19 Tapestry Segmentation Infographic for Encino (Esri 2019) ...... 33

Figure 20 View of 15353 Sutton St (Zillow 2019) ...... 35

Figure 21 Google Street View of 3634 Royal Meadow Rd ...... 36

Figure 22 Tapestry Segmentation Infographic for Hollywood (Esri 2019) ...... 38

Figure 23 Google Street View of 1325 N Ogden Dr ...... 40

Figure A 1: Appendix A, Figure 1. The Tapestry Segmentation Categories (Esri 2019) ...... 43

Figure A 2: Appendix A, Figure 2. Dominant Tapestry Profile Report for East Pasadena (Esri 2019) ...... 44

Figure A 3: Appendix A, Figure 3. Dominant Tapestry Profile Report for East Pasadena (Esri 2019) ...... 45

Figure A 4: Appendix A, Figure 4. Dominant Tapestry Profile Report for Encino (Esri 2019) .. 46

Figure A 5: Appendix A, Figure 5. Dominant Tapestry Profile Report for Hollywood (Esri 2019) ...... 47

ABSTRACT

Analyst to answer the following question: What residential locations are most prominently depicted in the Greater Los Angeles region in feature films in 2008-2011? More specifically I focus in on which neighborhoods, and homes in those neighborhoods, are used most frequently for feature film production. The project examines the socio-demographic characteristics of the neighborhoods and homes most frequently used in the greater LA area to find what could be called a Hollywood aspirational view of Los Angeles: what it is, where is it located, and what are the predominate socio-demographic makeup of those regions predominantly portrayed.

INTRODUCTION

Feature films and other visual media are well known for not showing realistic portrayals of how people live but rather for depicting an aspirational reality in which the way people are portrayed to live does not match with their social-economic circumstances. In order to engage with its audiences, movies and shows create simulacrums of reality and yet, these simulacrums begin to look better than the reality on which they are based (Fletchall et. al. 2012). The result is that viewers are presented with an idealized lifestyle, which many are not able to obtain themselves, and they “incorporate the evidence presented in media depictions of social reality into their assumptions of how others live and consume” (Englis and Solomon 1995, 14).

One example of this phenomenon cited many times in popular outlets such as

Entertainment Weekly and Buzzfeed.com, is Monica Geller’s apartment in the popular 90s sitcom, Friends. This apartment, located near Central Park in New York City, would cost around

$4,200 a month in rent (Today 2016). A more relevant example to the time and place in this study is the sitcom New Girl which ran from 2011-2018 (Figure 1). In New Girl, Zoey Deschanel stars as Jess, a teacher, who moves in with three male roommates after a breakup. While the roommates change over the course of the show, the core three are Nick, Schmidt, and Winston.

The loft that the roommates occupy is a four-bedroom top-story apartment with large windows, large kitchen, a full dining room, and laundry in the unit in the Arts District in Los Angeles. This loft would rent for $7,395 a month or $1,850 per roommate (Money 2019). Only one character,

Schmidt who is an advertising associate, seems to have a high paying career and his salary is probably less than $70,000 a year. This is simply not an apartment that these characters could afford to rent if they lived in the real world and not in a primetime sitcom.

This project seeks to probe this phenomenon by examining residential locations used for feature film productions between 2008 and 2011 in Los Angeles County. This project uses GIS analyses and Business Analyst to answer the following question: What residential locations are most prominently depicted in the Greater Los Angeles region in feature films in 2008-2011?

More specifically I focus in on which neighborhoods, and homes in those neighborhoods, are used most frequently for feature film production. The project examines the socio-demographic characteristics of the neighborhoods and homes most frequently used in the greater LA area to find what could be called a Hollywood aspirational view of Los Angeles: what it is, where is it located, and what are the predominate socio-demographic makeup of those regions predominantly portrayed.

Figure 1 Promo for New Girl (Imdb 2019)

Figure 2 Screenshot of the Loft in New Girl (Imdb 2019)

METHODS

Study Area

This project focuses on Los Angeles County in the state of California ( Figure 3). While there are other areas that also have a large market for film production and a corresponding disproportional depiction of everyday life, New York City being a prominent example, Los

Angeles is the largest film production center in the world and “is also the most prominent region depicted in North America” (Lukinbeal 2004, 310).

Figure 3: Map of Los Angeles County In addition to Los Angeles, this project also looks at the Thirty Mile Zone (TMZ), sometimes called the Hollywood Studio Zone, which centers around the old offices of

Association of Motion Pictures and Television Producers at Beverly Boulevard and La Cienega

Boulevard and “represents the most heavily filmed area in the world, accounting for roughly

75% of all film production” (Lukinbeal 2004, 310) (Figure 4). Originally existing as a 6-mile radius, the Thirty Mile Zone began informally in 1917 and was formalized in 1934 with its center located at Rossmore and Fifth (Roland 2016). In the 50s and 60s, studios began purchasing property farther away from the 6-mile radius and, as a result of a labor agreement, the zone was extended to the current thirty miles and technically includes common filming areas that fall outside of its circumference, such as Agua Dulce, Castaic Canyons, and the Ontario

International Airport (Roland 2016). Inside the Thirty Mile Zone, “unions dictate the length of the workday, which has two effects on production: ﬁrst, more shooting days are required to complete a production; and second, producers can determine a ﬁxed cost for each production day” (Lukinbeal 2004, 310). Outside the zone, union members must be paid per diem for meals and travel costs (Lukinbeal 2004).

Figure 4: The Thirty Mile Zone Data

The primary data used for this analysis were the residential filming locations within Los

Angeles County from 2008 to 2011. The data were obtained from FilmLA, a non-profit organization that handles the filming permits for the city and county of Los Angeles. Anyone who wants to film in Los Angeles needs a permit to mitigate insurance issues, (e.g. the safety of the residence and crew members), and to mitigate insurance responsibility to public entities, the city and county. This is so they do not suffer legal repercussions based on the actions of the crew members. FilmLa provides “centralized coordination of multi-jurisdictional on-location filming permits in the world’s highest-volume film production region” and keeps a record of the issued permits (FilmLA 2019).

The data were originally supplied in a comma-separated value (csv) excel sheet and included information about every filming permit issued during the time period which included feature films, television productions, commercials, music videos, internet videos, student projects, and still photos. The data were geocoded to address values and clipped by production type to include only feature film productions. A map overlay was performed with land zoning to clip the feature film location to residential zoning. Finally, the data needed cleaning as some locations, such as churches or motels, were erroneously included in the residential zoning

(Figure 5). One such location, which also happened to be the most frequently used location in the data set, was the Cadillac Jack’s Café and Pink motel, which is not actually a motel, but a movie set that has been used in dozens of features and tv shows over the last several decades (Figure 6).

Figure 5 Residential Feature Film Locations

Figure 6 Cadillac Jack's Cafe and Pink Motel

Further information regarding films, including genre information, was obtained from the

Imdb website. Other pertinent information about Los Angeles, including information about neighborhoods, city limits, and county limits came from the Los Angeles County GIS Data

Portal. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses were performed using ESRI ArcGIS Pro

2.3. Neighborhood analyses were performed using Esri’s Business Analyst Online (BAO)

Tapestry Segmentation, which classifies neighborhoods by 68 unique socioeconomic characteristics. All data have a common projection: NAD 1983 StatePlane California V FIPS

0405 Feet.

Density Analyses

To find which neighborhoods are significantly represented in the filming location data, a series of density analyses were performed. In order to perform these analyses, a count analysis was run on the data set to determine how many times each address in the set has a record. This was saved as a frequency table. Then, a dissolve points by address was performed to eliminate duplicate points. Finally, the frequency table was joined to the dissolved points and the analyses were run on the frequency field. A hot spot analysis was performed to find which filming locations were statistically significant. Because hot spots show individual locations but not areas, a second analysis showing area density that is different from point hot spots was needed as those other areas of high density, such as Downtown LA and the San Fernando Valley, were not represented in the hot spot analysis. This was done through a kernel density analysis and a spatial join analysis.

Hot Spot Analysis

Hot spot analysis tool calculates the Getis-Ord Gi* for each feature in the data set to identify statistically significant clusters of high values (hot spots) and low values (cold values).

The output of the tool contains a p-value, a z-value, and a confidence level bin (called Gi_Bin).

The Gi_Bin was used in this analysis to determine the locations with 90% or higher confidence levels. The neighborhoods highlighted by this analysis include East Pasadena, Altadena, Agua

Dulce, and Castaic Canyons (Figure 7). While some of the most statistically significant points do fall outside of the Thirty Mile Zone, they are located in Castaic Canyons and Agua Dulce, both of which are considered to be part of the zone.

Figure 7 Hot Spot Analysis of Filming Locations As part of the hot spot analysis, a heat map was also created (Figure 8). A heat map visualizes the areas with the most points as the hottest instead of focusing on only the points that are statistically significant. In general, a heat map is not the most accurate way to view point density, however, it is an excellent way to visualize how data points are distributed. In the heat map, it becomes apparent that highest density areas occur over downtown Los Angeles, in the

Hollywood area along with dense areas over the San Fernando Valley and Pasadena. Of these, only the Pasadena area was highlighted by the hot spot analysis. Since the heat map only provides a general idea of density, further analyses were performed.

Figure 8 Heat Map of Filming Locations Kernel Density Analysis

Kernel density analysis calculates density by weighting the distances of all points in the data set. In an area with more points nearby, the density is higher. It produces a more accurate density area than the heat map shown above. The resulting map shows the areas of highest density of filming locations in Los Angeles (Figure 9). This map shows the highest areas of density in the Hollywood region (Hollywood, West Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, and

Hollywood Hills West) and in the city area closer to downtown (Hancock Park, Windsor Square,

Larchmont, Korea Town, Mid-Wilshire, Arlington Heights, and Jefferson Park). There are also high-density areas in Altadena and East Pasadena (although Pasadena itself has been skipped over) and in the San Fernando Valley (Woodland Hills, Tarzana, and Encino).

Figure 9 Kernel Density of Filming Locations Spatial Join Analysis

Finally, a spatial join was used to join the dissolved film points to the Los Angeles neighborhoods in order to determine which individual neighborhoods were the most used for filming locations. The resulting map shows the results based on the percentage of the overall total locations filmed in the neighborhood (Figure 10). The most used neighborhoods in Los

Angeles were Hollywood Hills and Sherman Oaks with 5% of the total locations. These were followed by Altadena, Encino, Hollywood Hills, and Woodland Hills with 4% of the total locations.

Figure 10 Most Used Neighborhoods Business Analyst Online

Business Analyst Online (BAO) was used in order to perform the analysis of the top neighborhoods used in this study. BAO is a powerful tool provided by ESRI that allows the user to analyze their data with demographic, lifestyle, behavioral, and spending data to create accurate maps, infographics, and reports. It was designed for business and marketing data but can be applicable for any usage where demographic information would be helpful. Within BAO, a project was created with the Los Angeles county neighborhoods. From there, reports examining the dominant tapestry segmentation profile were generated for each of the studied neighborhoods.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this section, the project examines the demographic characteristics of four chosen neighborhoods using the BAO Tapestry Segmentation and takes a closer look at some of the movies filmed and at some of the homes used in those neighborhoods to find how the films are depicting the life of their characters versus the reality of that location. Of interest is the fact that all of the locations in the data set fall into the Thirty Mile Zone, lending support to the idea stated by Lukinbeal that it is the most represented area in film in North America if not the world

(Lukinbeal 2004). Many features filmed in the Thirty Mile Zone are actually set in other locations. As such, this study supposes that the depictions of people and locations in these features can be applied to the image of the United States at large, or at least to the view of those places by the producers of the films. One assumption of note here: BAO uses the most current data for its reports and is currently using 2018 data. This study is done with the assumption that

2018 income and housing data are not very different from 2011/2012 data. The neighborhoods were all chosen based on their appearance in at least one of the density analyses and to serve as examples of the different regions of the greater Los Angeles area.

East Pasadena

East Pasadena is of special interest to this study. It features in the Hot Spot Analysis and the Kernel Density despite having a relatively smaller number of feature films in comparison to the other neighborhoods featured in this study. It is representing the Pasadena area.

According to BAO’s Tapestry Segmentation, East Pasadena is a neighborhood where the median household income is $88,580 and the median home value is $897,290. Its residents are classified as “City Lights” (42%) with significant minorities as “Top Tier” (20.7%) and

“Pleasantville” (19%) (Figure 11). City Lights are characterized as an ethnically diverse group that lives in dense urban areas and believe strongly in social welfare and equal opportunity (Esri

2019). They are hard workers, most of whom have completed college degrees, who budget well in order to afford their urban lifestyles. Most City Lights are financially stable and about half own their own homes (Esri 2019). Top Tiers are the tapestry’s wealthiest segment. They are highly educated and earn three times the US median income (Esri 2019). Top Tiers own expensive homes, take expensive vacations, and fill their free time with cultural events, such as the opera and charity dinners, and with shopping (Esri 2019). Pleasantvilles are typically older couples who are either empty nesters or sharing their home with their adult children (Esri 2019).

The are financially well off with dual incomes and almost all own their own home (Esri 2019).

Figure 11 Tapestry Segmentation Infographic for East Pasadena (Esri 2019)

East Pasadena was featured in eight movies including Transformers 2 and Date Night.

The movies filmed in the East Pasadena neighborhood are mostly romantic or family comedies or dramas. They depict families or individuals living their normal lives. Even the Sci-Fi movie,

Transformers 2, depicts family life at home in this neighborhood. All the movies filmed in the neighborhood in the data set are listed below (Table 1). To avoid confusion, features titled

“Untitled”, for which there is little to no information, have been excluded from all the film lists in this project. For a better idea of how East Pasadena is used in film, this section takes a closer look at the movie Date Night.

Table 1 Movies Filmed in East Pasadena between 2008 and 2011

Movie Title Genre Date Night Comedy/Romance Love Hurts (aka Hanging Out, Hooking Up, Falling in Love) Comedy/Romance Hop Comedy/Family Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer Comedy/Family Just Pretend Short My Sister’s Keeper Drama Transformers 2 Action/Sci-Fi Warrior Drama

Date Night is a 2010 comedy about Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and Tina Fey), a married New Jersey couple with young children who have fallen into a romantic rut in their relationship (Figure 12). In order to reignite their romance, Phil takes Claire to a trendy

Manhattan restaurant where, unable to get a seat without a reservation, he pretends to be another couple, the Triplehorns. During the dinner, they are kidnapped by two men who believe them to be the real Triplehorns and demand the return of a flashdrive stolen from their mobster boss

(Date Night 2010).

Figure 12 Date Night Movie Poster (Imdb 2019) While the film is set in New Jersey and Manhattan, the vast majority of filming took place in Los Angeles. Phil and Claire’s house in the movie is 620 Vallombrosa Dr in Pasadena,

CA (Figure 13). Their home is valued at $1,910,964, according to Zillow.com, but in 2010 it was closer to $1.2 million. It has 2,505 sq. feet and 3 beds and 4 baths (Zillow 2019). Research of real estate in the New Jersey suburbs reveals that equivalent homes can be purchased there in a range of $750,000-1.1 million (Zillow 2019). A second home featured in the film is 608

Vallombrosa Dr in Pasadena (Figure 14). In the movie, Claire sells this home to a secondary character. It is depicted as being located in a far fancier and richer neighborhood than the

Fosters’ own home, but in reality, it is just a few houses down from 620 Vallombrosa. It is worth

$3,578,051 ($2 million in 2010) and has 5,347 sq. feet (Zillow 2019).

Figure 13 Above: Screenshot from Date Night (Date Night 2010) and Below: Google Street View of 620 Vallombrosa Dr

Figure 14 Google Street View of 608 Vallombrosa Dr In Date Night, Claire is a real estate agent which, according to Glassdoor.com has an average yearly salary of $49,000 in New Jersey and Phil is a tax attorney, a position which makes an average yearly salary of $134,000 (Glassdoor 2019). Combined they, theoretically, have a gross yearly salary of $183,000. Based on their life in the suburbs, they don’t quite embody the City Lights characterization, but they do appear to fall into the larger, overarching group of “Middle Ground” of which City Lights is a subset.

Realistically speaking, the Fosters could not afford this home. There are a few different methods for determining how much house one can afford to purchase. One general rule of thumb is to multiply your income by 2.5-3 (DoughRoller 2017). By this standard, the should be looking for a home in the range of $457,500-549,000. Another gauge is for your housing expenses to make up no more than 28-33% of your take-home salary (DoughRoller 2017). In New Jersey, their take home income would be around $138,000 after federal and state taxes are withheld

(SmartAsset 2019). Even assuming that they do not contribute to a 401k or other type of plan that would lower their net income, the expense would be too large for them to qualify for a

27 mortgage. If, despite these problems, they still tried to mortgage this home, they would need a conventional loan since an FHA loan would not cover such an expensive house. As such, they would require a 20% down payment of $240,000 upfront. The Fosters are the perfect example of a depiction of an average middle-class family living above their means in visual media.

Agua Dulce

Agua Dulce appeared as a top neighborhood in the hot spot analysis and contained some of the most significant points. While some of the locations in the neighborhood were outside the physical thirty miles, the whole neighborhood is considered to be a part of the Thirty Mile Zone.

This suggests that the neighborhood is used often enough to have an exception made. It is representing the northern area of the zone.

According to BAO’s Tapestry Segmentation, Agua Dulce is a neighborhood where the median household income is $108,283 and the median home value is $720,256. Its residents are classified overwhelmingly as “Savvy Suburbanites” (91%) with “Professional Pride” (6.7%) and

“Home Improvement” (2.7%) making up very small minorities (Figure 15). Savvy Suburbanites are well educated and financially well off (Esri 2019). They are located in suburban areas outside of the urban core where they pursue home improvement, gardening, and exercise and enjoy going to city for entertainment (Esri 2019).

Figure 15 Tapestry Segmentation Infographic for Agua Dulce (Esri 2019) Agua Dulce was featured in 26 feature films during the study period including Faster and

The Lone Ranger (Table 2). Most of the movies filmed in Agua Dulce fall into the drama genre with action, comedy, and thrillers following closely behind. The films usually depict these locations as either very rich estates, very poor housing situations, or remote desert houses. What makes this neighborhood fascinating is the type of homes being depicted.

Table 2 Movies Filmed in Agua Dulce between 2008 and 2011

Movie Title Genre 3 Nights in the Desert Drama 3 of Us Comedy/Drama A Single Man Drama/Romance A Very Mary Christmas (aka The Christmas Movie) Comedy/Family All American Christmas Carol (aka A White Trash Christmas Comedy Carol Angel of Death Action/Thriller Arcadia Drama Besties (Possibly not completed) Thriller

Big Bad Bugs (aka The Vortex) Action Countdown Jerusalem Sci-Fi/Thriller Driving by Braille Drama/Romance E7-2 (Possibly not completed) No information Faster Action Five Point Four A Love Story (Possibly not completed) No information In a World… Comedy Automotive (aka Inner Auto Movie Project) Crime Northern Lights Drama Nowhere to Hide Action/Horror Punching the Clown Comedy Savages Drama/Thriller Slumber Party Slaughter Drama/Thriller Spin Comedy/Romance The Congress Drama/Sci-Fi The Effect Family The Lone Ranger Western Virtually Heroes Action/Comedy/Fantasy

While the movies filmed in Agua Dulce are being produced at privately-owned houses, the locations are not residential home. All the films from Table 2 were filmed at movie ranches which are pieces of property owned either by studios or privately for the sole purpose of being used for filming for profit. The most prominent one, and where the most movies were filmed, is

Agua Dulce Movie Ranch, a privately owned company, located at 38455 Peterson Rd (Figure 16 and Figure 17). Agua Dulce Movie Ranch boasts that it offers 40 unique filming locations all within the Thirty Mile Zone including views of the Vasquez rocks, which are a very popular filming location and have been used in everything from 1931’s Frankenstein to inspiration for

Pride Rock in Disney’s The Lion King (Figure 18) (Film History 2019). It is clear that these movie ranches are the reason an exception was made in order to include Agua Dulce within the

Thirty Mile Zone. It is also clear that, due to these movie ranches, the films are not trying to depict life in the neighborhood of Agua Dulce but, rather, are using the neighborhood as a proxy for other filming locations.

Figure 16 Example of House Located on Agua Dulce Movie Ranch (Film History 2019)

Figure 17 Example of Trailers Located on Agua Dulce Movie Ranch (Film History 2019)

Figure 18 Top Left: Vasquez Rocks Bottom Left: Frankenstein Right: Lion King (Film Hisotry 2019) Encino

Encino appeared in the kernel density and spatial join analyses. It is representing the San

Fernando Valley area.

According to BAO’s Tapestry Segmentation, Encino is a neighborhood with a median household income of $93,928 and a median home value of $1,007,531 (Figure 19). Its residents are classified as “Top Tier” (26%), “Old and Newcomers” (17.2%), and “Urban Chic” (13.1%).

The Top Tier were described above in the East Pasadena section. Old and Newcomers are typically singles on a budget living in metropolitan areas (Esri 2019). They are just beginning in their career or just retiring and usually support charitable causes and are environmentally conscious (Esri 2019). The Urban Chic are characterized as professionals who live a sophisticated, exclusive lifestyle. They are typically found in the suburban periphery of major

32 cities. This group is well-educated, avid readers and moviegoers, environmentally active, and financially stable (Esri 2019).

Figure 19 Tapestry Segmentation Infographic for Encino (Esri 2019) Encino was featured in 34 films including Bridesmaids and Due Date (Table 3). Most of the movies filmed in Encino fall into the comedy genre. Some of the locations in Encino are depicting very rich estates which are being rented out for events, as is the case in Bridesmaids, or are being presented as the homes of celebrities. Many of the locations, however, are still being used to depict individual family homes.

Table 3 Movies Filmed in Encino between 2008 and 2011

Movie Title Genre A Very Mary Christmas (aka The Christmas Movie) Comedy/Family Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader Comedy Battlefield America Drama Bridesmaids Comedy Celeste and Jesse Forever Comedy/Romance Detention Comedy/Horror Double Duty Comedy/Romance Due Date Comedy Duress Crime/Thriller Epithet Short Face Time Action/Horror Fading of the Cries Fantasy/Horror Fighter Pickups (Possibly not completed) No Information For a Good Time, Call Comedy Frankie Go Boom Comedy Golden Cage Action Heaven Ain’t Hard to Find Family In a World Comedy Let Go Comedy Love Hurts (aka Hanging Out, Hooking Up, Falling in Love) Comedy/Romance Mother and Child Drama Movie 43 (aka The Catch) Comedy Nobody Walks Drama Rock and Roll: The Movie Comedy Rock Slyde Comedy Seven Psychopaths Comedy Sinatra Club Action Telling of the Shoes Drama Terror Trap (aka Bed and Breakfast) Thriller The Deported Comedy The Runaways Bio/Drama Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie Comedy Unthinkable Drama/Thriller We Got Next Sport

The most used filming location in Encino is 15353 Sutton St in Sherman Oaks, CA which was featured in six films including Face Time, Let Go, A Very Mary Christmas, We Got Next, and two untitled features (Figure 20). According to Zillow.com, it has a value of $1,581,708

(Zillow 2019). Unfortunately, the website does not have a record for the home’s past values. It has It has 2,474 sq. feet and 4 beds and 3 baths (Zillow 2019). It is $574,177 above the median home value in Encino and the characters portrayed living in it certainly could not afford it.

Another home used as a home in two comedies, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie and an untitled comedy, is even more unrealistic. The home, 3664 Royal Meadow Rd in Sherman Oaks,

CA has a value $2,436,938 with 5,040 sq. feet of space and 3 beds and 4 baths (Figure 21)

(Zillow 2019). This is more than double Encino’s median home value.

Figure 20 View of 15353 Sutton St (Zillow 2019)

Figure 21 Google Street View of 3634 Royal Meadow Rd

Hollywood

Hollywood is, without question, the most famous place in Los Angeles and central to the film production center. It is so well known that its name is often the first thing people think of when they think of Los Angeles. It is representing the central area of Los Angeles. Many neighborhoods adjacent to Hollywood were considered instead as they appeared in multiple analyses. The fame and prominence of Hollywood, however, is too important to leave out of this study.

According to BAO’s Tapestry Segmentation, Hollywood is a neighborhood with a median household income of $41,496 and a median home value of $770,792 (Figure 22). This median household income appears to be an outlier to the other neighborhoods in the study. It is also significantly lower than those of its neighboring neighborhoods like Hollywood Hills West

($127,523) or Hancock Park ($110,500). The median home value for the neighborhood is also much lower than its neighbors Hollywood Hills West ($1,700,000) and Hancock Park

($1,500,00). The difference between median household income and median home value in

Hollywood, however, is more drastically different than those neighbor which may be a big part of why it has so many renters. Hollywood’s residents are classified as “Trendsetters” (37.1%),

“Metro Renters” (28.5%), and “International Marketplace” (16.5%). Trendsetters are typically well-educated, young singles living in cities (Esri 2019). They tend to not own homes or vehicles, opting to commute or utilize public transportation, and choose to spend their disposable income on upscale city living and entertainment (Esri 2019). Their weeknights and weekends are filled discovering local art and culture, dining out, or exploring new hobbies (Esri 2019). Metro

Renters are usually millennials who are highly mobile and well-educated living in the urban core of cities. They usually live very close to their jobs and use public transport, bike, or walk to work. Computers and cell phones are an integral part of their lives and they spend a large part of their income on the newest available technologies (Esri 2019). International Marketplace are characterized by areas where almost 40% of the residents are foreign born, with Hispanic being the most common ethnicity (Esri 2019). They are typically young with children and employed in a white-collar job (Esri 2019). More than a fifth of International Marketplace residents do not own a vehicle and opt for public transportation to work (Esri 2019).

Figure 22 Tapestry Segmentation Infographic for Hollywood (Esri 2019) Hollywood was featured in 22 feature films including Rum Diary and The Hangover

(Table 4). The movies filmed in Hollywood are overwhelmingly comedies of various varieties.

Many of the films feature families in their homes but, like the other neighborhoods, do not depict realistic lifestyles.

Table 4 Movies Filmed in Hollywood Between 2008 and 2011

Movie Title Genre Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Comedy/Family Celeste and Jesse Forever Comedy/Romance Free Samples Comedy/Drama Greenberg Comedy/Romance In a World Comedy In My Pocket Drama Lust for Love Comedy/Romance Note to Self Comedy/Romance One Small Hitch Comedy/Romance Rum Diary Comedy/Drama Seven Pounds Drama

Shrink Comedy/Drama Somewhere Comedy/Drama Spread Comedy The Back-up Plan (aka Plan B) Comedy/Romance The Hangover Comedy The Poor Boys Comedy The Session (aka The Surrogate) Comedy/Drama Touched Drama Wedding Day Thriller You Should Meet My Son Comedy Zombieland Comedy/Horror

One home that features in multiple movies on this list is 1325 N Ogden Dr (Figure 23).

The home is valued at $1,709,001 according to Zillow.com, but in 2010 it was valued at $1.2 million. It has 1,746 sq. feet and 3 beds and 2 baths (Zillow 2019). This home is valued at

$938,209 more than Hollywood’s median home value of $770,792. In 2010, the median home value in Hollywood was $480,000 so the home was still very much above the median (Zillow

2019). This home clearly does not reflect what the average Hollywood resident could afford. In one of the movies in which it is featured, The Hangover, its owner is a dentist. Unless he makes well above the average dentist salary of $155,000, he could not afford this home (Glassdoor

2019). Although, it is notable that the character is a dentist who does not at all reflect the groups seen in the Tapestry Segmentation for Hollywood. This seems to depict Hollywood as home to middle-class, financially secure people when in reality it is mostly populated by Millennials just coming into their own and by immigrant populations just settling in America.

Figure 23 Google Street View of 1325 N Ogden Dr

CONCLUSIONS

The project examined the socio-demographic characteristics of the neighborhoods and homes most frequently used in the greater LA area to find what could be called a Hollywood aspirational view of average life. It used filming locations from features filmed between 2008 and 2011 which were clipped by production type to include only feature film productions and clipped by land zoning to only include residential zoning. Hot Spot analysis, Kernel Density

Analysis, and a Spatial Join Analysis were used to find which areas were the most used in filming and Business Analyst Online Tapestry Segmentations to examine the socio-demographic characteristics of the neighborhoods chosen for focus. The results show that the locations used during the 2008-2011 filming period were consistently above the median home values for their neighborhood or, in the case of Agua Dulce, do not reflect life in the neighborhood at all. The characters depicted in these films could not afford the homes they are showed to be owning. This project was limited in its scope and barely scratches the surface of the information this data could provide. Further studies could expand this project by looking at more neighborhoods or by incorporating another factor, such as representation by genre.

APPENDIX A: DOMINANT TAPESTRY MAPS GENERATED FOR EACH NEIGHBORHOOD

Figure A 1: Appendix A, Figure 1. The Tapestry Segmentation Categories (Esri 2019)

Figure A 2: Appendix A, Figure 2. Dominant Tapestry Profile Report for East Pasadena (Esri 2019)

Figure A 3: Appendix A, Figure 3. Dominant Tapestry Profile Report for East Pasadena (Esri 2019)

Figure A 4: Appendix A, Figure 4. Dominant Tapestry Profile Report for Encino (Esri 2019)

Figure A 5: Appendix A, Figure 5. Dominant Tapestry Profile Report for Hollywood (Esri 2019)

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