Guided by the Hollywood lore and celebrity gossip experts from TMZ, the Chattel team and guest Kip Rudd played tourist on Hollywood Boulevard to celebrate another phenomenal year together. In the crisp December air we toured historic Hollywood and saw legendary music venues, monuments to the film industry, and relics of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Hollywood has long been known as the entertainment capital of the world, producing thousands of movies since its first movie studio, the New Jersey Nestor Film Company, opened on Sunset Boulevard at Gower Street in 1911. The town, which occupied the former Ranchos La Brea and Los Feliz, was founded in 1887 by Horace H. and Daeida Wilcox. Hollywood reached its heyday in the 1920s, when a great number of movie studios, movie theaters and shopping centers filled Hollywood and Sunset boulevards between Vine Street and Highland Avenue. Upscale commuters reveled in glamorous lives “among the stars” as retail outlets specializing in high-end clothing and accessories developed along Hollywood Boulevard. Originally a dirt road leading from downtown to the west, Sunset Boulevard is first recorded in city documents in 1888 and grew in importance as Los Angeles grew and expanded towards the ocean. In addition to the Nestor Film Company, Fox Studios (corner of Sunset and Western avenues), Warner Brothers (5800 Sunset Boulevard), and Columbia Pictures (1438 Gower Street) were located in close proximity. Chattel has worked on numerous projects in Hollywood, ranging from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to the ambitious CRA Hollywood Survey.
On our tour we drove down historic streets like the Sunset Strip; past places that once were or are now the center of the entertainment world. Music venues like the Viper Room and Palladium, where Elton John and Jay Z have performed, the Laugh Factory which has played host to the likes of Tim Allen, Jon Stewart, and Whoopi Goldberg, and the alma mater of countless celebrities, Hollywood High School, were highlights of the tour. We hoped to catch a glimpse of a celebrity shopping on Rodeo Drive and having lunch at the Ivy but were unlucky that day.
We lunched at Miceli’s, a local legend known for its Italian cuisine. Founded in 1949, Miceli’s is still family owned and known for its genuine Sicilian pizza Hundreds of carafes hang from the ceiling and historic stained glass windows from the USC campus are on the wall. Spaghetti and Chianti was had by all as we toasted the great year gone by and the excellent year to come.
Hollywood has long been known as the entertainment capital of the world, producing thousands of movies since its first movie studio, the New Jersey Nestor Film Company, opened on Sunset Boulevard at Gower Street in 1911. The town, which occupied the former Ranchos La Brea and Los Feliz, was founded in 1887 by Horace H. and Daeida Wilcox. Hollywood reached its heyday in the 1920s, when a great number of movie studios, movie theaters and shopping centers filled Hollywood and Sunset boulevards between Vine Street and Highland Avenue. Upscale commuters reveled in glamorous lives “among the stars” as retail outlets specializing in high-end clothing and accessories developed along Hollywood Boulevard. Originally a dirt road leading from downtown to the west, Sunset Boulevard is first recorded in city documents in 1888 and grew in importance as Los Angeles grew and expanded towards the ocean. In addition to the Nestor Film Company, Fox Studios (corner of Sunset and Western avenues), Warner Brothers (5800 Sunset Boulevard), and Columbia Pictures (1438 Gower Street) were located in close proximity. Chattel has worked on numerous projects in Hollywood, ranging from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to the ambitious CRA Hollywood Survey.
On our tour we drove down historic streets like the Sunset Strip; past places that once were or are now the center of the entertainment world. Music venues like the Viper Room and Palladium, where Elton John and Jay Z have performed, the Laugh Factory which has played host to the likes of Tim Allen, Jon Stewart, and Whoopi Goldberg, and the alma mater of countless celebrities, Hollywood High School, were highlights of the tour. We hoped to catch a glimpse of a celebrity shopping on Rodeo Drive and having lunch at the Ivy but were unlucky that day.
We lunched at Miceli’s, a local legend known for its Italian cuisine. Founded in 1949, Miceli’s is still family owned and known for its genuine Sicilian pizza Hundreds of carafes hang from the ceiling and historic stained glass windows from the USC campus are on the wall. Spaghetti and Chianti was had by all as we toasted the great year gone by and the excellent year to come.
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| Chattel gets ready for the TMZ bus! |
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| "TMZ" stands for "thirty mile zone," a reference to the area radiating out from the intersection of West Beverly and North La Cienega Boulevards, an entertainment industry hub. |
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| Chianti bottles at Miceli's are adorned with personal messages written by patrons. |
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| Lunchtime! Chattel enjoys an authentic Italian feast! |