Studio City

Studio City is one of 24 named communities in the San Fernando Valley, which are part of the incorporated City of Los Angeles. Only 12 miles northwest of the Los Angeles Civic Center, Studio City is nestled in the foothills of the north slope of the Santa Monica mountains, a prime location for easy access to employment centers in Hollywood, Downtown, the Valley and Beverly Hills. The Ventura Freeway from Los Angeles and the San Diego Freeway from the coastal cities gives easy access to all of Southern California. Studio City is ideally situated for living, working or relaxing in Southern California.

Studio City received its name as a result of the filming activities of Mack Sennett during the silent film era in the 1920’s. The sound stages Sennett built have been in continuous use by CBS Television. Until then, Studio City was a large parcel of rural land. Ventura Boulevard was only a country road and the Studio City Business District consisted of nothing more than a drug store, a grocery store, a small bank, a couple of hamburger stands and a few businesses.

On June 21, 1927, the Lankershim Press broke the news that the Central Motion Picture District, a corporation set up to develop movie company sites, had arranged for the construction of a $20 million film center named Studio City. The development was planned for the NE corner of Ventura Highway and Prospect Street ( now Laurel Canyon Boulevard). The first phase of the project was the construction of the 200-acre Mack Sennett Studio. The mission-style administration building was two stories, one of the tallest structures in the Valley. In 1935 it became Republic Pictures Studio and later CBS Studio Center.