Old Warner Brothers Studio
Encyclopedia
The Old Warner Brothers Studio, officially called today Sunset Bronson Studios and also known as KTLA Studios and Tribune Studios, is a motion picture, radio and television production facility located on Sunset Boulevard
in Hollywood, California. The studio was the site where the first talking feature film, "The Jazz Singer
" was filmed in 1927. Due to its role in the history of the motion picture business, the site was designated as a Historic Cultural Landmark in 1977 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2002.
and served as the company's executive offices and principal studios during the 1920s. In 1923, the Western Motion Picture Advertisers' Association held its "WAMPAS Frolic" at "the new Warner Brothers' studio on Sunset Boulevard" with "a great aggregation of film luminaries present." At the time, the studio was 350 feet (106.7 m) long and 200 feet (61 m) wide, "making it the largest covered-over stage in the world."
The site has been recognized as a historic site in large part due to its having been the location where the first talking feature-length motion picture, "The Jazz Singer
" was filmed in 1927. It was also the studio for radio station KFWB in its early years as Warner Brothers' Los Angeles radio station.
In 1930, Warner Bros. announced the consolidation of its executive offices with those of First National Studios, with the executive offices being moved from the Sunset Boulevard studio to the First National site in Burbank, California
. Warner also began moving its filming to the Burbank studios in 1930 and 1931, though the Sunset Boulevard studios remained in active use during the 1930s both for motion picture filming and "phonograph recordings." Even after the move to Burbank, Warner continued to film motion pictures at its Sunset Boulevard studios in the 1930s. Warner Bros. classic "Looney Tunes
" and "Merrie Melodies
" cartoons were also reportedly made at the Sunset studio facilities. In 1933, the Los Angeles Times reported that Warner Bros, "contrary to the popular view, is keeping its Sunset Boulevard studio in active use, with a company or two shooting there each day, and is also using the old Vitagraph plant." In December 1934, a fire destroyed 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) of the Warner Brothers studios in Burbank, forcing the company to put its Sunset Boulevard studio back into full use. At the time of the fire, Jack L. Warner noted: "We have ample facilities at our Sunset Boulevard studio to take care of all immediate mechanical and constructional requirements."
By 1935, film historians were already noting the loss of the industry's early studio facilities, many of which had become ghost towns, but the Warner Bros. Sunset studios were still running at full production:
, vice-president of Paramount Television Productions and general manager of KTLA
, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi, acquired the 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site as the future home of Paramount Television Productions. Paramount undertook a $2 million reconstruction program at the site. As part of the reconstruction program in 1955, Paramount razed the older buildings at the studio. The Los Angeles Times noted at the time: "The birthplace of the talkies is disappearing into dust in Hollywood. Demolition crews are razing the older buildings of the old Warner Bros. Sunset Blvd. studio where the nasal voice of Al Jolson recorded on Vitaphone, first made talking pictures a commercial reality." The old executive office building and large antenna which for years displayed the words "Warner Bros. Vitaphone" were preserved. However, the old theater where Warner executives watched screenings of the studio's latest works was destroyed. There have been conflicting reports as to whether the soundstage on which "The Jazz Singer" was filmed was razed in the process. At the time, Klaus Landsberg noted that "only the older buildings, including the historic Stage 1, are being destroyed, that newer facilities on the big lot are being renovated and reconditioned for the television operation."
In 1967, Gene Autry
and his company, Golden West Broadcasters, acquired the old studio property from Paramount for $5 million. Golden West had previously acquired KTLA and had been leasing the space from Paramount.
In 1977, a celebration was held in Hollywood marking the 50th anniversary of the talking motion picture. A parade of old cars, including a Model T and a Model A, moved down Sunset Boulevard ending at the KTLA studios where "The Jazz Singer" had been filmed 50 years earlier. The Postmaster General Benjamin Bailar and MPAA President Jack Valenti
were on hand for the first-day issue ceremony of a commemorative stamp honoring 50th anniversary of the first "talking picture." According to a Los Angeles Times report at the time, the 1977 parade carried former film greats "to Stage Six at KTLA, the same stage that was the site of 'The Jazz Singer.'"
In 2001, Tribune Entertainment Company, then the owner of the site, announced plans to overhaul the Sunset Boulevard studio facility, transforming it into the nation's first fully digital studio lot at a cost between $10 million and $20 million. In January 2008, Tribune Entertainment sold the studios to Hudson Capital, LLC, for $125 million. At that time, recent productions at the studio facility included television series "Divorce Court
", "Judge Judy
", "Judge Joe Brown", Disney's "Hannah Montana
", "Phenomenon
" and "The Biggest Loser
". Tribune Studios was then renamed Sunset Bronson Studios and became co-owned with nearby Sunset Gower Studios, the former Columbia Pictures
studio lot.
in 2002.
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
in Hollywood, California. The studio was the site where the first talking feature film, "The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
" was filmed in 1927. Due to its role in the history of the motion picture business, the site was designated as a Historic Cultural Landmark in 1977 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2002.
Warner Brothers Studio
The studio facilities at 5800 Sunset Boulevard were first built in 1919. In the early 1920s, the facilities were acquired by Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and served as the company's executive offices and principal studios during the 1920s. In 1923, the Western Motion Picture Advertisers' Association held its "WAMPAS Frolic" at "the new Warner Brothers' studio on Sunset Boulevard" with "a great aggregation of film luminaries present." At the time, the studio was 350 feet (106.7 m) long and 200 feet (61 m) wide, "making it the largest covered-over stage in the world."
The site has been recognized as a historic site in large part due to its having been the location where the first talking feature-length motion picture, "The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
" was filmed in 1927. It was also the studio for radio station KFWB in its early years as Warner Brothers' Los Angeles radio station.
In 1930, Warner Bros. announced the consolidation of its executive offices with those of First National Studios, with the executive offices being moved from the Sunset Boulevard studio to the First National site in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
. Warner also began moving its filming to the Burbank studios in 1930 and 1931, though the Sunset Boulevard studios remained in active use during the 1930s both for motion picture filming and "phonograph recordings." Even after the move to Burbank, Warner continued to film motion pictures at its Sunset Boulevard studios in the 1930s. Warner Bros. classic "Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
" and "Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
" cartoons were also reportedly made at the Sunset studio facilities. In 1933, the Los Angeles Times reported that Warner Bros, "contrary to the popular view, is keeping its Sunset Boulevard studio in active use, with a company or two shooting there each day, and is also using the old Vitagraph plant." In December 1934, a fire destroyed 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) of the Warner Brothers studios in Burbank, forcing the company to put its Sunset Boulevard studio back into full use. At the time of the fire, Jack L. Warner noted: "We have ample facilities at our Sunset Boulevard studio to take care of all immediate mechanical and constructional requirements."
By 1935, film historians were already noting the loss of the industry's early studio facilities, many of which had become ghost towns, but the Warner Bros. Sunset studios were still running at full production:
"Warner Brothers Studio on Sunset Boulevard is far from dead. Probably more shooting is done there than at the First National plant Warners absorbed, for there are four modern stages there. But the ghost stage is the one on which history was made -- Stage 3, on which the first all-talking picture was made. It is a small stage, though, and sentiment -- except as it applied to relatives who have to be on the payroll or else supported some other way -- has very little to do with making pictures."
Conversion to bowling alley and sports center
In 1937, however, Warner had closed the Sunset Boulevard studio, and the property had been converted into a bowling alley and "sports center." The Los Angeles Times reported on the conversion of the historic studio as follows:"Note on the passing of an era: A painted sign hung over the front door is all there is to indicate that the Warner Brothers Sunset studio is no more. The birthplace of the Vitaphone is a 'sports center,' and Stage One, where many of the first talkies retched their way into being, is a battery of badminton courts."
Use as television studios by Paramount and KTLA
In 1954, the Sunset Boulevard studio resumed its association with the entertainment business as television pioneer Klaus LandsbergKlaus Landsberg
Klaus Landsberg was a pioneering electrical engineer who made history with early commercial telecasts and helped pave the way to today's television networks.He appeared in many plays during his childhood...
, vice-president of Paramount Television Productions and general manager of KTLA
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi, acquired the 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site as the future home of Paramount Television Productions. Paramount undertook a $2 million reconstruction program at the site. As part of the reconstruction program in 1955, Paramount razed the older buildings at the studio. The Los Angeles Times noted at the time: "The birthplace of the talkies is disappearing into dust in Hollywood. Demolition crews are razing the older buildings of the old Warner Bros. Sunset Blvd. studio where the nasal voice of Al Jolson recorded on Vitaphone, first made talking pictures a commercial reality." The old executive office building and large antenna which for years displayed the words "Warner Bros. Vitaphone" were preserved. However, the old theater where Warner executives watched screenings of the studio's latest works was destroyed. There have been conflicting reports as to whether the soundstage on which "The Jazz Singer" was filmed was razed in the process. At the time, Klaus Landsberg noted that "only the older buildings, including the historic Stage 1, are being destroyed, that newer facilities on the big lot are being renovated and reconditioned for the television operation."
In 1967, Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
and his company, Golden West Broadcasters, acquired the old studio property from Paramount for $5 million. Golden West had previously acquired KTLA and had been leasing the space from Paramount.
In 1977, a celebration was held in Hollywood marking the 50th anniversary of the talking motion picture. A parade of old cars, including a Model T and a Model A, moved down Sunset Boulevard ending at the KTLA studios where "The Jazz Singer" had been filmed 50 years earlier. The Postmaster General Benjamin Bailar and MPAA President Jack Valenti
Jack Valenti
Jack Joseph Valenti was a long-time president of the Motion Picture Association of America. During his 38-year tenure in the MPAA, he created the MPAA film rating system, and he was generally regarded as one of the most influential pro-copyright lobbyists in the world...
were on hand for the first-day issue ceremony of a commemorative stamp honoring 50th anniversary of the first "talking picture." According to a Los Angeles Times report at the time, the 1977 parade carried former film greats "to Stage Six at KTLA, the same stage that was the site of 'The Jazz Singer.'"
In 2001, Tribune Entertainment Company, then the owner of the site, announced plans to overhaul the Sunset Boulevard studio facility, transforming it into the nation's first fully digital studio lot at a cost between $10 million and $20 million. In January 2008, Tribune Entertainment sold the studios to Hudson Capital, LLC, for $125 million. At that time, recent productions at the studio facility included television series "Divorce Court
Divorce Court
Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest...
", "Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
", "Judge Joe Brown", Disney's "Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana is an American television series, which debuted on March 24, 2006 on the Disney Channel. The series focuses on a girl who lives a double life as an average teenage school girl named Miley Stewart by day and a famous pop singer named Hannah Montana by night, concealing her real...
", "Phenomenon
Phenomenon (TV series)
Phenomenon is a competition show judged by mystifier Uri Geller and illusionist Criss Angel and hosted by Tim Vincent which debuted live on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 on NBC. The show featured ten contestants competing to become the next great mentalist, to be determined by viewers voting by phone...
" and "The Biggest Loser
The Biggest Loser
The Biggest Loser is an American reality game show that debuted on NBC October 19, 2004. The show features obese people competing to win a cash prize by losing the highest percentage of weight relative to their initial weight....
". Tribune Studios was then renamed Sunset Bronson Studios and became co-owned with nearby Sunset Gower Studios, the former Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
studio lot.
Historic designation
In 1977, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Peggy Stevenson asked the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission to declare the KTLA-KMPC production facilities a historic monument. The proposal was time to coincide with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of "The Jazz Singer" and was based on the facilities' role as "the site of the filming of the first feature film with synchronized dialogue, Warner Bros.' 'The Jazz Singer,' filmed there in 1927 when the studio was the home of Warner Bros." The Commission followed the recommendation and declared the studio facilities at 5800 Sunset Boulevard a Historic Cultural Monument (HCM #180) in September 1977 as the "Site of the Filming of the First Talking Film." In 1979, the Los Angeles Times wrote an article criticizing the city's failure to preserve the early studio buildings of the motion picture industry and noted that only a handful of film industry sites, including the Old Warner Bros. Studio on Sunset, had been designated as Historic Cultural Monuments. The facilities were also listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2002.
See also
- Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Hollywood
- List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles