Dear Alec Baldwin, L.A. Ain’t For You

Yes, The Purplish Light of Southern California Does Wonders for Aging Movie Stars. But If You’re Trying to Escape New York, You’re Coming to the Wrong Place.

Dear Alec Baldwin,

Let me be the first to welcome you to the great state of California.

I know you haven’t arrived yet. But, in a piece published in New York magazine that made headlines across the country, you made it plain that after years of being terrorized by Manhattan’s media and increasingly nosy public, you’re done with living and working in New York City, where you were once so popular that you toyed with running for mayor. Your next destination: Los Angeles, where you believe you can be free to be …

by Joe Mathews | March 6, 2014

Why I Worship a Forgotten Starlet

The Hollywood Obsession That Changed My Life

by Christina Rice | January 22, 2014

Perhaps you’ve heard of Ann Dvorak. She made headlines in early 1932 with a coveted role in Scarface, a film produced by Howard Hughes. Reporters called the 19-year-old actress “Hollywood’s …

Deck L.A. With Shrubs of Holly

Our Most Apocryphal Plant Didn’t Put the Holly in Hollywood, But We Love It Anyway

by Lila Higgins | December 18, 2013

In Nancy Dale’s 1986 epic tome of Southern California native plants, Flowering Plants, she has this to say about toyon—aka California holly, Christmas berry, or, if you’re a botanist, Heteromeles …

How to Dress Like a TV Writer

Rule Number One: Don’t Wear a Suit

by Michael Sonnenschein | December 2, 2013

At my first meeting as a professional writer in Hollywood, I did something dumb: I wore a suit. The meeting went poorly, and years later, I still blame the suit.

I …

Why I Traded Hollywood Glamour for a Gig Selling Life Insurance

Felons Were Characters in the Movies I Helped Make. Then They Became Potential Clients.

by Lisa Reeve | October 9, 2013

Working in L.A. can be a challenge. My lowest point came 18 months ago, when I found myself sitting in my darkened bedroom, wearing a telephone headset, and talking to …

John Lehr

Hollywood’s Most Affable Caveman

by Fuzz Hogan | July 25, 2013

John Lehr’s most famous “role,” if you can call it that, masks a personality that is, at heart, a persistent smile. You’ve seen him—and heard him—over the years as the …

Why It’s So Hard to Speak Silicon Valley

Rather Than Engage With California, Our Humorless Tech Overlords Hide Behind a Wall of Jargon

The Women Blowing Up Ethiopia’s Film Industry

Successful Female Writers, Directors, and Producers Set the Nation Apart From Hollywood, Bollywood, and the Rest of World Cinema

Can the State’s New Hollywood Tax Credit Make Us All Media Moguls?

Californians Are Investing Over $1.5 Billion in Film and TV Production. We Deserve the Red-Carpet Treatment.

Orange County Still Acts Like Mayberry R.F.D. It Needs to Get Real About Immigrants and the Homeless

The Rich, Urbanized California Region Should Stop Pretending It's a Cash-Strapped Small Town

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