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KCET Studios
KCET Studios (old part).jpg
Administration building erected by Charles Ray in 1922
Location 4401 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California
Built 1912
Governing body private
Designated 1978
Reference no. 198
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The KCET Studios are located at 4401 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. This place is special because it's the longest continuously-producing studio in Hollywood. Since it started in 1912, many different movie and TV makers have used these studios.

Some of the famous companies that worked here include Lubin, Essanay, Charles Ray, Monogram Pictures, and Allied Artists. Since 1970, it has been the home of the public television station KCET. In 2011, KCET sold the building to the Church of Scientology.

Early Years of the Studio

In 1912, a film producer named Siegmund Lubin built the first film studio on this spot. His company, Lubin Manufacturing Company, made educational films here. These included movies like "An Alligator Farm."

In 1913, Lubin sold the studio to the Essanay Film Company. Essanay made 20 Western movies before selling the place to the Kalem Company. Kalem started working there in late 1913. The funny "Ham and Bud" comedy series was filmed here from 1914 to 1917. After that, Kalem moved to another location.

In 1917, Willis and Inglis took over the studio. They rented out space to other independent filmmakers. They built a large outdoor stage and a big indoor stage. During this time, The Marine Film Corporation filmed "Lorelei of the Sea" here. The comedian Fay Tincher also made many short comedies at the studio.

In 1918, Jesse D. Hampton started renting space. By 1919, Willis and Inglis built another part that became known as Hampton Studio. A magazine reported that the studio was very busy with many workers. Hampton made more than 25 films at the site from 1918 to 1920.

In 1920, the actor Charles Ray bought the studios. He built many of the red brick buildings that you can still see today. When Ray's new soundstage was finished, it was called "the last word in studio construction." It had a special glass roof and sides that could be opened for street scenes. It even had a tank under the stage for water scenes. Ray's soundstage is still used today as KCET's Studio A. In 1922, Ray also added a Spanish-style, red brick office building. This building is still used by KCET.

Charles Ray spent a lot of money, about $800,000, to make his big film, The Courtship of Myles Standish, at the studio. He even built a life-size copy of the Mayflower ship. It had a pool of water with a way to make the ship rock. But the movie did not do well at the box office. By 1923, Charles Ray's company went bankrupt.

After Charles Ray's company failed, the Bank of Italy took over the property. They rented out studio space to other filmmakers. The bank changed the studio's address and renamed it the Sunset Studio. Actress Jean Navelle bought the studio in 1927. However, her company stopped working in 1929, and the studio went back to the Bank of Italy.

Ralph M. Like's Time

Ralph M. Like was an engineer who created a way to record sound onto film. He started renting space at the studio in 1926. In 1932, he leased the whole studio for his company, International Recording Engineers. Like built a new soundstage, which is now Stage B, in 1932. In 1933, his mother bought the studio from the Bank of Italy.

During the 1930s, many Western movies were filmed at the studio. In 1937, the famous director John Ford directed the movie "Hurricane)" there. The studio got better facilities in the late 1930s and early 1940s. More land was bought to build sets for docks, a city street, another sound stage, and a costume department.

Monogram Pictures and Allied Artists

KCET Studios
Brick soundstages built in the 1920s

Monogram Pictures started renting space at the studio in the late 1930s. They bought the property from Like in 1943. Monogram Pictures was a smaller studio that made "B-Movies." These were movies made with a lower budget.

Monogram made film series like "Charlie Chan," the "East Side Kids," "The Bowery Boys," and "The Cisco Kid." They also made Westerns with Tex Ritter. Allied Artists took over after Monogram. They made both movies and TV shows at the studio in the 1950s and 1960s.

Some of the movies filmed here during the Monogram and Allied Artists years include:

In 1964, Allied Artists had money problems. They stopped making movies and became a company that just distributed films. They moved to New York. From 1964 to 1967, the studios were mostly used for making TV shows and commercials. In 1967, ColorVision bought the studio. They also rented out space to other companies. ColorVision went bankrupt in 1969.

KCET Takes Over

In July 1970, the Los Angeles public television station KCET bought the 3.5-acre site for $800,000. In November 1971, KCET opened its newly fixed-up studio facilities. These studios were the biggest in public television at the time. They were meant to be the main production center for public television on the West Coast. In 1975, KCET planned to build a new $1.5 million brick office building there.

KCET has used these studios to create many shows. These include Carl Sagan's famous series Cosmos, Steve Allen's Meeting of Minds, California's Gold, and Visiting...with Huell Howser.

In 1979, something interesting happened. A KCET employee accidentally kicked a hole in a wall. A maintenance manager fixing the hole saw an arched brick wall behind the wallboard. They removed the wallboard and found the fancy outside of a small theater built in the 1920s. This old exterior had been covered up to make the sound better for movies with sound.

In March 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that KCET was talking about selling the studio to the Church of Scientology. On April 25, 2011, KCET confirmed the sale. They said they would move to other production facilities in about a year. The Church of Scientology said they planned to use the studios to make videos and online content. They would also use the satellite equipment for high-definition video broadcasts.

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