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KE$HA Born In The San Fernando Valley

Friday, May 27, 2011 / 1 Comment
Today's totally random post comes to you from KE$HA who believe it or not was born in the San Fernando Valley on March 1, 1987. She was actually born in the bathroom at a party. Gotta love those Valley parties, you never know whats going to happen. I am not sure of all of the details including which city she was born, where her mom lived, and what was she doing at a party while being pregnant. According to Wikipedia, she was born to Pebe Sebert who was a singer and songwriter. Her family struggled to make at ends meet and later moved to Tennessee in 1991.

I apologize to all the male readers. For the all the females and teenagers, enjoy this video:


BTTF Series #6: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM aka Star Wars Special Effects Studio) 6842 Valjean Ave Van Nuys CA 91406

Thursday, May 26, 2011 / No Comments
Welcome aboard the Delorean! Marty McFly here to take you on a journey to a very hidden and unknown location. The Delorean has the required plutonium plus some random garbage in the Mr. Fusion reactor ready for this trip. The time circuits are set to 1975 (actual date unknown) and the flux capciator is.........fluxxing. The engine is running (not stalled this time) so we need to hurry. Hang on, as the ride can be a little bumpy as we travel back in time to 6842 Valjean Avenue Van Nuys CA 91406 near the Van Nuys Airport. This address was the location for Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).

For those that dont know (and if you dont know, you must be living on another planet), this site was founded by George Lucas as a special effects studio to create the one and only Star Wars film. The rest is as they say.....history. The picture at the top-left depicts the rugged and ordinary industrial complex where the ILM crew designed, created, and shot various special effects scenes for the Star Wars film. The picture appears to be the filming of Luke Skywalker and his team attempting to destroy Darth Vader and the Death Star (picture and info courtesy of Star Wars Locations).

Below are more pics from Van Nuys, if you are interested you can view an album of pics at the Star Wars Locations website and also here.



According to the SFV Business Journal (May 2007; cached link):
In an industrial building on Valjean Avenue in Van Nuys a motley band of cameramen, model makers, animators, artists, students, engineers and even a nuclear physicist came together to create not only the stunning visuals for a classic American film celebrating its 30th anniversary this month but they also launched the most famous of visual effects companies and in the process reinvigorated a stagnant segment of the entertainment industry.
Industrial Light & Magic is closely identified with the northern California backyard of its founder George Lucas yet its roots are in the San Fernando Valley. While Lucas directed the live action portions of "Star Wars" in Tunisia and London, a warehouse near the Van Nuys Airport became the birthplace of the Millennium Falcon, the X-wing fighter and that deadliest of Imperial weapons, the Death Star.
And:
The first home of ILM can best be described as part film studio, part laboratory, part fraternity house and all oven especially during the summer months when the temperature determined the work schedule. First cameraman Richard Edlund recalled that in 1975 he walked into a building containing only a card table with a telephone.
Over the next two years, the space would house a model shop, machine shop, electronic shop, animation department, editing room, the shooting stage with the 40-foot long track for a camera, and a screening room that may or may not have had a piano used to provide the score for screening dailies.
And:
Inhabiting this space was a crew of about 100, both men and women, in their late teens to late 20s, many with award-winning careers ahead of them but at that moment spending their days and nights charting unknown visual effects waters all on the dime of 20th Century Fox.
"It was a miracle in a sense that the collection of these folks produced a kind of alchemy that was responsible for changing how the effects in motion pictures were going to be made thereafter," said Jon Erland, one of the model makers.
ILM has been a revolutionary workhorse in the special effects department having worked on over 300 films during its 35 year history including all the Star Wars films, Forrest Gump, Indiana Jones films, Back To the Future films, Star Trek films, E.T., CaddyShack II, Pirates of the Caribbean films, Avatar, and on and on. Basically, if a film has special effects, the folks at ILM worked on it. They essentially have a monopoly on this industry and rightfully so for being the first to use motion control camera, computer generated 3D, and various firsts in computer generated stuff.  A documentary on the entire history of the ILM company was completed in 2010 entitled Industrial Light and Magic: Creating the Impossible which can be viewed on Youtube. Below is a trailer and you can also find the entire documentary searching on Youtube.


So what truly amazes me is that this ground breaking company had its roots in the San Fernando Valley. ILM has become such an influential force, that if it wasnt around today, who knows how many films requiring special effects today would be able to tell its story or even be entertaining. One of the main figures at ILM was John Dykstra.

According to Wikipedia:
When George Lucas was recruiting people for the special effects work on Star Wars, he approached Trumbull who pointed him towards Dykstra. Dykstra led the development at Industrial Light & Magic of the Dykstraflex motion-controlled camera, which was responsible for many of the film's groundbreaking effects. The system was made possible by the availability of off-the-shelf integrated-circuit RAMs at relatively low cost and secondhand VistaVision cameras.
However, there was tension between Dykstra and Lucas who later complained that too much of the special effects budget was spent on developing the camera systems and that the effects team did not deliver all the shots that he had wanted. These tensions would reportedly culminate with Dykstra's firing from ILM following Lucas' return from principal photography in Tunisia. Regardless, following the release of Star Wars, Dykstra secured his status in the industry with Academy Awards for best special effects and special technical achievement.
And from the SFV Business Journal article:
After "Star Wars," ILM abandoned Van Nuys for San Rafael up north. Dykstra, however, operated his Apogee, Inc. from the Valjean address for another 16 years.
I dont blame Dykstra and the others for not leaving the Valley to join ILM up North. Everything you possibly need is in the San Fernando Valley.

If you made this far into the article, there is a special treat that captures the essence of the work done at ILM in Van Nuys. As the SFV Business Journal described, this place was like a frat house with fresh college graduates and young professionals toying and experimenting with new approaches to film making and at the same time establishing a standard without realizing it. This environment was filled with a youthful and energetic crowd that probably didnt have to adhere to rules, time clocks, HR policies, 401ks, performance reviews, etc.

With that said, watch the video "5757" at the link below created by David Berry who was an employee at the ILM Van Nuys site. This video sums up the work atmosphere and shows how the ILM artists were able to create Star Wars let alone revolutionize film making. Some random notes from the film, you will see key employees of the ILM team, various Star Wars models, the Van Nuys golf course which is across the street, and the crew cooling down on a makeshift water slide on a hot summer day. Almost forgot one other thing, you will get the whole "70's Boogie Nights" vibe from this film. After all, Star Wars was created in the 70's. 

5757 from David Berry on Vimeo.

Another video that David Berry put together was the making of Battlestar Galactica in 1978 at the Valjean site, see below.
Scenes from Galactica from David Berry on Vimeo.

So its time to get back in the Delorean and go Back To The Future to check out the ILM site in its present form:

Not much has changed as you can see with the facade looking the same. I did not venture inside the warehouse but I imagine it has changed some from its original form. Today, its the home of Neiman & Company Architectural Design.

One last thing before I go, the Lucasfilm company which is the parent company of ILM was originally headquartered at 3900/3855 Lankershim directly across from Universal Studios in what is now the Metro Red Line parking lot. This building later became the Egg Factory Office building which I believed was owned by Jodie Foster before shutting down to make way for the Red Line. "The Star Wars office moved across the road from Universal to a small office on Riverside Drive in North Hollywood." (Info courtesy Star Wars Locations)


Big thanks to "admin" at Star Wars Locations for assisting with this blogpost. Also thanks to David Berry for creating the "home made" movies of the original ILM site, without them, we would have no idea how fun it is to play on a water slide in an industrial parking lot. 


Dont forget if you havent done so, check out the following links, all are excellent pieces to the ILM Van Nuys story:
 Hope you enjoyed it.
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Check out the other Back To The Future Series by clicking on the Back To The Future Series tab above or links provided below:

5. BTTF Series #5: The Promenade Mall at Woodland Hills
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Sources:
Star Wars Wikia - ILM Article

Star Wars Blog - ILM Early Years Article

Star Wars Locations - Van Nuys Album

Star Wars Locations - All Los Angeles Sites Article

Star Warz.com Pics

Wikipedia - ILM Article

Geek News MTV - ILM Article

Star Wars Official Site - ILM Article

SFV Business Journal - 'Star Wars,' Lucas Firm Born in Van Nuys Warehouse Article (May 2007, cached)

BTTF Series #5: The Promenade Mall at Woodland Hills

Thursday, May 19, 2011 / 2 Comments

Welcome aboard the Delorean! Marty McFly here to take you on a journey to the Promenade Mall at Woodland Hills. The Delorean has the required plutonium plus some random garbage in the Mr. Fusion reactor ready for this trip. The time circuits are set to 1973 (actual date unknown) and the flux capciator is.........fluxxing and the engine is running. Hang on, as the ride can be a little bumpy as we travel back in time to Woodland Hills at the corner of Topanga and Oxnard. You can see the Promenade Mall on the picture left top. I dont know the exact date of this postcard but based on the cars, it appears to be sometime in the 70's. 

Here are more pics of the mall in its original form courtesy of http://departmentstoremuseum.blogspot.com:
Bullocks  Wilshire Department Store
J. W. Robinson's Department Store
Now that we have seen the mall as it first appeared, let's hop back into the Delorean and see what this place looked like before the Promenade Mall was erected.


Truly amazing! This postcard has a lot of detail as you can see the Topanga Mall in the background which appears to have a giant slide attached to it (click on image to enlarge). The Topanga Mall was built in 1964 so it appears that this postcard was taken sometime between 1964 and say 1970 before construction began on the Promenade as the picture depicts farming fields in its place. On the left, is an Oldsmobile dealership but I dont know who owned it at that time. Also, in the center, I believe the Topanga Theater is present. If that building in the center is truly the Topanga Theater, I didnt know it was around since the 60's. Too bad its gone now. Below is a photo from January 1977.

Image courtesy Thom Balch via San Fernando Valley Relics Facebook
So its time to go Back To The Future and check out the Promenade in its present form:


You can see that when comparing the above picture to the postcard at the very top that the mall and surrounding area hasnt changed much except for trees and the building where I took the picture was not present in the postcard.

Here is a brief history of the Mall courtesy from Wikipedia:
Opened in 1973 as The Promenade at Woodlands Hills, it was originally a high-fashion center anchored by J. W. Robinson'sBullocks Wilshire and Saks Fifth Avenue. The Bullocks Wilshire store was renamed I. Magnin in 1990 and in 1995 became a Bullock's Men's store, being renamed Macy's in 1996. The Robinson's store was closed in 1993 and sold to Bullock's, becoming Macy's in 1996 as well. Following the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, Saks Fifth Avenue used the opportunity to close their underperforming store and it was demolished in 1994 for the addition of the AMC Theatre, which opened in 1996.
The center was briefly acquired by Simon Property Group in 1997, before being sold in 1998 to Westfield America, Inc., a precursor to The Westfield Group. At that time it was renamed "Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade". The unwieldy "Shoppingtown" name was dropped in June 2005.
Westfield Promenade was plagued for years by tenant problems and slow business, although the addition of the movie theatre during renovations after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, more recent renovations in 2001 and the addition of the Barnes & Noble and its nearby restaurants has helped increase mall traffic and bring in better, more stable tenants. Unfortunately, the newly revamped Westfield Topanga has overshadowed The Promenade. The mall may be slated for more renovation after Westfield is finished with work on Westfield Topanga.
Westfield has on numerous occasion examined plans to connect the two centers, with methods such as an enclosed bridge and a light monorail system being discussed. On all previous occasions, the discussions have ended without conclusion due to concerns over logistics, cost and other issues. In mid-September 2007, Westfield began notifying area residents via the mail of an upcoming mall to bridge the 2 existing malls. The new shopping area, an open air promenade design, will be known as "the Village". Ground clearing for this new complex became clearly visible with the demolition of Topanga Theater on September 19, the largest building in the proposed footprint of the new mall.
So thats the history of the Promenade mall, hope you enjoyed it. Wait! We have word that the mall's future might be impacted. We need to get back in the Delorean again and go to the year 2016. According to Westfield Topanga:
The Village at Westfield Topanga will become the signature community destination and gathering place in the heart of Warner Center. Located between Westfield Topanga and Westfield Promenade, The Village will be your new one-of-a-kind destination with a unique blend of retail, dining, community spaces and social activities including landscaped pedestrian walkways, open air plaza, alfresco dining, family-friendly outdoor spaces, water features and a community center. The Village at Westfield Topanga will be a dynamic mixed-use project with over 1,000,000 sf on 30 acres within Warner Center. 
Check out these artistic renderings of the new Village at Westfield Topanga plus the satellite image below of the Topanga Mall, Promenade Mall, and the new Village  (click on image to enlarge):





I have mixed feelings about this new proposal. It seems really cool, modern, and a fun place to hang out but how many more stores, office space, hotel rooms, and shopping malls do we need? What is traffic going to be like? Basically avoid Topanga between Victory and Oxnard in the future? There will also be a Costco added to this site so what happens to the Costco in Canoga Park on Roscoe and Canoga. Only time will tell. You can stay informed about the latest updates by signing up online at http://westfield.com/topanga/thevillage/contact/. I believe they also conduct surveys with residents so that will be an opportunity to voice your opinions.

Time to head back into the Delorean to 2011! Hope you enjoyed it.

Check out the other Back To The Future Series by clicking on the Back To The Future Series tab above or links provided below:

Blog Updates

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If you havent noticed by now, the San Fernando Valley Blog has undergone significant changes. Since we started about 1.5 months ago, the following has taken place in the last couple of weeks that has taken a majority of our time:
  • Redesigned blog with a new look and feel. 
  • Moved the blog to a new address, SFValleyblog.com. The old address still works as a backup, SanFernandoValleyBlog.blogspot.com.
  • Hired Marty McFly to write the Back To The Future Series, seems fitting. 
  • Hired Robin Leach to write the Celebrity Real Estate Updates, also seems fitting.
  • In the near future, looking to add a Filming Location series.
  • Also in the near future, looking to add Facebook and Twitter accounts much to our dismay but cannot deny the power of social media. 
  • Researched Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in order to make the blog posts easier to retrieve through searches which required some HTML programming.
Since we have no experience with web design, photography, journalism, history, graphic arts design, and most importantly, the English language, we have been learning all this stuff on the fly in order to bring rich and thought provoking content. So bear with us as we add to the blog. This is a hobby so there is only so many hours to devote while also attending to life's needs and challenges.   

ValleyBites: Latest Headlines

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 / No Comments

ValleyBites: Latest Headlines

Monday, May 9, 2011 / No Comments

Celebrity Real Estate: Neil Patrick Harris Sells In Studio City

Thursday, May 5, 2011 / No Comments
[Update June 25, 2014]: Neil Patrick Harris has listed the Sherman Oaks home (mentioned below) for $2,995,000 on June 25, 2014 which was discussed on this blog and appears to have moved to New York.

[Original Post]:
Doogie Howser M.D. and How I Met Your Mother star, Neil Patrick Harris has sold his Studio City house according to Lauren Beale at the L.A. Times Hot Property. The house was sold for $1,535,000 on April 28, 2011 which has 3 Bed/3 Bath 2,408 sqft with Mtn/City views, chef's kitchen, guest suite, and entertainers yard. Harris originally purchased it in in May 2007 for $1,500,00 so it looks like he took a small loss when factoring commissions. 

Celebrity Real Estate: Louella Parson's former Northridge Home Up For Sale

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[UPDATE February 18 2012]: Here is how the home looked back in 1952, 1959, and 1969 from Historicaerials.com. By 1969, the land was fully developed.




[UPDATE August 28 2011]: This home sold on August 26 2011 for $719,000 which was much cheaper than the original listing price. We congratulate the new buyers whoever they are on this excellent investment. If they find any historical mementos hidden in the walls, please share with us. Maybe this property can become a historical monument to give it protected status so that no one every demolishes it to prevent another property of significant Valley history from being lost.


[Original Post]

Lauren Beale at the L.A. Times Hot Property has posted that renowned Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons former home in Northridge has come onto the market. Parsons died in 1972 at the age of 91. She started as a syndicated columnist for William Randolph Hearst. According to the L.A. Times, "She held an undisputed position of power in the motion picture industry for 40 years, opening the doors on the private lives of movie people, reporting their scandals, romances, feuds, and break-ups." Sort of like the modern version of TMZ and tabloid magazines. 

Celebrity Real Estate: Eddie Murphy's Ex Sells in Calabasas For Big Loss

Tuesday, May 3, 2011 / 1 Comment
[Update: July 07, 2011]: According to the property records, this house sold for $5,515,000 on May 29, 2011 representing a loss of $1,985,000. I dont care who you are but that is a lot of money.

[Original Post]
Hot off the presses! According to Lauren Beale at LA Times Hot Property, Nicole Murphy, ex-wife of Eddie Murphy has just sold her home in Calabasas for close to the listed price of $5.95 million. The home measures 9,214 sqft with 6 Beds/7Baths including wet bar, wine cellar, theater, two three car garages, and a game room amongst other amenities. There is more to this story than what seems like a simple celebrity sale. This one is packed with drama that it belongs in a reality show. 

Back To The Future Series #4: Valley Ho Restaurant 8126 Van Nuys Blvd Van Nuys

Monday, May 2, 2011 / 3 Comments
I received a really cool postcard the other day for the Valley Ho Restaurant in Van Nuys. Has anyone eaten there before or knew of its existence? I couldnt find anything about it in my research. I thought this was from another state but it specifically states Van Nuys, CA.