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ChineseSupport The WGA With Public Transit
For the past three+ months Los Angeles has nearly come to a complete production halt costing the city of Los Angeles hundreds of millions of dollars. Now there are some pluses to such a halt in that the roads are much less congested and my bus time to work has been nearly halved since the beginning of the writers’ strike. But aside from this and the cancellation of the circle jerk… err, the Golden Globe Awards, there aren’t any more. Now I’m not going to tell anyone which side one should or shouldn’t take but if you do side with the writers then here’s how to support them– by public transit of course.
Seeing as all the protests (the classic sign in hand kind) are near the studios to which the WGA is protesting, parking will be atrocious unless you have access to said studio lots/buildings. Therefore, to help you avoid the crisis of parking and to help save your energy that would be wasted on yelling at other drivers, here’s a quick guide on where the protests are and which transit lines get you there. And remember to check back every week with the new list on where the strikers will be and how to get there by public transit.
CBS Radford Studios
4024 Radford Avenue
Studio City, CA 91604
Metro: 750 (get off at Laural Canyon and walk east to Radford) 150, 240 (get off at Laural Canyon and walk east to Radford)
CBS Television City
7800 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Metro: 14, 714 (get off at Genesse) 217, 780 (get off at Beverly) 16, 316 (get off at Fairfax, walk north to Beverly) 10 (get off at Fairfax, walk south to Beverly)
Disney Studios
500 S Buena Vista Street
Burbank, California 91521
Metro: 155, 292 (get off at Buena Vista)
Fox Studios
10201 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(I saw this one today and noticed they’re actually right in front of Fox Plaza, aka Nakatomi Tower, in Century City, on Ave of the Stars as well as at Pico/Motor)
Metro: 28, 728 (get off at Century Park West, walk east to Ave of the Stars, walk south to Fox Plaza) 16, 316 (same)
BBB: 5 (get off at Ave of the Stars and walk south to Fox Plaza) 7 (get off Ave of the Stars, walk north to Fox Plaza or get off at Pico/Motor directly in front of the Fox Studios entrance)
Culver City Bus: 3 (get off at Century Park West, walk east to Ave of the Stars, walk south to Fox Plaza)
NBC Studios
3000 W Alameda Ave
Burbank, CA
Metro: 155, 292 (get off at Olive) 96 (get off at Olive)
Paramount Studios/Raleigh Studios Hollywood
5555/5300 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Metro: 10 (get off at Gower) 210 (get off at Melrose, walk east approx. 3 blocks to both studios)
Warner Bros. Studios
4000 Warner Boulevard
Burbank, CA 91522
Metro: 155, 292 (get off Hollywood Way, walk south to Olive, walk west on Olive to the studio)
If anyone else knows of any bus lines that I’ve not mentioned above please add them in the comments section below and good luck!
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Does anyone in the Industry use transit? HA! They’re the most anti-transit, car-dependent people of all. Sorry, the Militant will pass on this.
that def might be the case, militant for everyone i know in the Stry are def car dependent (by choice), but who knows? we don’t know them all so hopefully some will be more receptive to taking public transit, especially now that they’re slowly going unemployed and can’t afford the gas!
Getting “the industry” (god I hate the way that term is used) excited about transit in Los Angeles should be a major goal of MetroRiders. I agree that many “industry” types seem, like the Militant said, very anti-transit (or at least ignorant of transit as an option). But, “the industry” does employee a lot of people, and brings a lot of people here, and more importantly, gets a lot of attention. Furthermore, the successful ones are typically limousine liberals, but are usually eager to get behind some sort of cause if it makes them look good. Imagine if we could get this new breed of Hollywood enviro-activists like Leonardo DiCaprio to actually put their money where their mouth is and work to improve the region that brought them success instead of building “eco-resorts” on islands only reachable by private jet.
If we can get “the industry” behind our cause it would be huge.
You forgot the Culver City 3 Crosstown/Century City line which goes right by the Main Entrance of Sony Picture Studios and Culver City 1 Washington Bl. Line which goes by the side of Sony and the Front of the Culver Studios.
Take Care
- P.
I enjoy seeing the picketers every morning at Pico and Motor on the BBB 7 Line, to have a Rapid 7 in June 2008!
I would honk in support if I had a horn.
Going by car always made sense for me when my hours were off-rush — going in late morning, leaving late night.
This past year I worked on a project where we started at 9 am, and I found myself taking the 20 to Beverly Hills a lot. And taking the Red Line to Universal to picket, of course, where I learned about the route of the 96, because people who’d get off the subway would ask.
In general, “the industry” isn’t too bad. Most major studios offer some sort of reimbursement for taking public transit (yeah, i know that some of them seem to offer more than they really do) and companies like Disney and Fox offer free shuttles to move people around their lots and the many buildings off their lots in their neighborhoods. Of course, for the most part, these reimbursements and shuttle opportunities are shunned by the bigwigs making the really big bucks, but every little bit helps. Still, they could do more.
And, yeah, hey, writers, take the bus to the picket line, already. You got nothing else to do.
Fred, I’ve seen your website and you’ve got great design skills. Maybe you could make some motion graphics or a snazzy design to promote these ideas, Metro, Metrolink, and public transit. Metro tries to make appealing commercials, but even with the backing of their in-house Metro Design Studio, their commercials pale in comparison to the automobile industry.
Transit advocates typically have a lot of substance, but not a lot of style going for them.
See this article about transit marketing: “Will I be Sexier if I Ride the Bus?” http://www.permanentcampaigns.com/?p=72
when i was picketing at universal studios gate 3, i took the red line every morning (6am shift!), and i wasn’t the only one. there were quite a few writers on my shift and the 9am shift who took metro to the picket lines.
now i’m picketing at nbc burbank (our whole team was moved there), but will also be pulling shifts at fox so i really appreciate this primer. i’ll be linking to it off my blog and urging all the other writers on my shift to do the same. thank you!
FredCamino: The Militant hates the way “Hollywood” is used (it is a community in the eyes of the Militant, one that is hardly reflected accurately by the Industry), so he uses the i-word. Hollywood the community existed before Hollywood the industry did.
Good point Militant, but at least Hollywood was the birthplace of the movie industry in 1914. When movie people say “the Industry” it annoys me because it comes off as if there is only one industry in Los Angeles (hell, the world) and that it’s their industry. Bah. Instead of saying “I work in the industry” I wish people would just say “I work in the movie industry”. Ah, but I’m just being grumpy.
thanks for spreading the word, celia. let them all know a much better option than driving and trying to find parking around the studios is just waiting for them to take advantage of.