THEATRE ROW'S
NEXT ACT
NEWSLETTER Q1/2022
08
CONTENTS 04. VISION BOARD A look forward.
06. TRAINING DAY Shaping future Public Safety officers.
08. THEATRE ROW Is the stage set for a second act?
14. EX NIHILO Sycamore has a new scent.
16. SELF-MADE
14
Fitness finds an impressive home on Highland.
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Hollywood Media District Dianna Eisenberg, Executive Director
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T N E D I S E R P , A L L I MIGUEL PAD vol-
e ay the BID is w e h t y b d dred "I am excite n for a hun e e b s a h it hat ss ving from w -five busine o t e in 'n a ictly n live/work years—str ia r t s e d e p e a mor g media-rein district'—to iv r h t o t In addition ers will have community. ld o h e k a t s sses, our od-serving lated busine o h r o b h ig e ess to n greater acc ies, and thea r e ll a g t r a , urants dia District e retail, resta M e h t e k a d this will m th during an tres. I think o b y it n u m amic com a more dyn s." siness hour u b l a m r o n after
t n e d i s e r P e c i V , e e L r Tho
rk in of thought and wo "We invested a lot ns on Highland Ave ia ed m ur o ng vi o impr we to see the plants nue. I am excited e to mature over th ue in nt co em th in put the tree lighting as ll we as s, ar ye next few h major north/sout e th e at in um ill ll wi that corridor."
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Vision BOARD om ues to rebound fr in nt co ict tr is D ia As the Med return to the e pl o pe d an ic em the COVID-19 pand utine, it is more ro e m ho t-a rk wo office from a t BID feel like a grea e th at th er ev an important th rs of d, we asked membe en at th o T . be place to ey most look th at wh ee itt m m the Executive Co ict over the next tr is D e th in ng ei forward to se two years.
Jeff Luster, Past President "I most look forward to the medians on Highland Avenue being finished."
STEPHEN BURN, SECRETARY
"I’m most looking forward to the BID continuing its work on prioritizing safe and clean streets. The recent outreach by our security officers, with an added focus on community engagement, helps put a face to the BID and its work.. Adding trash cans and maintaining them properly sounds like a small thing, but it is something that directly impacts the look and feel of our streets and I anticipate seeing more of them in near future."
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T
he sun had just started to warm the morning air over Hollywood when Ivan Rangel and Ian Duenas Garcia arrived for their internship with the Media District’s Public Safety team. After a quick equipment check, they set off on their bikes and spend the day patrolling the neighborhood, interacting with BID business owners, and engaging with community members.
Since May 2021, the Media District has partnered with the Los Angeles LGBT Center to train selected young men and women who are interested in a career in public safety and security. Anyone who meets certain criteria—are 18 years of age or older, possesses a BSIS Guard Card, and Bike Certification, for instance—is encouraged to apply. Throughout the month-long program, interns receive 120 hours of hands-on experience where they learn what it’s like to work in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment like the Media District BID. “I love what we are doing with community outreach, especially with the unhoused population,” said Garcia. “You can tell the team is really trying to make a difference.” For Rangel, it’s the teamwork that really stands out. “When we’re out patrolling as a group, people come up and talk to us because they feel like they can rely on us.” Both say the internship has confirmed their commitment to pursue a career in public safety and security. “Doing this teaches you a lot of life skills,” said Garcia. “Like ethics and how to carry yourself with composure. Being out there and interacting with people is really gratifying.” Ayana Sepulveda, one of the BID’s Public Safety team captains who oversees the program, noted that previous graduates have found full-time employment. In fact, the internship has been such a success that they plan to expand it to 300 hours of training when it picks up again this summer. Sepulveda notes it’s not just the interns who benefit from the training. “By engaging with our interns, our officers learn to effectively communicate with members of the LGBTQ+ community who bring a different set of views and experiences with them. This relationship helps both the District and the community as a whole.” z
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TRAINING DAY Holly w ood Medi a D i st ri ct / 7
THEATRE ROW'S NEXTACT T
he mile-long stretch of live-performance venues that line Santa Monica Boulevard from McCadden Place to El Centro Avenue, has held a vital place in L.A.’s arts scene for decades. The area received its official designation as “Theatre Row” in 2015 thanks to the efforts of Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell and even helped launch the careers of marquee names like George Clooney, Octavia Spencer, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Molly Shannon, and Chris Pine.
But to reduce Theatre Row to merely a collection of like-minded businesses would be to sorely undervalue the sense of community and camaraderie that exists between them. A September 2020 Los Angeleno article notes, “Unlike stores that compete for business, Hollywood’s theater venues function more like an ecosystem, a forest of trees bound by conjoint roots. All the venue owners are friends. They work with each other.” more on page 10 >
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course, the operating costs—rent, utilities, payroll—but, for those able to hold on, there were lifelines.
A stroll through this part of the Media District on a pre-pandemic weekend evening would put you squarely in a crowd of buzzy theatergoers congregated on the sidewalk. In 2019, Theatre Row offered Angelenos 400 shows on more than 20 stages. Productions were lined up for months in advance and audiences were eager to fill their seats.
“We worked with our landlord on a plan to address the rent,” said Rettman. “Which basically came down to him waiting for us to get the grants in order to pay it. He was patient, the grants came, and it worked out.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the nation’s arts and culture sector was a $919.7 billion industry that supported 5.2 million jobs and represented 4.3% of the nation’s economy in 2019 and the future looked rosy.
Padraic Duffy, managing director of Sacred Fools, the resident company at The Broadway Theater complex (1076 Lilian Way), agreed that government grants— from the Los Angeles City Council all the way up to some federal programs—helped stave off disaster.
Just a few months later and all that would change. “Then, once we could open, but before we felt comforAlmost as soon as the coronavirus appeared as a threat table programming ourselves, we offered our space for to public health and safety, live performance venues film and rehearsal rentals. We also did some online virwere among the first to shutter. No productions meant tual programming and events,” said Duffy. no revenue, and businesses that had been around for That same Americans for the Arts report noted that decades quickly had to grapple with the idea they might 77% of arts organizations delivered virtual content/ not survive. programming during the pandemic and, of those, 29% plan to improve their online content moving forward, In fact, it didn’t take long for Theatre Row to suffer its while 18% expect to maintain their level of programfirst casualty. “Today, the Lounge Theatre has officially ming. closed its doors,” reads a post from May 15, 2020, on the company’s Facebook page. The Blank 2nd Stage Theatre (6500 Santa Monica Blvd.)—which runs the annual Young Playwrights Fes“We had to furlough everyone. We all went on unem- tival—is one of those companies. It launched a subscriployment," recalls Zeke Rettman, managing director of ber-supported streaming service during the pandemic the Hudson Theatres (6539 Santa Monica Blvd.) a few cleverly called The Blank’s 3rd Stage. For the Spring 2022 season, The Blank offers its patrons a “Living blocks away from the Lounge. Room Series" of new plays in development, shown in a They were not alone. Between February and April 2020, digital format. According to its website, the next online the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that jobs reading for More of a Heart by writer Dave Osmundsen in the arts sector plummeted from 2.5 million to 1.2 will take place on May 23. million, a decline of nearly 53%. Indeed, the outlook seemed grim. A March 2022 Americans for the Arts “Certainly, we took a major financial hit, but we have report claimed that by July 2021, financial losses to the been able to continue to improve and make upgrades to nation’s arts and culture organizations reached an esti- our venue,” said Rettman. “We lost some in-house theamated $17.97 billion. Ninety-nine percent of producing tre companies and clients to the pandemic, so that’s an and presenting organizations nationwide had canceled ongoing challenge to replace that level of consistency.” events that represented a loss of 557 million ticketed admissions. “For Theatre Row as a whole, I’m concerned,” he contiRettman added, “It felt like we held our breath for about nued. “It seems that the Broadwater is doing well and looking strong, so that’s good. I haven’t seen enough a year and a half.” from the other venues to gauge how they’re doing.” more on page 12 > The biggest issue for many of these theaters was, of
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Above: The Hudson Theatres. Right: The poster for Afterglow, a show that explores the emotional, intellectual, and physical relationships between three men as Josh and Alex experiment with an open marriage and an unexpected connection forms Runs Thu, May 05 – Sun, Jun 19 at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
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Duffy shares this sentiment. “I’m concerned about when audiences will return, and whether we will get adequate stage support. I also worry about further closures along the Row.”
Left: The Broadwater Plunge Theatre.
Some of the new productions appearing on Theatre Row this spring, include Afterglow at the Hudson Theatres (top left), The Blank Theatre's "Living Room Series", Three Men and a Groupon from Sacred Fools (bottom left), and 18 days of programming at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Above: A still from Three Men and a Groupon, where a trio of Midwestern pals attempt to decide what Groupon to buy that they can all use together. It will be performed onstage in June with Sacred Fools through the Hollywood Fringe Festival (below). Details here.
According to AMS Audience Outlook Monitor, 69% of arts attendees are already attending or ready to attend in-person programs as of February 2022—up from 38% in September 2021 (17% in April 2021). Nearly a quarter plan to wait for infection rates to drop further before attending, down from 39% just a month prior. That should be good news, especially with the Hollywood Fringe Festival scheduled to take place again this June in many of the Theatre Row venues. The annual, community-driven event celebrates freedom of expression with 18 days of original programming and has generated $3.5 million dollars since it began in 2010. Sacred Fools plans to participate with its production of Three Guys, One Groupon. “We’re in good shape. The future for the Hudson Theatre is bright,” said Rettman. His organization currently has A Death-Defying Escape running through May 15, and the sexy Afterglow on its MainStage beginning May 5. “I’m certainly hopeful. I hope to see more, but I think Theatre Row is going to be fine.” z
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E
x Nihilo—meaning “out of nothing” in Latin—is a Parisian fragrance house founded in 2013 by Sylvie Loday, Olivier Royère, and Benoît Verdier. Since its inception, this genre-redefining company has carved out a space at the intersection of luxury and the Avant-garde. Now the company occupies an 860 square-foot space on Sycamore Avenue too. "We were interested in Rodeo Drive and Melrose Place of course," said Marine Roland, Ex Nihilo's General Manager for the U.S. and Canada. "Then we came to Sycamore District and saw Just One Eye, we heard a new French restaurant was opening nearby, we really felt like something was happening here." The Los Angeles boutique—Ex Nihilo's first American flagship—honors the high-art aesthetic of its rue Saint-Honoré store (the white marble, the polished brass finishes, etc.) while adding casual SoCal flourishes like raw concrete floors and an industrial ceiling. The result is a vibe that's both laidback and exclusive.
EX
NIHILO Sycamore's new scent.
All of this, of course, is meant to be merely a backdrop to the reason for coming: the fragrances. Front and center sit the brand's core collection of ready-to-wear scents—from the Cologne 352 (a symphony of Italian lemon, lily of the valley, and white cedarwood reminiscent of a garden stroll) to the torrid olfactory love affair of pink peppercorn, peony, and amber known as Explicite. Shoppers can also score scented candles, perfumed oils, and limited-edition collaborations with artists like Daniela Busarello and Mathieu César. Los Angeles will get its own exclusive fragrance with a not-yet-named collaborator in October. The pièce-de-résistance (if you will) is the company’s Osmologue, the spectacularly chic perfume bar that allows for fragrance personalization through cuttingedge technology. Here, patrons can meet with an Ex Nihilo consultant to experience ingredients like rose of May, iris pallida, or orange blossom in their purest forms and then combine them with the help of the Osmologue in just a few minutes to create the desired result. Ex Nihilo is located at 926 N. Sycamore Avenue. z
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Ex Nihilo Osmologue. Photo courtesy of Ex Nihilo.
SMTF
T
o call Self-Made Training Facility (SMTF) Hollywood just a gym would be to vastly undersell it since the sprawling 10,000-square-foot fitness center located on Highland Avenue offers so much more than that. In addition to a fully stocked weight room for powerlifting and custom-made machines for strength and conditioning, SMTF offers rings for boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, and jiu-jitsu. There’s also a hydration bar and retail shop for grabbing 1st Phorm fitness supplements and SLFMD-branded gear. "Self-Made Training Facility Hollywood is specifically designed for personal trainers and their clients," said owner Chris Alcala. "We allow the trainers to run their business in a clean, organized, spacious, and well-equipped environment." Indeed, SMTF does not offer public memberships. Those who want to work out here will need to hire an affiliated personal trainer to get inside. On the upside, they have 24/7 access to the facility which means you can work out at 3 a.m. if you so wish. Alternatively, anyone can pay to sign up for one of SMTF’s many instructor-led classes, like those for First Responders, the Limitless Sports Academy for youth, or self-defense training for women.
SMTF is located at 1128 N. Highland Ave. Visit hollywood.selfmadetrainingfacility.com for more information. z
To call Highland's newest fitness center just a gym would be to vastly undersell it.
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& FOUND
LOST
A little after one o'clock on Friday, March 25, the Media District Public Safety office received a phone call from Everytable at 6775 Santa Monica Blvd. that they were concerned about a woman currently in their restaurant. Several members of the Public Safety team were dispatched to the restaurant and, when they arrived, were introduced to Miss Tammy (name changed for privacy purposes). She gave her address on Barton Avenue but stated she was confused and unsure how to get home. After looking up her address, the team realized that Miss Tammy was approximately four blocks from home and the Public Safety team sent an officer to each intersection along her path to guide her vehicle home. Once Miss Tammy arrived home, the Public Safety officers verified that her address was correct, and ensured that her vehicle had been parked safely and properly. Finally, they watched as she opened the door to her home with her key. Miss Tammy, with the help of the BID Public Safety team, was home and safe. Six days later, two Public Safety officers went to Miss Tammy's address to follow up and found her sitting on the porch and in good spirits. She told them that she remembered them helping her and thanked them again. She stated she had not left her house since we assisted her in getting home but would call us if she ever needed any additional help. If you or anyone in the BID needs a Public Safety escort, please call the Public Safety Team at (323) 871-4150. z
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CLEAN 9 tons of trash removal
10.5 tons of street waste
90 instances of graffiti abatement
& SAFE REPORT CALLS FOR SERVICE JAN: 42 FEB: 69
MAR: 47 YTD: 158
BUSINESS CONTACTS JAN: 173 FEB: 132
MAR: 146 YTD: 451
PUBLIC ASSISTS JAN: 12 FEB: 20
MAR: 34 YTD: 66
INCIDENT REPORTS JAN: 6 FEB: 12
MAR: 10 YTD: 28
32 hours of power washing
150 bulky items removed
92 service request
INCIDENTS OF VANDALISM JAN: 8 FEB: 28 MAR: 14 YTD: 47 Holly w ood Medi a D i st ri ct / 19
CONTACT US: 948 N. Sycamore Avenue, Suite 217 Hollywood, CA 90038 323.371.7438 email: BIDadmin@mediadistrict.org MediaDistrict.org