Claiming Hollywood

Abstract

In 1937, the Culver City Chamber of Commerce proposed that the city change its name to Hollywood to capitalize on its status as the leading center of film production. Once the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce learned of its counterpart’s intentions, a war of words ensued between the boosters in the local and national press. The dispute ended when the City of Los Angeles passed an ordinance establishing official boundaries for Hollywood; to this day, Hollywood is the only district within the city with such a designation. Filling a void in the literature about the industrial, place-based aspects of the film industry, this story illuminates the role of film studios in the intrametropolitan conflict in and urban development of Los Angeles, the significance of boosters in shaping places, and the complications of the decentralization of the film production economy from a cultural economy centered in Hollywood.