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A few days in LA...

A

Andy Kolb

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Hi there,

I'm from Germany and I will be in Los Angeles next week.
Is there anything I HAVE to do while I'm there? (filmmaking stuff of course)
I will probably stay at a hotel downtown.

Visiting RED Studios is on the list so far.

Thanks
Andy
 
I have lived in LA all my life, I would also like to know. (no joke).

We often miss out on the cool feeling of being a tourist and discovering new things, in our own towns.
 
Andy,

Suggest you stay on more of the Westside, such as Miracle Mile, West Los Angeles, Century City, or Santa Monica. Less crime and grime than downtown. I am not much of a car guy, but the Peterson Automotive Museum is fantastic, Barneys Beanery is a slice of local life with about 200 brands of beer and good visuals. Venice Beach on Saturday on Sunday will leave a wrinkle in your brain forever. Of course Film Tools and Mole Richardson are cinema superstores. The Yamashiro (Japanese restaurant) in Hollywood around sunset time is pretty nice too. The only two old haunts for all of the movie stars left in Hollywood that I know of are Musso Franks Restaurant on Hollywood Blvd. and The Formosa Cafe on Santa Monica Blvd. In both of those places it doesn't take too much imagination to go back 60 years and visualize how things might have been then, as both are still original as then. Barney's is that way too. If the weather is good and you can afford a car rental upgrade, I would suggest a convertible. Hope it helps.

http://www.petersen.org/

'
 
I actually like downtown, at least the east side around Main st... lived there for 2 years. Cool vibe, and the mix of homeless and well-healed give it character. It's not as dangerous and it was 6 or 7 years ago... I walked around at 3AM routinely and felt perfectly safe. And there is probably more stuff being shot downtown than any non-studio location in LA. But if you stay in a hotel there, you are likely on the more corporate, west side. But the Standard is a cool place if you can afford it.

Filmmaking ideas can include seeing a flick at some of the cool theaters in town. I like the Arclight on sunset, as well as the Vista. Vance mentioned a few gear shops and there are many in Burbank, and Venice Beach is great to experience at least once. Or walk on the Santa Monica pier, seen in many films. Some more touristy things include touring the Warner Brothers backlot or going to Universal.

If you were coming in summer I would highly recommend the Cinespia screenings in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Amazing. You might also try couchsurfing.org and stay with a local in the industry. Or jump on craigslist and find an indie film to volunteer on for the day (I say volunteer, assuming you won't have a work visa).

Not sure if that was what you had in mind. Keep in mind LA is pretty spread out. If you stay in Santa Monica you will be a ways from Burbank, and vice versa.
 
Dan,
I must admit that I enjoy the downtown area also, and frequent it. My thoughts were that it was a little remote from what I interpreted Andy might be looking for. If I were to stay downtown, I would probably choose the Biltmore Hotel, just for the history, architecture and location. Downtown is certainly worth a day trip, maybe by subway due to local traffic near rush hour. If downtown, the Pantry is a famous eatery. If downtown, there is the garment district where my friends from Germany stock up when in town, as the clothing is dirt cheap.

And yes, Downtown LA is so much better than in recent years past.
 
Stay at The London hotel. Real cool place
 
Well since my budget is really tiny I wanted to stay at the "Stay on Main". http://www.stayonmain.com/
I know this might not be a super nice room but it's for 4 days and I won't be there during the day.

Do you know any other cheap hotels? It doesn't have to be Downtown.


Thanks for the suggestions so far.
Cinema sounds awesome. And I really wanna check out one of those bis camera stores.
 
That's a cool location. The LA Cafe across on Spring was an old haunt of mine, and Pete's down on 4th and Main is good, too. But there are probably cheap hotels everywhere if you have the time to look. Another option is to stay at a person's home using airbnb.com. Sometimes you get a place to yourself and usually can find a great deal to boot.
 
If you got the time and the interest, I suggest taking in a Dodger baseball game. Even if you don't know anything about baseball its usually a pleasant experience, and the views from Dodger stadium at sundown are phenomenal! You can see all of downtown from the parking lot... backlit by the setting sun :) Fun way to spend the afternoon/evening and absorb some American culture at the same time. Let's go Dodgers!
 
Actually I'm more the Lakers type of guy. :-)
I will probably watch one of their games since the Staples Center is very close to the hotel.
 
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