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The studio zone, also known as the thirty-mile zone (TMZ), is an area defined by a radius of "Hollywood" used by the American
entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
to determine
employee benefits Employee benefits and benefits in kind (especially in British English), also called fringe benefits, perquisites, or perks, include various types of non-wage compensation provided to an employee by an employer in addition to their normal wage o ...
for work performed inside and outside of it. Its center has traditionally been regarded as the southeast corner of
Beverly Boulevard Beverly Boulevard is one of the main east–west thoroughfares in Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California. It begins off Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills and ends on the Lucas Avenue overpass near downtow ...
and
La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the south. It was named for Rancho Las ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. The boundaries of the radius includes the southern, urbanized half of
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
, as well as parts of eastern
Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...
and northwestern Orange County.


History

Entertainment industry
labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
use the studio zone to determine
per diem ''Per diem'' (Latin for "per day" or "for each day") or daily allowance is a specific amount of money that an organization gives an individual, typically an employee, per day to cover living expenses when travelling on the employer's business. A ...
rates, work rules, and
workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...
for union workers. For example, entertainment works produced within the area are considered "local" and workers are responsible for paying for their own meals and transportation to work sites; those outside the zone are considered "on location" and the studios are generally expected to pay for these expenses. During most of the 20th century, the Hollywood entertainment industry preferred to film movies and television shows within the studio zone to reduce labor costs. Thus, the zone largely determined the location and success of the original
movie ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. Movi ...
es in or near
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
. By establishing movie ranches within the boundary of the zone, studios could take advantage of Los Angeles's varied landscape. With clever editing, it was easy to use a few aerial and location shots (usually shot by a
second unit A second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming s ...
), along with carefully dressed sets, to give viewers the impression that a movie or show was set elsewhere. The studio zone itself, as well as the lack of motion picture production companies and experienced personnel outside the zone, made it expensive to film on location, since movie studios had to bring everything needed from Los Angeles. Conversely, anyone who wanted to start a career in the entertainment industry needed to move to Los Angeles to break into the studio zone. For example, a 2001 analysis of geographical data found that the vast majority of
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
s, grips,
casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...
directors,
talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...
s, and
talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager, or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of Entertainer, artists within the entertainment industry. The responsibility of a talent manager is to ove ...
s based in Southern California either live within or just outside of the studio zone.


Boundaries

The studio zone's boundaries have expanded over the years, primarily to keep labor costs down and help keep Los Angeles as an attractive site to shoot productions. The studio zone was formally first established in 1934, originally defined as a radius from Rossmore Avenue and 5th Street. By 1970, the center of the zone became Beverly and La Cienega boulevards in the Beverly Grove, Los Angeles neighborhood, the then-headquarters of the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), and expanded to a radius. In addition to the traditional radius from Beverly and La Cienega boulevards, the studio zone also includes some locations that technically lie outside the area, such as the
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
Conejo Ranch near Thousand Oaks in Ventura County, and
Castaic Lake Castaic Lake (Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Kaštiq'') is a reservoir formed by Castaic Dam on Castaic Creek, in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, near the town of Castaic, California, C ...
in northwest Los Angeles County. In 2010, additional locations were added: Agua Dulce, the entire community of Castaic (in addition to Castaic Lake), Leo Carrillo State Park, Moorpark,
Ontario International Airport Ontario International Airport is an international airport east of downtown Ontario, California, Ontario, in San Bernardino County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino. It is ow ...
, Piru, and Pomona (including the Fairplex, of which a small portion is jurisdictionally in La Verne). With respect to the locations added in 2010, producers are required to grant reasonable requests to actors for hotel accommodations if the locations listed above lie over outside of the original zone. Locations rejected in negotiations included adding Lancaster and Port Hueneme to the zone. The addition of Pomona to the studio zone has led to an increase in filming in that city. Since the 1990s, many countries and other U.S. states have offered generous tax credits or deductions to offset the much higher cost of filming on location and thereby break the self-reinforcing loop which had kept the American film industry centered on the thirty-mile zone for so many decades. The result was what Hollywood people call runaway production. Places such as
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
;
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
;
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
; and
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
have become popular—and cheaper—alternatives to filming in Los Angeles and
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.


In popular culture

The initials of the
Fox Corporation Fox Corporation (commonly referred to as Fox Corp or simply Fox) is an American multinational mass media company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, with offices also in Burbank, Cali ...
-owned tabloid news website
TMZ ''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...
stand for "Thirty Mile Zone", an abbreviation for the studio zone.


See also

* Filming location *
Movie ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. Movi ...
* Vasquez Rocks


References

{{Reflist


External links


Interactive 30 mile map of the Studio Zone
1934 establishments in California Geography of Los Angeles Culture of Los Angeles Entertainment in the United States Film production Film location shooting