Working for a legacy feature film company on a studio lot is probably as close as I will come in this lifetime to attending Hogwarts. A time warp of art, magic and ideas, the Fox Lot in Century City was originally Movietone City. unto itself, with streets and avenues, a post office and a hospital. It has the time worn charm of the glory days of studio film and Los Angeles. In October of 1990 I got a job working on the Academy Awards campaign for 20th Century Fox Features. I had worked on the Fox lot in Century City before but not like this.
Each stage and each building holds a unique history as host to dozens of successive productions. Stage 9 was built in 1928 and since then has been home to “Sherlock Holmes” (1939), to Otto Preminger for “Laura” (1944) and again for “River of No Return” (1954), “No Business Like Show Business” (1954), “The Fly” (1958). Then to television series including “Peyton Place” (1964-1969), “Batman!”(1966), “The Ghost and Mrs Muir” (1968-1970), and then eleven years as home to “M*A*S*H” (1972-1983) including the “exterior” shots which were done there indoors instead of on the Fox Ranch. Then it was home to “Hooperman” (1987-1989) before hosting “NYPD Blue” from 1993 through 2005. And that is ONE stage — they are all like that. “Edward Scissorhands” was shot on Stages 14, 15 and 16 (see map section below) with some exteriors in Florida.
I was reporting to Booker McClay in Building 89. Booker was a semi-retired veteran from the glory days of the studios and feature film. Booker was a fountain of knowledge about both the studio and life and a great guy to work with. He seemed to be very well connected to the old guard on the Lot and he got me a parking place right by Stage 11 so things were already much better than my prior gigs there when I had to park on Motor Ave and walk about 15 minutes to the Lot. Booker, I soon found out, could get almost anything he wanted.
Booker took me aside early in the gig and told me ‘I am slowing down a bit and I have had a stroke but I would appreciate it if you don’t make me feel like an old man.’ I asked if I had said or done something that did that. ‘No, but don’t start.’