A working studio lot sits behind a wall off Ventura Boulevard. The boulevard's storefronts run low and mostly one to two stories under a long row of palms.
What Studio City looks like
runs flat and wide, one and two story storefronts under a long row of phoenix palms. Boutique and chain stores fill the ground floors. The Santa Monica Mountains rise at the far end of the street. Behind a plain stucco wall on , the studio lot's soundstages sit windowless and tall, an oval CBS 2 sign still bolted to one wall.
Inside the wall, a built New York City street and a two-street residential backlot stand among the stages. North of the lot, the meets the Los Angeles River in a paved concrete channel behind chain link, satellite dishes lined up on the far bank.
On the boulevard, the keeps its 1938 Art Deco tower and blue marquee. A Barnes & Noble operates inside now, the original terrazzo floor and box office still in place. Farther east on Cahuenga Boulevard, the is a one room jazz club behind plank wood siding, a stacked cocktails and jazz club sign over the sidewalk.
South of the boulevard, in the hills, the carry cantilevered balconies behind a courtyard wall and palm trees. West near Coldwater Canyon, the has stood closed since 2020, approved for redevelopment into apartments.
Shot in Studio City
Ventura Boulevard has its own walk of fame, three hundred granite diamonds set into the sidewalk between Carpenter and Rhodes Avenues, installed in 2003 to replace a row of 1960s brass plaques. Republic's westerns are named on it. The Brady Bunch used a house on Dilling Street for its exterior only, the interiors built on a Paramount Studios soundstage in Hollywood.
The Office, "Niagara" (season 6, 2009)
The lobby staircase
Played Niagara Falls, New York, present day
The sixth season wedding episode is set in Niagara Falls, New York. The exteriors were shot there. The wedding hotel's interior scenes, this staircase included, were shot at the Sportsmen's Lodge instead. The lodge has been closed since 2020 and the site is approved for redevelopment into apartments.
What Studio City can double for
Uptown Design District in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs' Uptown Design District runs the same low mid-century storefronts under a row of palm trees, flat against a mountain backdrop the way Ventura Boulevard sits under the Santa Monica Mountains. Both are one and two story shopfronts built for cars, with parking at the curb rather than a pedestrian core. The San Jacinto Mountains rise closer and steeper behind Palm Canyon Drive than the hills behind Studio City, and Palm Springs storefronts run more Spanish tile and turquoise trim. Try searching mid-century storefronts under palms now.
Camelback Corridor in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix's Camelback Corridor mixes the same low mid-century commercial buildings with palm-lined boulevards, Camelback Mountain rising at the horizon the way the hills rise behind Ventura Boulevard. Both grew up through the postwar decades as car-oriented shopping strips rather than pedestrian downtowns. The corridor also has taller glass office buildings near 24th Street that Ventura Boulevard does not. A tighter shot on the older one and two story blocks is the stronger match. Try searching low commercial strip near mountains now.
