Culver Studios

Perfect Film & Chemical Corporation purchased Desilu Studios from Gulf+Western in 1968, only to sell it to OSF Industries in 1969.

Culver Studios

In 1970, Desilu Studios was renamed the Culver City Studios. In 1977, the studio was renamed Laird International Studios, which was a rental facility. In a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 1986, the studio was purchased by GTG Entertainment, a joint venture between Grant Tinker and the Gannett Company for $24 million. GTG remodeled the studio and renamed the lot to the Culver Studios, which was acquired by Sony Pictures for $80 million in June 1991.

In April 2004, the Culver Studios was bought by a private investment group called Studio City Los Angeles for $125 million. It included Lehman Brothers, Pacific Coast Capital, and Pacifica Ventures.

In honor of its original owner, Thomas H. Ince, the street running through the middle of the studio has been named Ince Boulevard.

In March 2014, the Culver Studios was purchased by another private investment group, Hackman Capital Partners (HCP). When rumors persisted that the lot would be replaced by condominiums, HCP CEO Michael Hackman debunked those claims. However, Hackman said that the studio will be renovated to take advantage of modern technology, as well as adding extra parking and production space.

It was not until David O. Selznick's time at the helm, from 1935 to 1946, that the studios became fully built out and included new on-site bungalows. A final stage facility was built (stages 15/16) and the main studio site was developed to closely resemble the current layout.

In late 2018, Hackman Capital Partners broke ground on a $620-million expansion of the Culver Studios, which has become the new home of Amazon Studios. The expansion project added 413,000 square feet of rentable space to the 14-acre campus - increasing its total footprint to more than 720,000 square feet. Plans included two parking structures, with total accommodations for 1,930 vehicles. Amazon announced its move to the Culver Studios in late 2017. In addition, it leased the entirety of the adjacent Culver Steps development, also being built by Hackman Capital Partners. The combined 600,000 square feet of space houses Amazon subsidiaries Amazon MGM Studios, IMDb, and Amazon Prime Video.

Mansion House

The picturesque mansion house is the centerpiece of the Culver Studios lot and has landmark status. It is a classic example of 1920s Colonial Revival architecture and was the first building to go up on the site shortly after Thomas H. Ince's acquisition of the land in 1918. Modeled after George Washington's home at Mount Vernon, Virginia, it serves as the main administrative building on the lot. Famous producers including Ince, Cecil B. DeMille, and David O. Selznick once had offices there.

One long corridor runs the length of the 15,000 square foot structure, which has eight two-story high grand white columns. The facade looks out onto a manicured lawn.

There is a common misconception that the mansion house was used as the site of Tara, the home of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. The building was seen in the film credits but Tara was a separate building constructed on the Forty Acres backlot by art director Lyle Wheeler, where the scene depicting the burning of Atlanta was filmed.

Bungalows

At the southern end of Culver Studios sat a collection of four bungalows, dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. They were occupied by a host of celebrated writers and actors over the years and are now considered locally significant structures.

Alfred Hitchcock used one of the one-story buildings as his office for years. Another bungalow was built in 1935 and used as a residential space for Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh during filming of Gone With the Wind. Other bungalows have been connected to Olivia de Havilland, Lucille Ball, Gloria Swanson and Orson Welles.

As part of the expansion project undertaken by Hackman Capital Partners, the bungalows were moved to the front of the lot, behind the mansion house. They are used as production spaces and offices for writers, producers, production staff, and talent.

Cecil B. DeMille Theater

Built by producer Cecil B. DeMille in 1927 when he owned the studio, the theater is adjacent to the mansion house. It was dedicated to DeMille in 1984 and available for special screenings, fundraisers, and production daily viewings.

The theater has 70 seats, a 24 ft x 11 ft screen, and digital and 35mm projectors.

Back Forty

As the Culver Studios grew in size and stature, a 28.5-acre (11.5 ha) backlot was used to build full-scale outdoor sets. The Back Forty, also known as Forty Acres, sat on a triangular plot of land a few blocks from the main lot.

It was initially leased from landowner Harry Culver during Cecil B. DeMille's tenure and was continuously used to build the plantation Tara, the Atlanta Depot, and other Atlanta buildings in Gone With the Wind.

The Back Forty also provided the backdrop for several television shows broadcast during the 1960s, including Hogan's Heroes, The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek, and Bonanza.

The land is no longer connected to the Culver Studios and currently serves as an office park.

Productions

Culver Studios helped spawn the career of numerous movie and television stars. In the lot's earlier days, the site was used to film Hollywood classics like Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945) before a plethora of television shows began to lease the stages in the 1950s to create programs like The Andy Griffith Show and Hogan's Heroes.

In more recent decades, the site has again become the setting for movies including The Matrix, Armageddon, and I Am Legend while providing a home to popular television shows such as Arrested Development and Cougar Town.

In 1992, Michael Jackson used the Stage to rehearse for his upcoming Dangerous World Tour (1992–1993).