Studio Tours are popular Los Angeles attractions - see
the sets and studios where movies and TV shows are made and even
be part of the sit in audience for comedies or other TV shows.
Typically the major studios will be closed on Saturday and
Sundays.
Only major studios are listed on this page - there
are many smaller studios in LA that most of the public has never
heard of. Did you know that the largest US based Pornography
film industry is in the San Fernando Valley? None of those
studios are listed on this page. Some of the more popular
mainstream studio locations are listed below.
Five major studios located in Los Angeles area offer tours to the public
(these are reviewed below). There are many other smaller studios and
even virtual studios (companies that do not own their own sets) in the
area but they typically do not offer tours to the public. Additional studio and other relevant information
is listed
towards the bottom of this page. |
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Paramount Studios, inside, close to the Melrose Ave side |
Paramount Studios is located on Gower
Street just south of Hollywood Blvd. For Audience Shows and Studio tours
please call the info line at Phone Number (323) 956-1777 - you must make
advance reservations. Allow 2 hours for the
actual guided tour. A golf cart is provided to drive you around from set
to set although there is a bit of walking on the actual sets. This is a
true production tour, not an "entertainment/theme' tour. Paramount is
always filming a large variety of TV shows so you never know which set
you will walk onto or which ones you can't access due to live filming.
When we were here, Eddie Murphy was filming a new movie and to indicate
a live set, flashing red lights shine outside the main sets entrance.
The main entrance is on 5555 Melrose Ave - and parking is available in a
lot almost directly across from the entrance. You pay a small amount to
park, but then bring your Paramount Studios ticket back after your tour
and your payment will be refunded.
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It is recommended you arrive at least 15-20
minutes early. After you go through security you will meet your
tour guide at the "coffee/snack shop". Look for employees and
actors lounging around drinking coffee inside and outside on the
nearby tables. Tours are always quite small - maybe 10 people or
so. The nice thing about this tour is each tour is different due
to always varying production schedules as well as the fact that
there is no set script the tour guides need to adhere to.
This
is quite refreshing and *very* personable as it helps liven
things up for the tour guides and for you should you return for
an additional tour. Another note - always ask questions...this
also helps keep things lively for your group as well as your
tour guide. Our guide was awesome...always trying to get us onto
sets and near live filming. We were also able to meet several
set construction employees. Think movie making is all glamour
for actors?
We saw many of the extras just sitting around listening to Ipods
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bored. In addition to the massive sets that are constructed for
Television and Movies, Paramount also has outside sets - including their
New York City back lot - which down to the most mundane details such as
scuff marks on sidewalks resembles a real city. Did you know that
studios rent out their space to other studios. So despite a movie being
produced by one studio, in actuality that movie may have been filmed at
a number of studios.
Another highlight is a visit to Paramount's Camera office where you may
meet with some of their key employees who work here. Did you know that
the majority of movies and TV programs are still shot entirely with
film. Until much higher quality affordable digital technology comes
along, the film industry will continue to use tried and true technology.
Paramount Studios is the only major studio actually still located in
Hollywood. Paramount has a long rich history with film and some of this
history is touched upon by your guide. In addition, a color pamphlet is
given which provides further historical details. Other highlights are
the huge painted sky which towers over the "B Tank" - what is normally
used as an employee parking lot, but which can also be filled with water
for "ocean" scenes, the bench where Forest Gump sat, and if not being
used, entry to the "Dining Room" restaurant where some famous actors and
directors have their "favorite" tables - pointed out by your guide.
Please view our photos below. For more info & to reserve
tickets visit:
www.paramount.com
There is no direct link to the studio tours, click "enter site" and then
choose Studio Tours.
NBC Studio Tours are located in Burbank at 3000 W. Alameda Ave
(exit Buena Vista off of the 134 and follow the signs). This tours
is among the most reasonably priced of all the major area studios and
they start regularly every half hour from 9am - 3pm on
weekdays. During the Summer and Holidays, tours may be given on weekends also.
Working television studios are located here and the tours are unstaged
so you never know what or who you will see. Depending on availability, you do get to step backstage to see
the set of The Tonight Show as well as visit the Days of Our Lives
set.
Each walking tour lasts about 70
minutes and seems fairly scripted. No reservations are accepted - show up at least 10-15 minutes
early. This is the most low key tour of all the major studio tours; it
does seem a bit dated from the old TV screens the intro film is shown on
to some of the photos as well as the the actual main tour building. The
gift shop is very small with just a limited number of items - parking is down a one way street (against the
one-way arrow!) in the white lined spaces only. You enter past NBC's
only outdoor set - the one used in Days of our Lives and this is where
the tour also ends.
It was interesting to see mostly women on the tours (versus a generally
equal ratio of men to women on the other major studio tours) - perhaps
the Days of Our Lives show is their main attraction. The tour takes you
onto several working studios, explores some of the materials and
costumes used on the sets and passes by Jay Leno's media room, marked
with a sign but also with a cute image of "Mona Leno!" A window that
showed the costume design room had to be covered by a blanket as people
on the tours were tweeting and sneaking videos with their phones showing
costumes before they actually reached the shows! Wonder how those
bottles are broken over the heads of the actors in the old westerns?
Examples of these special types of bottles are on display. You will also walk
outdoors above the "secret" tunnel where "A listers" are whisked between
sets as needed.
For more information call
Phone (818) 840-3537, for general show tickets visit:
www.nbc.com/Footer/Tickets
or to write for tickets use:
NBC Tickets - 3000 W. Alameda Ave - Burbank, CA 91523. You can
also pick up tickets on a first come first service basis starting daily
at 8am at the main NBC ticket counter. Photos are not allowed on the
tour.
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Temp parking spot |
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Entrance |
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Studio tours |
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Days of a our Lives |
Sony Picture Studios is located in Culver City at 10202 W.
Washington Blvd. LA studios are somewhat spread out and this is one of
the furthest major studios to the west. Culver City is located near where the 405 and the 10
freeways meet. Self or Valet Parking is free and and for tour visitors
is *only* available in the underground parking garage that is located at
the Sony Pictures Plaza building across from the actual entrance to the
studios (on Madison Ave between Washington and Culver Blvds). Don't
bother trying to enter any of the studio entrances as there is no
parking on the actual lots for tour visitors and you will only be turned
around by the gate security guards.
Once you park, go upstairs into the actual Plaza and check in where you
will also have your photo taken in case you want purchase a souvenir
photo. This "plaza" has been the stand-in for a hotel in several movies.
The two-hour walking tour departs from Sony Pictures
Plaza at various times, M-F. This tour is a bit more intimate than say
the Universal Studios trolley tour - as here you actually walk on the
studio lots and onto sound stages, however it is not quite as in depth
as the Paramount Tour (see above).
This location is very historical as it used to be the original MGM
Studios and your guide will point out the historical attractions as well
as provide stories that involve a number of actors and actresses. Also
note that Sony
owns Columbia Pictures. Popular game shows filmed here include Wheel of Fortune
& Jeopardy and depending on availability your guide will take you
onto these sets. The number of seats in the audience as well as the actual set
of Jeopardy are very small. Another highlight of this set is the "green
room" where contestants wait until they are called to go onto the stage.
If nothing is being filmed, you can walk into what is the world's second
largest studio - at 42,000 square feet this studio is massive! Also
included on the tour is a stop in one of their small Foley Studios. This
looks like someone's cluttered garage with many different props on hand
which are used for making sound effects to insert into parts of the
movie. You will see a number of different surfaces as well as types of
shoes and your guide will point out the more unusual materials used for
creating special sound effects.
Photography opportunities are extremely limited on this tour as you are only allowed
to take pictures near where you walk onto the studios and on the "main"
street - you cannot take pictures once you leave this street.
Our guide said that one 1 out of maybe 3 or 4 tours his group sees
someone famous. He recalled his ultimate group highlight. The tour was
leaving a stage and Tom Hanks rode by on his bicycle and then stopped
and started riding circles around the group and asked "has anyone seen a
star around here!"
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Inside Sony Plaza |
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Main Street |
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On Main Street |
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Side buildings |
More info:
www.sonypicturesstudiostours.com or Phone: (310)
244-8687 Hint, if you call the studio tour hotline to reserve your tour
date using the listed number here you will save yourself several dollars
compared to making your reservations online.
The major film company,
Universal Studios has a theme park
including tours of the movie sets located at 100 Universal City Plaza in
Universal City. We've been here several times - there is always
something going on to entertain both young and old alike. Universal Studios is billed as the "world's largest
movie studio & theme park and is located off of the 101
freeway (north east side) just north of Los Angeles. This is a great
place to enjoy behind the scenes tours of movie sets, TV shows and see
current movies being filmed. There are several large parking garages
($15 for general or $20 for preferred closer parking). You enter through
a huge theme shop and restaurant lined walkway (CityWalk)- on a weekend or warm
day this long walkway can be extremely crowded. There's plenty of
shopping here and we recommend don't get distracted while walking
through this area. Stay focused and head directly for the main gates -
rather come back here after the theme park closes as these shops remain
open after Universal's closing hours.
The Ifly experience is located in the “CityWalk”. This is a
“vertical wind tunnel” which for $40 and 2 minutes of your time (after
waiting in line and undergoing a short instruction session) you can
“fly”! Put on a flight suit, goggles and helmet and your ready to go.
With a flight instructor at your side you will literally be “floating”
based on the power of the wind tunnel. Neat stuff.
www.iflyhollywood.com
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Universal Studios Hollywood rolls out a
red carpet for repeat visitors, providing an unprecedented array
of perks, privileges and discounts for just $5.00 more than the
price of a single-day admission.
The Front of the Line Pass offers unrestricted 365-day “no
black-out date” park access, a dedicated VIP “hassle-free”
express front gate entrance, Backlot Studio Tour priority
boarding privileges for most of the year, plus an array of
discounts on all food and merchandise purchases at the theme
park and $12 off the purchase of guest tickets. |
Other “hassle free” highlights of the pass
includes Universal Studios Hollywood unprecedented “Umbrella
Policy” which takes the barometer and weather forecast guesswork
from the theme park equation. With “The World’s First-Ever Theme
Park Guaranteed Rain Check,” guests visiting Universal Studios
Hollywood will receive a rain check ticket valid for use any
time in the following 30 days on a day that the park receives
over 1/8” of rainfall by 2:00 p.m. Plus, on rainy days, guests will be provided with complimentary coffee
and hot chocolate at designated covered and indoor rest areas.
A little under
2 years since a fire damaged four acres on the world’s largest
working movie studio lot, Universal Studios re-opened
its
iconic sets
in mid-2010 and unveiled innovative shooting locations designed to meet
contemporary film production needs. The new and re-created sets
are featured on the world-famous Universal Studios Hollywood
Studio Tour—recently upgraded with Hi-Def digital servers and
flat screen monitors—and will enhance visitors’
behind-the-scenes experience of a working studio environment.
View Press Release
An informative electronic sign near the entrance
will inform you of the approximate wait times for each ride or
attraction - course if you have a VIP pass, this information is
irrelevant. You can actually walk among movie sets & stages with
the VIP passes. |
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VIP passes also allows you to cut to the front of the
lines for pretty much everything, and also meet some of the select
actors and actresses from the shows. If you have never been to
Universal Studios before it is recommended you head right to the studio
tour. Its about an hour in length; you sit in open air cars as your tour
guide and driver drive you throughout the sets, studios and select very
famous stages from well-known movies such as Jaws, War of the Worlds and
more. Some highlights of this tour: the earthquake you experience inside
one of the stages, a flood that appears miraculously, a visit from King
Kong and a shark that "attacks". You even drive onto several TV Show sets.
On the studio tour you will "visit" King Kong for about a minute
however in that minute you will experience a complete visual assault
within the world’s largest 3d studio. TRex comes lunging at you from all
directions – and for those who sit in the last cars of the tram, be
aware – you might just be at risk to those huge jaws!
Besides the movie sets, there are many theme rides, family type fun,
shows and shopping. Select well-known characters will be in costume
walking around parts of Universal mostly mobbed by the public for
photos. Often you can find coupons for good discounts off admission in
local area tourist publications - and if you are a
Triple A member - you can
also sometimes find significant discount coupons in their VIA magazine
off of admission. More information is available here:
www.universalstudioshollywood.com (click on the Parks & Resorts
Link). Or:
www.citywalkhollywood.com
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| One of the Sets |
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Main Entrance |
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Entrance Tower |
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Universal Globe |
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Universal Sign |
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| Water World - flying planes, explosions, a
raucous wet crowd - all make for a wild time! |
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Rolling out the red carpet. A favorite spot
for photos. |
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War of World's Set - one of the largest and
most impressive of Universal's movie sets |
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This poor fellow is unable to afford a
Hollywood Makeover. |
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A wonderfully clear day, overlooking the
Sets & part of the San Fernando Valley |
Warner Brothers is located in Burbank at 3400 W. Riverside Drive
not far at all from Universal Studios (See the Universal Studios review
above). This is just off of the Ventura Freeway (134) just east of where
the 134 hits the 170 freeway. Their standard most
popular tour
is the VIP Studio Tour and is a 2 hour 15 min cart tour through
the actual sets and current productions. This tour ends at their memorabilia museum. They also have a 5 hour deluxe
tour for serious film buffs. Tours depart very often from 8:30am to 4pm weekdays. Parking is
though
Gate 6, the parking lot directly behind the main building.
Out of all the tours we have been on so far this is the only one that
requires seatbelts. After viewing the Ellen Degeneres video under the
"tour" section of their website, we realize why! Watch the video and you
will understand (hint: it has to do with her lack of driving ability!). There is some fascinating movie history on site of this
110 acre back lot which dates back to 1927 (under the Warner Bro's
name). Warners Brothers used to equate to Bugs Bunny and
Mel Blanc but today they are a powerhouse in the TV and Film
Industry.
The tour starts with a sit down viewing of an inspiration video. You will
then visit a number of outdoor street sets as well as explore
some indoor ones as well. Many well known movies have filmed here
including Spiderman and movies staring Adam Sandler, Tom Hanks, Paul
Newman and any of a number of other famous actors. You will see the cafe
that Clint Eastwood and Hillary Swank ate at in "The Million Dollar
Baby" and the location for the kissing scene in the rain in Spiderman.
On all the studio tours we've been on in LA the biggest factor for "fun"
is the enthusiasm of the guide as well as the historical aspects of the
studio. Warner Brothers has both. The three "E's" for any good studio
tour are in place here: the guides are energetic, entertaining and
enthusiastic!
The outdoor sets are a big part of the experience here. The streets are
surrounded by "fake" buildings and all that brickwork you will see are
just painted fiberglass. Filming a winter scene in summer? Yes they
remove the leaves from the trees. Filming a summer scene in winter -
back go the fake leaves, glued to the branches of the tree. What tedious
work! Look for the plaques on the outside of each of their studio
buildings; these list the major movies and or TV shows that were filmed
inside.
80% of what is filmed at Warner Brothers is television related. On our
tour we saw several TV actors - the guides will call out their name
after your tour has passed them, so stay sharp and alert! One building
contains a bunch of vehicles used in movies including The Matrix,
Batman and more. We've never seen a vehicle quite
like the "Batmobile" - it is real and yes it runs...fast! You will be given a
chance to pose in front of "the green screen" which as the name
indicates is green...however when you see your photo you will be
standing in front of some scene from a movie. One photo of your group is
free.
The "Friends" stage is worth seeing - this is one of the few sets that
have actually been kept. This one was set to be destroyed until Jay Leno
got word of it and was instrumental in helping to save it. This is now a
tour favorite. See our photo of this set below.
Another highlight is the Movie Memorabilia Museum which contains a
plethora of movie relics and other historical items. The second floor is
entirely dedicated to Harry Potter movie memorabilia. Other than this
museum and live sets, photography is encouraged! Visit:
www.wbstudiotour.com and click on VIP studio tours
or Phone: (818) 972-8687
Live Studio Shows
The following studios do not offer tours to the public but do make
tickets available on a limited basis to some of their live shows.
Other Resources
The websites listed below, Be in a Movie and TV Tix allow you to
get tickets to TV Shows or be in a movie for free. You can check their
websites for upcoming TV shows and movies and then signup online for
tickets. Before the actual show or movie filming you will be called by
an automated caller giving you the updated details and they will provide
a phone number for you to call back to confirm your presence at the
actual show or movie. Be aware that oftentimes filming locations and
times for movies can change at the last minute.
www.audiencesunlimited.com
in business since 1982, provides the opportunity to see top
television shows being taped live |
www.BeInAMovie.com
as the name says, you
can be in a movie - extras always needed, typically non paid |
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www.centralcasting.org paid casting
calls - pay is not high, but at least you do get paid |
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www.seeing-stars.com great resource for anything
Hollywood related |
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www.tvtix.com
get free tickets to TV Studio shows in Los Angeles |
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Dave's Pick