[3] Since its establishment in 1912,[1] the studios located at the site have been the home of motion picture producers, including Lubin, Essanay, Willis and Inglis, J.D.
In April 1919, a trade magazine reported: "The entire frontage along Fleming Street, heretofore adorned by a blank wall, is now occupied with a long row of offices filled with workers and other functionaries necessary to the operation of the big place.
[5] In 1920, actor Charles Ray purchased the studios and built many of the red brick buildings that still survive at the site.
the installation of electrical equipment will insure a wealth of sunshine for daylight pictures as well as for night scenes.
In 1922, Ray also added a Spanish-style, red brick administration building (pictured in infobox above) that is still in use by KCET.
[6] The most famed extravagance created for the production was a life-size replica of the Mayflower and a pool of water with a mechanism to rock the ship back and forth.
After Charles Ray's production company went bankrupt, the Bank of Italy became the receiver for the property and rented studio space to independent producers.
The motion pictures filmed at the Sunset Boulevard studios during the Mongram and Allied Artists years include the following: In 1964, financial difficulties forced Allied Artists to cease production activities and to become a film distribution company.
[1] KCET has used the Sunset Boulevard studio facilities to create numerous productions, including Carl Sagan's acclaimed series Cosmos, Steve Allen's Meeting of Minds, the children's program The Puzzle Place, California's Gold, and Visiting...with Huell Howser.
A maintenance manager assigned to repair the hole noticed an arched brick wall and column behind the wallboard.
The exterior, consisting of two brick facades and six columns, had been built in the silent era and was later covered with wallboard to improve the acoustics for screening sound pictures.
[6] In March 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that KCET was in negotiations to sell the studio to the Church of Scientology.