Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank

Famous WB water tower at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank

Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank is a major filmmaking facility owned and run by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. in Burbank, California.[1] The 62-acre (25 ha) studio lot was built in 1926 by First National Pictures as they were expanding from only distributing films to producing them.[2]

The financial success of The Jazz Singer and The Singing Fool enabled Warner Bros. to purchase a majority interest in First National in September 1928 and they began moving their productions into the Burbank lot. The First National studio, as it was then known, became the official home of Warner Bros.–First National Pictures. From 1929 to 1958, most Warner Bros. films bore the combined trademark "A Warner Bros.–First National Picture".[3] Though Warner's Sunset Boulevard studios remained in active use during the 1930s both for motion picture filming and "phonograph recordings"[4] a fire in December 1934 destroyed 15 acres (61,000 m2) of the studios in Burbank, forcing the company to put its Sunset Boulevard studio back into full use.

By 1937, Warner Bros. had all but closed the Sunset studio, making the Burbank lot their main headquarters — which it remains to this day. Eventually the First National company was dissolved and the site has often been referred to as simply Warner Bros. Studios since.

In a cost cutting move, Warner Bros. entered into a joint venture with Columbia Pictures in 1971 to create The Burbank Studios on the Warner lot. The joint venture lasted until 1989 when the partnership was dissolved and Columbia moved into the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Lorimar (now Sony Pictures Studios) lot in Culver City and the studio lot in Burbank became the Warner Bros. Studio again.[5]

Studio tour

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood is a public attraction in Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank that offers visitors the chance to glimpse behind the scenes of one the oldest and most popular film studios in the world.[6]

The tour in some form has been open for several decades, but was recently renamed to give the Warner Bros. Studio Tours a more uniform identity after the success of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London in Leavesden. Previously it was known as the Warner Bros. Studios VIP Tour.[7][8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Warner Bros. "Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank website".
  2. ↑ "First National Properties", The Wall Street Journal, May 21, 1926, p. 16.
  3. ↑ American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures, volumes F4 and F5.
  4. ↑ "New Buildings Finished at Warner Brothers Lot". Los Angeles Times. 1931-01-07.
  5. ↑ Bingen, Steven (September 16, 2014). Warner Bros.: Hollywood's Ultimate Backlot. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 199. ISBN 978-1589799622.
  6. ↑ "Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood's official website".
  7. ↑ aaa.com. "aaa archival info on 'warner bros. studios VIP tour".
  8. ↑ seeing-stars.com. "seeing-stars.com's archival info on 'warner bros. studios VIP tour".

Coordinates: 34°08′56″N 118°20′16″W / 34.1489°N 118.3377°W / 34.1489; -118.3377

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