Britney Spears filming locations

October 17, 2012September 29, 2017

The Canfield-Moreno Estate from “Scream 3”

One location that I have wanted to stalk for what seems like ages now is the Canfield-Moreno Estate – an absolutely humongous Italianate-style villa that was featured extensively in the 2000 thriller Scream 3. I first found out about the locale thanks to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who had stalked it a few years back and, as fate would have it, had been invited onto the property and INSIDE OF THE MANSION by a caretaker to snap some pictures. For whatever reason, though, I had just never made it out there. Then, a few weeks ago, Mike reminded me of the site and suggested that I blog about it during my Haunted Hollywood month. Because it is not at all visible from the street, he also kindly agreed to provide the photographs for the post. “All you need is a pic of yourself in front of the gate,” he said, “and I’ll take care of the rest!” So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there just a few days later.

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A production of some sort was actually being filmed when the GC and I showed up to stalk the estate and the main gates were standing wide open. Unfortunately though, as you can see below, even with the gates open, not much was visible. So I honestly cannot thank Mike enough! Without his pictures, this would have made for a very boring blog post. (I ended up having to pose for a photograph in front of the mansion’s back gate as too many cars were driving in and out of the front one, making it impossible for me to stand by it.)

The 22,000-square-foot Canfield-Moreno Estate, which is also known as The Paramour Mansion and The Crestmont, was originally constructed in 1923. It was designed in the Mediterranean Revival-style by Robert D. Farquhar, the same architect who also designed the California Club in downtown Los Angeles, Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, and the William Andrews Clark Jr. Mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The 22-room villa was commissioned by silent film star Antonio Moreno and his wife, oil heiress Daisy Canfield Danziger, after whom the residence is now known.

During the time that Antonio and Daisy lived there, the mansion was the site of regular Sunday night soirees with many of Hollywood’s elite in attendance.

When the couple decided to separate in 1928, they deeded the estate to the Chloe P. Canfield Memorial Home, a finishing school for girls that was founded according to Daisy’s father’s will. Sadly, a few years later, on February 23rd, 1933, Daisy lost control of her car while on Mulholland Drive and plunged off a 300-foot cliff. She died instantly. Since that time, it has been rumored that her ghost haunts the mansion.

In the 1950s, the Chloe P. Canfield Memorial Home Foundation was dissolved and the estate sold to Franciscan nuns, who turned the site into a boarding house for troubled girls. After the residence was damaged during the Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987, the nuns vacated the property and put it up for sale. Sadly, the once-grand mansion was left to deteriorate over the decade that followed.

The Canfield-Moreno estate was finally purchased in 1998 by a developer named Dana Hollister for $2.25 million. Hollister, who has an affinity for historic sites, set about restoring the mansion to its original grandeur. She also added a recording studio to the premises and countless musicians have since recorded there, including Gwen Stefani, Papa Roach, Fiona Apple, and Sarah McLachlan. And while Hollister’s original intention was to turn the four-and-a-half-acre site into a luxury hotel, opposition from neighbors halted that plan and it is currently being used as her primary residence.

The ginormous Canfield-Moreno estate is comprised of a 15,388-square foot, U-shaped main house, which boasts 8 bedrooms and 8 baths, as well as several detached cottages and stables that dot the sprawling hilltop land.

As you can see in the aerial views pictured below, the estate is absolutely gargantuan and more of a compound than a residence.

And, as you can also see below, the place also exhibits some pretty amazing views.

The estate’s interior boasts a Moroccan flair and, though remodeled recently, looks like it came straight out of Old Hollywood.

Thanks to the unique look and gargantuan size of the estate, which is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, it has appeared in more than a few productions over the years.

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In Scream 3, the Canfield-Moreno Estate stood in for the home of Stab 3 producer John Milton (Lance Henriksen). Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior appeared in the flick.

In 1998’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, the estate stood in for Hillcrest Academy High School, where Keri Tate (Jamie Lee Curtis) worked. Both the interior . . .

. . . and the exterior were used in the filming. The estate’s pool was covered over for the shoot, as you can see below.

A different location – one that I have yet to find – was used for Hillcrest Academy High School’s front gate.

Also in 1998, the interior of the estate appeared in the music video for the R.E.M. song “At My Most Beautiful”.

You can watch that video by clicking below.

R.E.M.’s “At My Most Beautiful” Video–Filmed at the Canfield-Moreno Estate

In the Season 2 episode of Alias titled “Truth Takes Time”, which aired in 2003, the Canfield-Moreno Estate stood in for the Tuscan villa where Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin) hid out with his wife, Emily Sloane (Amy Irving).

The interior of the property was also used in the episode.

Oddly enough, though, at one point during “Truth Takes Time”, the exterior of a different home was shown as an establishing shot of Arvin’s villa.

In the season 3 episode of Monk titled “Mr. Monk and the Panic Room”, which aired in 2004, the Canfield-Moreno estate was the mansion where record producer Ian Blackburn (Stewart Finlay-McLennan) lived and was murdered – presumably by his pet chimpanzee.

The interior of the house also appeared in the episode.

The estate also appeared in Britney Spears’ 2004 “My Prerogative” music video, in which she crashed her Porsche into the residence’s pool.

You can watch that video by clicking below.

Britney Spears “My Prerogative” Music Video–Filmed at the Canfield-Moreno Estate

In 2009, the mansion appeared in the Season 4 episode of Brothers & Sisters titled “From France with Love” as a prospective wedding venue for Rebecca Harper (Emily VanCamp) and Justin Walker (Dave Annable). While Rebecca is scouting the location with her mom, Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig), and Justin’s mom, Nora Walker (Sally Field), she realizes that a pornographic film is being shot on the premises and therefore decides to go with another venue. LOL

The villa was also used in the music video for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ 2011 song “If I Had a Gun”.

You can watch that video by clicking below.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ “If I Had a Gun” Video–Shot at the Canfield-Moreno Estate

According to Wikipedia, the estate was also used in Rock Star: INXS, Rock Star: Supernova, Scream Queens, From G’s to Gents, Rock of Love: Charm School, Charm School with Ricki Lake, Mad Mad House, and MTV’s The X Effect, but I was, unfortunately, not able to find copies of any of the productions with which to verify that information.

On a side-note – The photograph of the Canfield-Moreno Estate that is pictured below, which Mike took, was actually chosen to be featured in the 2012 issue of Locations Magazine!! How incredibly cool is that?

The magazine . . .

. . . and printed photograph are pictured below. Um, LOVE IT!

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location and for allowing me to post his FABULOUS pictures of it here. Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Canfield -Moreno Estate from Scream 3 is located at 1923 Micheltorena Street in Silver Lake.

March 27, 2012March 26, 2012

Red Studios Hollywood – aka Kinograph Studios from “The Artist”

In early March, my friend Tony, the fellow stalker who has the amazeballs On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream, wrote a comment on my post about the duplex where George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) lived in The Artist alerting me to a blog named Silent Locations. The blog, which is authored by business lawyer/film historian John Bengtson, features a six-part column chronicling several locales that appeared in The Artist and their connection with various silent films made during Hollywood’s heyday. I highly recommend checking out the feature and the site in general. It is fabulous! Anyway, one of the places mentioned in the column was Red Studios Hollywood, the exterior of which stood in for both the exterior of Kinograph Studios in The Artist and Maroon Cartoons in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place on a very windy Sunday afternoon two weekends ago.

The site where Red Studios Hollywood now stands was originally founded as Metro Pictures Back Lot #3 in 1915, long before the company joined forces with Goldwyn Pictures and became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. During its Metro heyday, such films as Scaramouche, Little Robinson Crusoe and The Champ were filmed on the premises. Beginning in May 1946, the lot went through a series of different owners, the most prominent of whom were Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The showbiz powerhouse couple leased the property in 1953 and turned it into the very first Desilu Studios, where they shot seasons 3 through 6 of I Love Lucy. In 1974, the lot became known as Ren-Mar Studios, an independently owned and operated facility where various production companies were able to rent out studio space. Legendary television producer David E. Kelley made his home there in the 80s and shot Picket Fences (one of my faves!), Chicago Hope, The Practice and the first two seasons of Ally McBeal. In January 2010, the lot was sold yet again, this time to Red Digital Camera Company, who renamed the place Red Studios Hollywood.

A few of the countless other productions that have been filmed on the premises over the years include The Golden Girls, The Dick Van Dyke Show, the first four episodes of Seinfeld, The Andy Griffith Show, Make Room for Daddy, Lizzie McGuire, NewsRadio, Empty Nest, Monk, and, most recently, True Blood. The series Weeds was also filmed on the lot, back when it was Ren-Mar, and during Season 4, after Agrestic burned down, producers had Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) move to a fictional seaside town named “Ren Mar” in honor of the historic studio. Love it!

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In The Artist, the back entrance of Red was used as the main entrance of Kinograph Studios, where George Valentin worked at the beginning of the flick.

As you can see above, that area was changed drastically for the movie – so much so that it is virtually unrecognizable today. A huge false front was built over the actual studio entrance for the filming and the Hollywood Rounder blog was lucky enough to get to watch it being constructed. You can check out some very cool pics of the construction here and here, the fake security guard kiosk here, and the finished product here.

Interestingly enough, when Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) is shown being dropped off at a location that is supposedly directly across the street from the Kinograph entrance, she is actually on New York Street at Paramount Studios, in front of the building that is used regularly as the Boston police station on Rizzoli & Isles.

ScreenShot4019 ScreenShot4020

At one point in The Artist, George is also shown walking in between some of the Red Studios Hollywood soundstages.

The area where he walked is denoted with a pink circle above.

In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Red’s main entrance on Cahuenga Boulevard stood in for the entrance to Maroon Cartoons, where the famous animated hare worked.

The courtyard just beyond that entrance was also used in the filming.

That area is denoted with a pink circle above.

On a Who Framed Roger Rabbit side-note – while doing research prior to writing this post, I came across a blurb in The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations book which, in reference to the flick’s title, stated, “No, there is no question mark, as it’s considered bad luck in a film title.” I had never before heard that bit of trivia and found it interesting, especially since my good friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong grammatical errors blog, had recently written a post which mentioned WFRR’s punctuation error. Superstition or not, I think the flick really needed the mark in its title and I found myself inadvertently adding one each time I typed “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in this post. I guess some habits are hard to break.

The music video for Britney Spears’ hit 2000 song “Lucky” was also shot at Ren-Mar and the exterior of the studio is visible in the MTV Making the Video special about the production.

You can watch Part I of the Making the Video of “Lucky” by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker John Bengtson, from the Silent Locations blog, for finding this location and to fellow stalker Tony, from the fantastic On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream, for pointing me to John’s site! Smile

Stalk It: Red Studios Hollywood, aka Kinograph Studios from The Artist, is located at 846 North Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the official Red Studios Hollywood website here. The area of the studio used in The Artist can be found on Lillian Way, in between Willoughby and Waring Avenues. The studio’s main entrance on Cahuenga Boulevard is the entrance that stood in for Maroon Cartoons in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Red Studios Hollywood is not open to the public and does not currently offer a tour.

April 21, 2011April 20, 2011

Elevate Lounge from Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” Music Video

One location that has been at the top of my To-Stalk list for over two years now is Downtown L.A.’s Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge which were used extensively in Britney Spears’ music video for her 2008 hit song “Womanizer”. I first found out about this location while watching the ultra-depressing MTV special Britney: For the Record, which aired on November 30th, 2008 and chronicled 60 days in the pop star’s life, two of which were spent filming “Womanizer”. I, of course, immediately became obsessed with stalking the restaurant, but the Grim Cheaper objected every single time I suggested grabbing a bite to eat there, thinking it would be far too pricey for his tastes. It was not until this past Saturday afternoon when the two of us found ourselves hungry while doing some stalking in Downtown L.A. that I again suggested the restaurant and the GC decided it might be worth a try. Before agreeing completely, though, he first scoped the place out on Yelp and was absolutely DELIGHTED to discover a reviewer who had posted a comment with those three magic words – “fabulous happy hour”, which of course caused him to acquiesce and we immediately headed right on over there to grab a bite to eat and do some Britney stalking.

And I am very happy to report that we were NOT at all disappointed! Takami is one of the COOLEST restaurants that I have ever been to in my entire life! Located in the penthouse suite on the 21st floor of a Downtown L.A. office building, the indoor/outdoor, open-air restaurant boasts INCREDIBLE, 360-degree views of the infamous L.A. skyline.

Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge first opened in August of 2007 in what was a former office suite. The space was the brain-child of former Arthur Anderson financier Emil Eyvazoff who spent over five years touring over 100 different venues looking for the right location to build his dream restaurant. In a November 22, 2007 Los Angeles Times article, Emil is quoted as saying, “We told the two guys looking for us, ‘Make sure it’s jaw-droppingly unique.’ Then in April of ‘05 we saw [this] spot, and I think by the fourth step out of the elevator I said, ‘This is it.’” Tag Front, the design firm that was also responsible for the look of Boa, Geisha House, and Katana, was hired to design the space and, during an amazing two-year-process, gutted the 6,000-square-foot premises and brought in wood-paneled walling, a 25- by 40-foot sunken dance floor, 150 feet of sliding glass dooring, large modern couches, and a state-of-the-art DJ booth and sound system, transforming a drab office suite into the sleek, ultra-modern lounge and restaurant that it is today. And Emil was certainly spot on in his description of the place – it is most definitely “jaw-droppingly unique”. The food was out of this world, as well. And the Yelp reviewer had definitely been correct in his assessment – Takami does have a fabulous Happy Hour, which is, amazingly enough, also offered on Saturday and Sunday nights. During Happy Hour, all of the food served in the bar area of the restaurant is priced at $4 – not kidding! And the servings are huge, to boot! The GC and I tried almost everything on the menu and I just about died over the Japanese-style bruschetta, while the GC loved the Sushi Trio offering so much that he ordered a second serving of it immediately upon finishing the first.

Britney’s “Womanizer” music video was shot in Elevate Lounge, Takami Restaurant’s nightclub section, which was closed at the time we showed up to stalk the place. But our SUPER nice server asked the manager to take me on a private tour of the space when we finished dining. So incredibly cool!

Takami’s manager also could NOT have been nicer and gave me a very lengthy and in-depth tour of Elevate and pointed out where the filming of “Womanizer” had taken place. The video, which was shot on September 24th and 25th of 2008, was primarily filmed in one of Elevate’s three bar areas – the one located closest to the lounge’s main entrance.

As you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the detailed mosaic design behind the bar area which appeared in the music video is actually there in real life. Love it!

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Takami’s kitchen area also appeared in “Womanizer”, but I, unfortunately, did not get a chance to stalk that part of the restaurant.

Some behind the scenes images from the video shoot are pictured above.

Elevate Lounge also hosted actresses Sophia Vergara and Natasha Henstridge and hairstylist Ken Paves for a “Beauty Roundtable” article which ran in the March 24, 2008 issue of US Weekly Magazine.

And OK Magazine held a photoshoot with singer Colbie Caillat for their February 28th, 2008 issue at the lounge. Elevate has also appeared in episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Brothers and Sisters, and Millionaire Matchmaker. The restaurant is also something of a celebrity hot spot and such stars as Audrina Patridge, Jason Biggs, Omar Epps, Kat Von D, Brody Jenner, Frankie Delgado, and David Archuleta have all been spotted there.

Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” Music Video at Elevate Lounge

You can watch Britney’s “Womanizer” music video by clicking above.

Britney Spears: For the Record–with the Making of “Womanizer”

And you can watch Britney: For the Record by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge from Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” music video is located on the Penthouse level of the building at 811 Wilshire Boulevard in Downtown Los Angeles. You can visit the Lounge’s official website here. While Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant is open daily, Elevate Lounge is only open on Friday and Saturday nights, from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

August 2, 2010August 3, 2010

Jim and Pam’s Wedding Hotel from “The Office”

Now that I have watched all six seasons of The Office, I can honestly say that my favorite episode hands down has to be the Season 6 episode titled “Niagara” in which Jim Halpert (aka John Krasinski) and Pam Beasley (aka Jenna Fischer) finally get married. I loved the episode for two very different reasons – one, because Jim and Pam’s relationship is so incredibly sweet, and two, because it so perfectly captures what it is like to plan a wedding. Whoever wrote “Niagara” must have gone through the ordeal that is planning a wedding just prior to penning it, because, let me tell you, they got things absolutely, one hundred percent SPOT ON! And right now I can TOTALLY relate. Yes, planning a wedding is fun and exciting and heartwarming, but, at the same time, dealing with people is just not my forte. I honestly want to call up some of our guests and/or vendors and scream, “NO, I will not provide you with shade during the ceremony, NO, I will not pick you up from the airport on the morning of my wedding, and NO, it’s not OK that you RSVP-ed yes, but are now backing out even though I have already given my caterer the final head count!” – all of which were recently said to or asked of me and my fiancé! Sigh! The scene in which Pam says to Jim, “Everyone’s driving me crazy. This is supposed to be our wedding day! Why did we invite all these people?” especially resonated with me when I watched the episode and I can’t tell you the number of times since then that I’ve seriously considered jumping on a ship to tie the knot sans guests just like Pam and Jim eventually did. 😉 Anyway, while watching “Niagara”, I immediately recognized the hotel where Jim and Pam’s guests stayed during their wedding as the historic Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City. So, I dragged my fiancé right out to stalk it when we were in the area two weekends ago.

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The Sportmen’s Lodge Hotel has been around since the early 1880s, but at the time it was named Hollywood Trout Farms thanks to the fact that it was surrounded by a series of man-made lakes and piers from which guests could fish for trout which would then subsequently be cooked and served to them for dinner by the staff at the main restaurant. In 1962, a new, larger hotel was built on the property, which had since been re-named the Sportsmen’s Lodge. It is that structure that still stands today.

And while the trout lakes have long since been removed, the hotel now boasts an Olympic-sized swimming pool, numerous ponds and waterfalls, and eight picturesque acres of land. Due to its proximity to the Hollywood studios, the Lodge has long been popular with movie stars, including Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Doris Day, David Lee Roth, Billy Bob Thornton, Trisha Yearwood, Spencer Tracy, Lauren Bacall, Tallulah Bankhead, Lena Horne, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, and Bette Davis, all of whom have been spotted there at one time or another. In 2007, the hotel was purchased by real estate developer Richard Weintraub who set about extensively renovating the property. And, unfortunately, along with that renovation came quite a bit of change. 🙁

In The Office’s aptly named “Niagara” episode, Pam and Jim head to Niagara Falls to tie the knot. And while the interior scenes were filmed at the Sportsmen’s Lodge, as I mentioned above, the exterior shots were filmed at an actual Niagara Falls lodging named the Red Coach Inn. And, as you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the two hotels look nothing alike.

The Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel actually has two lobbies, and it is the back lobby, which is located off of Coldwater Canyon Avenue, that was used in the episode. Unfortunately, as you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, that lobby looks MUCH different today than it did when The Office was filmed. During the recent remodel, all of the back lobby’s wood was covered over with white paint, making the space appear much less lodge-like.

Gone, too, is the hotel’s former stone-covered fireplace, which has been revamped to look like an ordinary, everyday fireplace. Such a shame! The hotel, which used to have a very kitschy feel to it, now appears traditional and run-of-the-mill. I am actually quite surprised that Weintraub had the place remodeled in such a way, as I am sure that it is no longer quite as appealing to producers and location managers.

And I have to say here that I absolutely LOVE the scene in which Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell) shows up to the hotel’s front desk and informs the clerk that he doesn’t have a reservation because Jim and Pam have “blocked” rooms for their guests. LOL LOL LOL Man, I can SO see that happening in real life! I don’t know what it is about a wedding that renders seemingly normal, intelligent people into helpless, self-absorbed morons, but, let me tell you, it happens!

Several of the Lodge’s hotel rooms were also featured in the “Niagara” episode, including Room 642, where Pam’s grandmother, Meemaw, stayed;

Room 644, where Pam stayed;

Room 641, where Dwight stayed;

and Suite 639, aka the “Honeymoon Suite”, where Andy stayed.

All of the rooms featured in the episode can be found in the same hallway, which is located on the hotel’s second floor, directly above the main lobby.

I could NOT for the life of me find the ice/vending machine closet where Michael spent the night in “Niagara”, though. Oddly enough, according to the housekeeper that I spoke with, the hotel only has one ice machine area and it is located next to the pool. I checked it out, though, and it looks nothing like the room pictured above, which leads me to believe that producers either created a fake room in one of the hotel’s storage closets for the filming or that the ice machine room where filming took place was removed during the recent remodel.

The very same back lobby which appeared in The Office was also the site of the graduation dance in the Britney Spears’ movie Crossroads. I obtained this information from a crew member while I was working as an extra in the movie and I actually thought it was a bit odd being that a vast majority of the flick was lensed at the now-defunct Ambassador Hotel. It seems like it would have been a whole lot easier to just shoot the dance sequence in one of the former hotel’s many ballrooms since the cast and crew were already filming on location there, but, then again, what do I know? 😉

And, of course, I just HAD to pose on the Sportmen’s Lodge’s stairwell since Britney had once been there. 🙂

The actual dance scene in Crossroads was filmed in the Lodge’s Starlight ballroom. And, as you can see in the above screen captures and photograph, the room’s light fixtures and the banister surrounding the dance floor still look the same today as they did in 2002 when Crossroads was filmed. YAY!

The hotel was also where Lynette Scavo (aka Felicity Huffman) stayed after leaving her husband Tom (aka Doug Savant) in the Season 2 episode of Desperate Housewives titled “Remember (1)”.

And if you look at the room where Lynette stayed in that episode, you will notice that it is a perfect match to the room Lucy Wagner (aka Britney Spears) and Henry (aka Justin Long) rented after the dance in Crossroads, which is extremely odd as I would have guessed – once again – that that scene would have been filmed at the above-mentioned Ambassador, as was the case with all of the other hotel room scenes in the movie. So odd!

The front entrance of the hotel also appeared in Crossroads.

The wedding from the end of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry was filmed at the Lodge, in the hotel’s lagoon area, and, according to a staff member I spoke with, the movies Leverage, Made, and Day the World Ended, and episodes of the television series Reno 911, Columbo, and Falcon Crest were also all filmed at the Sportsmen’s Lodge,

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Sportmen’s Lodge, aka Jim and Pam’s wedding hotel from The Office, is located at 12825 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. In the “Niagara” episode, Pam stayed in Room 644, Dwight in Room 641, Pam’s Meemaw in Room 642, and Andy in Suite 639. All of the rooms that were featured in the episode are located in the same second floor hallway of the hotel, directly above the main lobby. The back lobby, which appeared in the both The Office and Crossroads, can be reached via Coldwater Canyon Avenue.