Due to Long Beach’s diversity, it has become Hollywood’s number ONE filming grounds. Its close proximity and less recognizable landmarks make Long Beach ideal for movie studios. The LBC approved over 500 filming permits throughout the years, allowing hundreds of movies, thousands of television episodes, and millions of commercials to be filmed right here in our backyards. Here are were some of the major movies that were filmed in Long Beach:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Ferris Bueller’s house is actually located in Long Beach in the Bixby Knolls neighborhood. You can drive by it, it’s located at 4160 Country Club Drive.
Inception
The famous movie that revolves around a dream within a dream. In one of the main scenes, the characters drive a van off a bridge in order to get the “kick” to wake them up out of their dream. This bridge is the Commodore Schuyler F. Helms Draw Bridge which connects Long Beach to Terminal Island. Watch the clip below.
Anchorman
The movie takes place in the “classy” San Diego, but if you keep your eyes open, most of the movie was actually filmed in Long Beach. You will be able to recognize the Shoreline Village in the scene in which the confrontation between channel 4 and channel 9 takes place.
LA LA Land
A couple of Long Beach locations were used for the filming of LA LA Land. Mia’s (Emma Stone) pink stucco apartment is a lovely example of the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture that helps define the look of LA, Long Beach included. Called Rose Towers, the 20-unit complex, built in 1928, was carefully restored 10 years ago. In writing about that preservation effort, the Los Angeles Times noted the building’s Moorish decorative motifs were “evident in graceful arches, multicolored tiles, wrought iron balconies and carved wooden doors.” Check out this behind the scenes clip.
In the final scene of the movie, Mia walks into a Jazz club, Seb’s, to find that her former boyfriend, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is the owner. The Blind Donkey, a Long Beach favorite, was the filming location for Seb’s. Check out the clip below.
Dexter
Dexter takes place in Miami, but Long Beach is only 30 miles from Hollywood. While much of the show is filmed here, there are a few notable scenes in which you would be able to recognize the city. The house in which Dexter and his wife, Rita, live can be found on 1st St. near Redondo.
