The Origins Of 6 Features Common In Films

While Hollywood is the umbrella term used to refer to the American movie industry, it’s also a real geographical location with stores, roads, people, and a smattering of chewing gum wrappers littering the streets. This begs the question, how has this neighbourhood of Los Angeles managed to stay the movie capital of the world since the very advent of the industry in the early 1900s?

The answer turns out to be quite simple, unions. Labour unions took off in Hollywood in the late 1920s. Since practically everyone working in film is unionised, these unions have a lot of power. They have strict rules as to when, where and even how their members can work.

One of these rules is the location rule. Basically, a shoot within 30 miles (48 kilometres) of the intersection of North La Cienega and West Beverly Boulevards in downtown Los Angeles is considered local. Within this 30-mile-zone, film crew are responsible for their meals and transportation to work.

However, a shoot outside the 30-mile-zone is considered on-location. Studios would not only have to cover meals, they would also have to reimburse workers for mileage. Since a single film employs hundreds and sometimes thousands of crew and extras, these costs can quickly add up as shooting takes a couple of months at the very least.

This makes it a lot cheaper to just shoot within the 30-mile-zoneand a lot of productions just shoot within the circle.