Famous and Forgotten Filming Locations Across SoCal Explored in New PBS SoCal Digital Shorts Series LOCATIONLAND Premiering January 27
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Allison Gray
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Los Angeles, Calif. – Jan. 7, 2025 – PBS SoCal, Southern California’s flagship PBS organization, announced today a new locally-produced, three-episode digital shorts series called LOCATIONLAND where author, “locationologist” and host Harry Medved explores famous and forgotten filming locations across Southern California. Co-created by Harry Pallenberg, who produced Huell Howser’s California’s Gold series for over a decade, LOCATIONLAND will benefit from first-hand accounts of the creative people who brought cinematic SoCal to the big screen by going behind the scenes of the Hollywood Sign, the 1978 musical Grease and the 1958 sci-fi horror cult classic Plan 9 From Outer Space directed by Ed Wood. A special early release of three episodes of LOCATIONLAND will stream on the PBS app and pbssocal.org starting Mon., Jan. 27 with new episodes dropping weekly on PBS SoCal’s YouTube Channel.
The list of guests featured in LOCATIONLAND include filmmakers Joe Dante (Gremlins, Trailers from Hell creator), Will Gluck (Friends with Benefits, Anyone But You, Easy A) and Randal Kleiser (Grease, The Blue Lagoon), comedian Dana Gould(Seinfeld, The Simpsons), plus location managers, scouts and superfans who literally put these sites on the map. The show will also look at the impact that film and TV have had on the local communities and “Set-Jetting” as a new form of movie tourism.
The new trailer for LOCATIONLAND launches today at pbssocal.org/Locationland.
Harry Medved is an award-winning author, film historian and entertainment publicist with a passion for California history and movie locations. He has co-authored seven books on film history, including “The Golden Turkey Awards” (with brother Michael Medved), “Location Filming in Los Angeles” (with Karie Bible and Marc Wanamaker) and “Hollywood Escapes” (with Bruce Akiyama), highlighting the Golden State’s top “vacations on locations.” After years of directing public relations for Fandango, Medved currently works with several high-profile clients in the theatrical space. A Southern California native, Medved previously served as National Director of Communications for the Screen Actors Guild, where he helped launch the SAG Awards and the SAG Archives.
LOCATIONLAND is a full circle moment for producer Harry Pallenberg, an accomplished documentary filmmaker and TV producer widely recognized for the 700 episodes of the beloved local series California’s Gold he made with host Huell Howser. Pallenberg’s deep appreciation for Southern California culture and history is also reflected in the three documentary feature films he has produced and directed: Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost LA (1995) with Morgan Neville), Women in Boxes (2008) with Phil Noyes and Where They Raced (2013) with Harold Osmer.
Episodes of LOCATIONLAND are described below and will roll out on PBS SoCal’s YouTube Channel as follows (subject to change):
“Grease Road Trip” – Mon., Feb. 3 on PBS SoCal’s YouTube
Grease Director Randal Kleiser joins Host Harry Medved on a road trip down memory lane, driving down the concretized L.A. River with recollections of filming the world’s greatest high school musical at Malibu’s Leo Carrillo State Beach and under the Sixth Street Bridge, where Olivia Newton-John’s Sandy cheered on John Travolta’s Danny in the climactic Thunder Road hot rod race.
“Behind The Hollywood Sign” – Mon., Jan. 27 on PBS SoCal’s YouTube
Directors Will Gluck and Joe Dante reveal secrets of their iconic location shoots at L.A.’s most famous movie landmark, while Host Harry Medved joins Hollywood Sign guide Diana Wright on the grounds of the legendary Los Angeles beacon. Here they recall the Hollywood Sign’s cinematic legacy, why it is always getting destroyed in the movies and debunk a myth almost as big as the sign itself. Built in 1923 originally as a real estate advertisement, the Hollywood Sign went on to become an international symbol of fame, fortune and the American dream.
“Ed Wood’s Plan 9 Adventures” – Mon., Feb. 10 on PBS SoCal’s YouTube
Host Harry Medved and comedian/superfan Dana Gould visit the forgotten graveyard where cult movie director Ed Wood shot Bela Lugosi’s final movie scenes, later reappearing in Wood’s flying saucers & zombies epic, Plan 9 From Outer Space. Along the way, authors Katharine Coldiron and Bob Blackburnjoin the crew to unearth the private Hollywood studio for the 1950s Grade Z classic often considered “the worst movie ever made.”
For more information about LOCATIONLAND and to watch episodes online, visit pbssocal.org/Locationland
Follow us on social at @pbssocal.
About PBS SoCal
PBS SoCal uses the power of public media for good, strengthening the civic fabric of Southern California and providing our community with an essential connection to a wider world. As a local, donor/member-supported non-profit organization, PBS SoCal is available to stream on the PBS app and the PBS Kids App and reaches nearly 19M viewers across 7 Broadcast channels — including 2 primary channels, PBS SoCal and PBS SoCal Plus and 5 digital subchannels. With a commitment to make content available anytime and anywhere for free, PBS SoCal offers programming that reflects the diversity of Southern California and showcases the full schedule of beloved and trusted PBS content spanning Education, News, Environment and Arts & Culture. PBS SoCal also sparks the sharing of ideas at in-person cultural events and community conversations as well as prepares children for kindergarten and beyond by bringing bilingual, hands-on learning experiences to the community for free.