CULVER CITY Neighborhood Guide: Historic Film Town of Sony Pictures and MGM

Culver City is one of my favorite neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles. In this video, I’ll tell you all about my favorite spots, the schools, homes, and more.

Hello everyone, my name is Cameron Stephens, the entertainment industry’s real estate agent and the owner of Stephens Real Estate, a real estate experience tailored to the creative client.

Today I want to talk about Studio City, one of the coolest neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles. Culver City is located in the southwestern portion of Los Angeles, and depending on where you consider the “Westside” starting, it could actually be considered Westside despite being primarily east of the 405. To the north is Palms, Century City, and parts of Beverly Grove and West Hollywood. To the east is Mid City, West Adams, and Ladera Heights. To the south you start getting over to Playa Vista, Westchester, and even LAX, and to the west you have Mar Vista, Marina Del Rey, and Playa Del Rey.

Speaking of location, one of the reasons why people love Culver so much is that it is close to the ocean, and at an intersection of many different freeways. The 10 and the 405 are right there, and Venice Boulevard is your main straight shot to the beach, with La Cienega winding it’s way both north up into WeHo and south down toward the airport. Knowing that you’re both close to the ocean while also feeling like you have access to many things close by is a blend that a lot of people really love, all while having incredibly temperate weather. AC is optional in Culver.

Culver City is known for it’s past in film, and it’s a fascinating journey because it was built on many historic film studios while also exploding in a brand new direction in the past few years.

Since the 1920s, Culver City has been a center for film and later television production, best known as the home of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios from 1924 to 1986 when Sony Pictures purchased the studio, now housing the division's film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, and Screen Gems. The lot, which is open to the public for daily studio tours, currently houses a total of sixteen separate sound stages, and the influence of Sony can be felt throughout Culver City.

Hundreds of movies have been produced on the lots of Culver City's studios including The Wizard of Oz, The Thin Man, Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, the Tarzan series, the original King Kong, Grease, Raging Bull, E.T., The Man with Two Brains, City Slickers, Air Force One, Wag the Dog and Contact. Television series made on Culver City sets have included Jeopardy!, Las Vegas, Gunsmoke, Cougar Town, Mad About You, Lassie, Hogan's Heroes, Arrested Development, The Andy Griffith Show, The Nanny, Hell's Kitchen, MasterChef, and the syndicated version of Wheel of Fortune. When I used to work at Sony, I was able to be in the audience for tapings of both Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, two of my favorite shows growing up!

And now you have major changes with Amazon Studios moving in, Marvel doing production work out there, Original Force doing animation, and even Apple renting significant office space and working on many of their own streaming shows. It’s a bit of old meets new now that is a fascinating mix of entertainment for sure. 

So yes, the film and television history is rich and to me, this really is a standout part of the culture and the feel of Culver City. Many businesses exist to support the sheer volume of things shot in the area, and trust me, every single restaurant will cater because of that. Speaking of restaurants, Culver City is becoming a food mecca, so let’s get right into the stars of the show.

Destroyer is a sci fi meets Scandinavian bakery and cafe, Madre is for Oaxacan food and sipping mezcal, The Lodge Bread Company boasts the world’s largest cinnamon buns, N/Naka is a Michelin starred omakase only sushi restaurant in which Niki Nakayama was featured on Chef’s Table, Loqui Tacos boasts handmade flower tortillas that are some of the best in the city, Roberta’s has your straight from Brooklyn pizza fix, Honey’s Kettle may be the best Fried Chicken you’ll ever dip in honey, Roy Choi’s infamous Korean BBQ taco truck has their only brick and mortar location in Culver, Mayura is traditional Indian that has year over year graced Jonathan Gold’s 101 list, Father’s Office has the best burger in Los Angeles and I’ll fight you if you disagree, and Vespertine is a dining as art in an experience that rivals Alinea, yes that Alinea in Chicago.

I could go on and on because these are just the restaurants people travel to Culver City from all over Los Angeles to visit, and doesn’t include the breadth of local spots, especially in their bustling downtown area where Culver and Washington Boulevard meet, which also happens to be the location of a fantastic farmer’s market and a Trader Joes.

Want to drink? I actually consider Culver City an impressive neighborhood to drink beer, whether that’s at City Tavern, Public School, Rush Street, Rocco’s Tavern, or Joxer Daly’s. Don’t skip Backstage either, it’s where all the Sony folks go for happy hour and karaoke. And if you want it from the source, technically it’s not in Culver City but adjacent in Marina Del Rey but Firestone Walker has a brewpub right there that lets you have direct access to one of California’s best breweries.

Culver also has a pretty spectacular coffee scene, though that shouldn’t surprise you since film doesn’t get made without an ever flowing supply of caffeine. Cognoscenti Coffee does high end pours, Bar Nine which also roasts their own beans, The Conservatory which is also my pick for a great tea selection as well, Blue Bottle, and don’t miss out on the funky and artistic Tanner's Coffee.

Ok let’s talk living in Culver City. I can speak extensively on this since it was the first place I lived in Los Angeles when I worked at Sony. I loved the mix of urban and suburban. You had walkable tree lined streets and local parks where I played in a softball league that were blocks away from jazz night at the historic Culver Hotel. I found it to be a diverse area driven by the tireless work ethic of the entertainment industry. It’s quite safe overall, the Culver City Police which are separate from City of Los Angeles have a solid presence, and there are a lot of young people that keep the neighborhood vibrant, and especially for young families as well.

The schools are impressive as well, with both El Marino Elementary and Farragut Elementary getting 9/10 on Great Schools. Culver High has been around for a long time and though large, is very well regarded. Culver City also has quite a few Montessori schools as well if that’s your thing.

The parks are fantastic in Culver City for outdoor space and since it’s quite urban overall you don’t get a ton of hiking, except for one major standout: The Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

A lovely set of quite challenging vertical stairs that at the top lead to some spectacularly panoramic views of downtown to the ocean, it’s a popular lunch time and weekend gathering spot for those that want a major leg workout.

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Let’s talk about the actual homes in Culver City, because there really is a nice mix. You have a very eclectic mix of building styles but a lot of 40s and 50s homes, with a few Spanish bungalows mixed in with some more modern builds.

Single family homes vary by area, some of the nicer parts commanding closer to 1.8 to 2 Million and other areas on the southwestern portion closer to 1.2 to 1.4 Million depending on size. Brand new builds can easily fetch 2.5 Million or more. As for condos, it’s kind of interesting because Culver City has a TON of apartments for rent, which is why many young film industry people live there, but very few buildings that have units for sale. For the ones that do, you can find condos in the 600 to 700 thousand range, with nice buildings dipping into the 900k range. A few years ago Culver City was a well known but sleepy area, but with the massive amount of development that accompanied the metro line, and the major investment from Amazon, values have gone up significantly as people are discovering what a fantastic area it is to live in, and real estate prices reflect that.

Ok there you have it! Thank you for watching, I hope you learned something about the way I think about Culver City, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

At Stephens Real Estate we specialize in working with creative professionals, entrepreneurs, and especially people in the entertainment industry because I spent 7 years of my life working in animation and visual effects. That is why I designed Stephens Real Estate to be tailored to the creative client.  

I also designed a few value adding programs for both buyers and sellers that no one else is offering. For buyers, we put together a full marketing plan that paints you as the right buyer for your dream home. We can help recommend local lenders that will fit your financing situation, even if you’re freelance. And don’t worry about the inspections, we’ve got you covered. They’re free, all of them, no questions asked.

And If you’re looking to sell your home, we offer the ability to REMODEL NOW, and PAY WHEN YOU SELL with Zero fees, no interest, no upfront costs. Plus, we pay for all of the aspects of digital marketing from photography, drone footage, videography, 3D walkthrough and virtual open houses, social media campaign, custom website, targeted emails and more.

So, if you like my energy and personality, and think my expertise and the programs I offer would benefit you, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Additionally if you know someone that would benefit from connecting with me, I’d absolutely love an introduction.

Thanks again for watching, and at the end of this video there will be a QR code you can scan to be taken directly to my website, or a link somewhere down there where you can click to learn more.