Enthusiastically Los Angeles

Film LA might be one of the most important agencies you've never heard of. Why? Because nearly everything that gets filmed in Los Angeles has to be approved and permitted by them.
Heard anything about "runaway production" (ie, the economic loss from filming that happens in other states)? It's partly Film LA's job to fix that by making it easier and simpler to film here.
Helicopters flying under freeway overpasses? Cars racing in the LA River? Creating a train wreck in Downtown Los Angeles? All facilitated and figured out and permitted and managed by Film LA.
But this isn't just a podcast about what it's like to be charge of film permitting in Los Angeles (though that would certainly be interesting enough). It's also Paul's story - and it's not one you'd probably expect. To wit: before taking this job, he had had never worked in entertainment, never worked in filming, and never been to Los Angeles. How the heck did that happen? Take a listen and find out.

Billie Greer is many things. Pioneering female business leader. Courageous risk taker. Unmatched communications and public affairs professional. And now? "80 year old millennial", as she calls herself, living in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles.
We'll hear how she evolved from the traditional midcentury career woman "schoolteacher" path to one of the most respected civic leaders in Los Angeles. How sitting in a Palmdale Planning Commission meeting at midnight inspired her to start her own business (because why wouldn't it?). How she ended up working in the Schwarzenegger administration as a lifelong Democrat. And ... how she ended up riding into her 75th birthday party on a Harley Davidson.
Billie's been on quite a ride ... let's join her.

It's not an exaggeration to say that today's Downtown would not look the way it does were it not for the Martin family.
Chris is the Chairman and CEO of AC Martin Partners, his family's continuously operating 113 year old architecture firm, which has designed and built more of Downtown's buildings - and more of its iconic buildings - than any other. Chris' grandfather helped design LA's historic City Hall - the building that no other building in Los Angeles could be taller than until the early 70s. Chris' father helped design the LA Department of Water & Power building, with its well known cantilevers and fountains. And Chris himself helped bring the newly opened Wilshire Grand Center to fruition, the tallest building in the West and designed by Chris' cousin David. And these are just three of many: the building that is now the NoMad ... the 'twin towers' on 5th & Flower, where Drago Centro is ... the Higgins Building, with the Edison in the basement ... all designed by AC Martin.
But Chris' story is more than just "the family business". Chris has chaired just about every business organization in Downtown, giving him a front row seat to Downtown's renaissance. You'll hear about wrenching choices he made along the way just to keep the doors open. And you'll also hear how tragedy helped shape his work on the Wilshire Grand.
The story of Chris and his family is really the story of Los Angeles. And Chris' life has been a fascinating journey.
Oh, and in case you think this is just a conversation about buildings and business, we talk about making nitroglycerin, timber logging, and what it's like to fly an airplane you helped build. Just listen - you'll be entertained.
(And in case none of this yet entices you to take a listen, here's a fun fact: this was my very first podcast interview, so you can listen for how I've improved ... or haven't...)

Anybody who spends any time in Downtown Los Angeles has undoubtedly picked up a copy of the Downtown News. Continuously in print for nearly 50 years, the Downtown News feels almost like a small town weekly newspaper ... and that's entirely intentional.
The Downtown News' creator and original publisher is Sue Laris. How does a newly married woman with young children decide to start a newspaper from scratch serving Downtown LA ... in 1972?! Answer: don't rent office space, build your own kiosks, place them near where people already pick up the LA Times, and then just ... hustle.
You may think of the Downtown News as something you pick up and browse during lunch time ... but you'll be surprised to hear about Sue's background, the paper's beginnings, its surprising growth, and about how it scooped the mighty LA Times. Many times.
You may not know this trailblazer's story ... but I promise you'll find it fascinating.

Anybody who has been to almost any political, civic, charitable, or fundraising event in Downtown Los Angeles has probably had their picture taken by Gary Leonard. He's Los Angeles' unofficial civic photographer.
So, why interview a photographer - an artist of a fundamentally visual medium - on a podcast? Because I knew that Gary had a story - a story that hardly anybody knows. Because, before he was LA's unofficial civic photographer, he was LA's unofficial ... underground music scene photographer. And he has been collecting LA "ephemera", as he calls it: Concert tickets. Bobble heads. Photos. Convention passes. Almost anything you can think of. And he's been collecting it for decades.
This interview goes around in circles and loops around and back again ... but it's quite a ride. If anybody has lived 2 or 3 or 4 lives, it's Gary.