Where the Movies Come From

One of the biggest rackets in L.A. (aside perhaps from the film industry itself) is the glut of Hollywood tours you’ll be inundated with when you arrive, many of which have little to offer aside from the obvious, like the names on the Walk of Fame. Local historian and resident Philip Mershon provides something much more substantive and compelling, though. His intimate, two-hour walking tours, run through the Felix in Hollywood Tour Company and capped at eight guests each, will take you along an historic strip of Sunset Boulevard, where Philip vividly recreates the birth, flourishing, and demise of renowned film studios, radio and TV networks, and records labels over the past century. Philip’s meticulous research and adept storytelling skill combine to make this walking-tour the perfect introduction to historic Tinseltown.