Hollywood

Hollywood is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California - situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles.[2]  Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonym  of American cinema, and is often interchangeably used to refer to the greater Los Angeles area in general. The nicknames StarStruck Town and Tinseltown refer to Hollywood and its movie industry.[3]  Today, much of the movie industry has dispersed into surrounding areas such as the Westside neighborhood,[4]  but significant auxiliary industries, such as editing, effects, props, post-production, and lighting  companies remain in Hollywood, as does the backlot of Paramount Pictures.

In addition, Hollywood is the home to various television, music, radio, and other entertainment studios and production companies, leading both the community and Los Angeles in general to also become known as "The Entertainment Capital of the World".

It is not the typical practice of the City of Los Angeles to establish specific boundaries for districts or neighborhoods, however Hollywood is a recent exception. On February 16, 2005, California Assembly Members Jackie Goldberg and Paul Koretz introduced a bill to require California to keep specific records on Hollywood as though it were independent. For this to be done, the boundaries were defined. This bill was unanimously supported by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles City Council. Assembly Bill 588 was approved by the Governor of California on August 28, 2006, and now the district of Hollywood has official borders. The border can be loosely described as the area east of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, south of Mulholland Drive, Laurel Canyon, Cahuenga Boulevard, and Barham Boulevard, and the cities of Burbank and Glendale, north of Melrose Avenue and west of the Golden State Freeway and Hyperion Avenue. This includes all of Griffith Park and Los Feliz[citation needed] — two areas that were hitherto considered separate from Hollywood by most Angelenos.[who?] The population of the district, including Los Feliz, as of the 2000 census was 123,436 and the median household income was $33,409 in 1999.[1]

As a district within the Los Angeles city limits, Hollywood does not have its own municipal government. There was an official, appointed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who served as an honorary "Mayor of Hollywood" for ceremonial purposes only. Johnny Grant held this position from 1980 until his death on January 9, 2008.[5][6] However, no replacement has ever been named after Grant's death.