About

Prospect Studios

History:

The Prospect Studio property counts as one of the longest continuously operating movie studio sites in cinema history. American Vitagraph was a New York studio until 1910 when it relocated to a small studio in Santa Monica in 1910. When Vitagraph Studios moved to 4151 Prospect Avenue at Talmadge in 1911, it was the first movie studio to locate in Los Feliz proper.

American Vitagraph was founded in 1897 and is generally credited with the first “feature length film” in 1909-1910, “The Life of Moses” which was a 5-part serial that clocked in at 90 minutes. Screen history was made when it was released intact a year later. Vitagraph also began the star system by promoting Florence Turner, who lived on Talmadge Street, as the “Vitagraph Girl.” The studio became a magnet for big stars and pioneered longer films. They were successful at proving that audiences would sit through productions longer than one-reel. Vitagraph was also the first studio to open its own theatre chain and arrange its own distribution.

Eventually, the studio was sold at great profit to Warner Brothers in 1927 and the site became their East Hollywood annex. Parts of “The Jazz Singer” were filmed here that same year. In 1948, the property was bought by the American Broadcasting Company, and it soon became its national headquarters, ABC Television Center. The studio was renamed “The Prospect Studios” after ABC was bought by the Walt Disney Company on February 9, 1996.

Full address: 1708-1770-1778 N. Talmadge Avenue (includes 4151 W. Prospect Avenue) 90027