The Culver Studios

The staff at Culver Studios is supportive and accommodating. And you can walk right amount to Culver City’s great block of staple (Chipolte, Tender Greens, etc.) and trendy restaurants (Kay and Dave’s, etc)! Trader Joe’s is super close! There’s a farmers market ever Tuesday across the street.
I drive 1−½ hours each way to get here and always happy to get to work. There are historic landmarks from «Gone with the Wind» and David O Selznick right on the lot!

I was so excited to have the chance to be an audience member on the FABLife show! It was an experience I wouldn’t have traded for the world! I was not able to get a tour of the studio but from my experience everything is ran very smoothly.
There was no confusion on where to go or what to do and my boyfriend and I were very pleased at the staff. We were treated with the best customer service and the show was great!
So happy I got to see the beautiful Chrissy teigen! I am such a huge fan! If you are interested in these shows you most definitely have to experience being a live audience. It is a wonderful experience!

My first taping at The FABlife show!
The Studio: Located in downtown Culver City. There is a studio sign on Washington Blvd so you won’t miss it.
The Show: First season. Small studio but intimate. Beautiful set. The hosts are super super super friendly with the audience. They interact with the audience and chat with them when the show is finished. The stage manager is great in controlling the time, 2 hours taping.
The Parking: For TV taping, you park at the public parking structure right across from the studio. The first two hours FREE then $ 1 per hour. Very reasonable price.

Nice place to do work if you’re in the biz. All the staff from security to the commissary are friendly and helpful. I’m always happy when I get a gig at this studio.
One note — street parking is next to impossible. If you aren’t being given parking in the studio lot, best bet is parking in the nearby Trader Joe’s lot… first two hours are free and it’s something like $ 1 an hour after that. Just a two block walk to the studio gates from there.

I’m a little bias because my all-​time favorite movie, Gone With The Wind, was filmed here. But even without the impressive history of these studios, I enjoy them. The location is awesome, adjacent to downtown Culver City (which I love all on its own). You can park in the Trader Joe’s garage on Culver Blvd. and then walk out the back entrance to Washington and down Ince if you are going to a taping here. It is free for 2 hours and I believe the daily max is only $ 8 anyway. Love this area!

What a great piece of History ! Every time we go on the grounds its like stepping back in time to days of Hollywood legends walking the Studio.

I love working on this lot!
Parking is no problem.
It’s a clean, well maintained facility.
The sound stages are very clean. No decades of dust inside these, unlike half of the other stages in town.
Tons of history.
The list goes on.

I love love working at these studios. So much history was shot here. To bad they will be closing soon and condos will be built on the studio property. I believe due to runaway productions the studios were sold and the new owner wants to build condos. How depressing.

Haiku studio review:
Amazing venue /​/​
Relaxed and orderly staff /​/​
Catered to the fans
First of all, I realize that I’m projecting the epicness of my overall experience onto the venue itself, but they deserve it for working so smoothly with Riot. I came here on September 20^th for the League of Legends LCS group stage. I don’t know how much of this was run by Riot versus the actual Culver staff, but it was such a great night!
The studio itself was pretty open and you could walk around during the matches and sit wherever there were free seats. The riot staff was all extremely friendly and engaging. The whole event had a quaint feel to it– something that was missing in the larger events like the semi-​finals– which really made the experience special.
When the event was over the fans were allowed to hang around and meet the players, casters, and other staff. It was really nice of the Studio staff to allow this to happen instead of forcing everyone out at a specific time. I don’t have enough words for how great this event was!

I was at Culver Studios for a taping of «The Ricki Lake Show.» This area was really busy.
When we walked passed the gate, we were in the holding area. We had to wait for about 90 mins before we walked inside the studio. Once inside the studio, it is very cold. Make sure to bring a jacket or sweater with you. The audience leader came out and told us what will be going on. While this is going on, he turns on the music and has us stand up and clap our hands. He made sure the audience was not bored. The show was interesting.

I come here for lunch sometimes or to go for a stroll. I love being on the lot.

I’ve been here three times all together: twice for Bonnie Hunt (which is now cancelled) and once recently for the taping of «Don’t Forget the Lyrics» (Backstreet Boys were contestants and I’m a HUGE fan!)
I love this studio because there is a safe (cheap) parking structure just down the short block (the Trader Joe’s parking) and driving here isn’t scary. Culver City is a nice little city. The staff at this studio are super nice (except for one «security guard», which is why I marked this down one star). The wait outside isn’t to bad. You stand along the street against the building. Bonnie Hunt and Don’t Forget… are filmed in different building. Bonnie Hunt’s building (first gate) wasn’t cold, but the Don’t Forget… building (second gate) was SUPER COLD! Brrr… I think this is the one where they game other game shows, including Deal or No Deal. The warm-​up guy, Bill, is hilarious! I’ve seen him three times and he is a Backstreet Boys fan, so he is quite fun.
One thing about game show tapings– multiple tapings in one day… urgh. This can be really long. (Moreso if you aren’t a paid audience member.)
They have accessible bathrooms nearby too so it’s not to bad. Don’t let the staff tell you know– just go in between episodes. Snacks and waters were allowed, but only to be sneakily eaten between episodes. They allowed phones, which is nice, but they need them to be put away. (For Bonnie Hunt, NO CELL PHONES were allowed… we had to walk back to the car to put it away… but they served us hot dogs and root beers while waiting).
Long day, but fun if you are well-​prepared. Be expected to be loud, do lots of clapping, and repetition due to retakes.

great Culver City history, where the heartland of movie still exist. Most people believe it’s Hollywood but it’s here where most of the shows are taped or also in Burbank. Come by for a tour of the studios.

It’s taken me four months to write about this, due in part to embarrassment AND a signed confidentality contract (breach of which entitles Hollywood Execs to a million dollars and my left breast… at least, I think that’s what the fine print said).
But my story and life-​long stuggle is something the world should know, which is why this is review #400.
My name is Janney B. and I’m a Game Show Survivor.
My addiction to game shows started early, I used to pray for the flu because that meant I could stay home and watch ‘Price is Right.’ If Plinko didn’t air, i would fake being sick and stay in bed for one more day in hopes of seeing those glittery round tokens land in the coveted slots. From there it was ‘Press Your Luck,’ ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ and then ‘Jeopardy.’ These shows taught me that anyone can go from broke to a millionaire in 30 minutes less commercials. Game shows nowadays are hard and I’m cute enough, but not a rocket scientist, okay? But then came my opportunity to be a contestant on ‘Deal or No Deal.’ «Are you kidding me?!,» I thought. «A MONKEY could beat that show.»
Getting cast on the show was easy — perhaps even more simple than that cousin of yours who gnaws on table legs but rocks at Guitar Hero.
They were looking for twins: Check. I’ve got one.
…Who were willing to travel to the L.A. area: Check.
…Who were only borderline stupid and had decent personalities: Ding ding!
One trip to Los Angeles later, and after answering some silly questions and hopping up & down incestuously with my identical twin while looking like we’d just won a million dollars, we were cast.
A few weeks later, we rolled up to Culver Studios very, very early in the morning. As soon as we entered, the Production Assistants stole our names (hey, our mom gave us those!) and assigned us case number 22, as in, «one of 22 playing for a million dollars.» Now, I ain’t that good at numbers (minor white lie, so humor me here) but those aren’t good odds. Did I mention that 22 briefcase models now compete for the money? Whoa! Did I lose you there?
As soon as our makeup was done and our hair was styled, we knew something was wrong: We didn’t quite fit in. My sis kind of knew what to expect since she is a game show veteran (you might have seen her in a pink bikini stuffing pieces of bread in her top and rolling around in maple syrup in a sorority human baklava challenge…) but compared to the other briefcase twins, we couldn’t compete. We couldn’t out-​perk the Mattel Barbie models or out-​smart the champions of ‘Win Ben Stein’s Money.” Oh, and we weren’t fake enough, which shocked me and prompted me to question if I really know who I am anymore (tm Zoolander).
Between tapings and attorney meetings and «be happy, or we’ll kick you off the show» peptalks, my twin sis and I sought refuge in the corner, nursing unlimited red bull and black coffee (a trick for making every contestant bounce off the walls).
I had difficulty not being able to go to the restroom unsupervised (since this was a gameshow and I look like a cheater). And when they fed us, we had to wear big bibs to keep our clothes clean. Like divas, our makeup was constantly retouched and our clothes were re-​steamed.
We filmed two episodes, neither of which we won. We would have won on the episode before ours, but a new twin set no. 22 stood on stage for that episode (we were temporaily demoted because we weren’t bubbly enough), won a bunch of money, and then we were «re-​appointed» to our spot on stage.
Look, I’m pretty darn bubbly. Except in the morning. (Just ask anyone who has seen me in front of a camera before 11:00 am). But being bitter will give me unsightly wrinkles, so I have chosen a healthier way of dealing with my stress: pretending this never happened. Kinda like the survivor of a heinous crime with PTSD.
4 Stars because the lot was spacious, most of the people were really nice, and I enjoyed my time onstage in the bright studio. Talking to Howie Mandel was exciting and so was chatting with Tamika the gorgeous briefcase model.
But basically, it was a big disappointment. I’m not trying to sound ungrateful, because our adventure WILL make for a good story around our Christmas dinner table, but, overall, it was pretty darn crappy.
Do I want to be on a game show in the future? Meh, No Deal.

I was at Culver Studios for a taping of «Deal or No Deal“[1]. The grounds were busy, even early morning, but otherwise we didn’t get to see much else.
Inside, the studio was cold as ice! (If you go, bring a jacket.) Our audience leader introduced us to the game, sung[2] the rules of conduct («no cameras, no chewing gum, no food»), and guided us to clap at the right times, with the appropriate enthusiasm. As expected, the show was pretty annoying, but now I can say I’ve been in the same room as Howie Mandel! I also met some cool folks from Victoria (in Canada).
Our party had to duck out early, so be sure to allocate a significant block of time — hours — to watch the shows. A fun experience, even though we were freezing!
[1] Prior to this, I’d never had seen the show — I don’t watch TV much! FYI, the episode isn’t yet on their web site.
[2] Thank goodness he had a good singing voice!

The Culver Studios is so tucked away… you wouldn’t even know they were there unless you lived across the street. Its a huge lot with lots of sound stages and offices and it even has a screening room. I like TCS because its very close to my home and its a breeze to get to work. I like the lot because its so chill… they entire lots staff (from security to maintenance) are extremely cordial and know what they are doing.

Unless you look closely or turn down the right street, you’d never know they have well over a dozen stages packed onto their lot right in downtown Culver City. The facilities are are mellow and easy to get to from my work and home, so that’s a big plus for the 12-​hour shoot days I have coming up next week.