Alison Becker: Project Manager
-Favorite Hollywood memory: The Lion King sign on top of the Equitable Building was spectacular.
-Hollywood’s best kept secret: The mixologist at the Hungry Cat.
-Favorite Hollywood street: I love the broad, slightly desolate feel of Cole near Hollywood City Hall. It has great old streetlights.
-Favorite Hollywood event: If you’re into marching bands and fancy horses, the Hollywood Christmas Parade is a hoot!
-Favorite Hollywood landmark: The Capitol Records Building on Vine St.
-Favorite star on the Walk of Fame: Didn’t Harry Potter get a star recently?
-Best cheap eats: Cheap is relative. A super tasty 6 in 1 italian sandwich can be had at the Tamarind Deli. Almost as good as a godmother from Bay Cities.
-When I was a kid I wanted to… study political science
-My job is… city building
-My perfect day would be… complete with competent child care and include a goddess treatment at the Olympic Day Spa.
-Hollywood is… captivating
-I am… planning my next adventure
Jessica Cowley: Program Coordinator
-Favorite Hollywood hangout: The Cat & Fiddle patio, and LACE for great local art. I’m looking forward to hanging out in Hollywood Central Park or Hudson Plaza, once they get built.
-Hollywood’s best kept secret: there are many more families, seniors, and other regular folk here than there are movie or rock stars.
-Favorite Hollywood street: Hollywood Boulevard for people-watching; Afton Street’s my favorite residential street
-Favorite Hollywood event: the weekly farmers market.
-Favorite Hollywood landmark: Crossroads of the World, home to the Hollywood Community Studio, of course!
-Favorite star on the Walk of Fame: Hank Williams
-Best cheap eats: Skooby’s and Huston’s Barbecue (though I can’t really go either place with my many vegetarian friends). Mashti Malone’s makes some of my favorite ice cream in the city.
-Hollywood’s soundtrack: Snippets of R&B and classic rock drifting out of car windows on Sunset Boulevard.
-My job is… exactly what I wished it would be!
-Hollywood is… constantly surprising me.
Kristen Coleman: Human Capital Coordinator
-Favorite Hollywood hangout: The Cat & Fiddle Pub. LOVE their patio!
-Hollywood’s best kept secret: The Jim Henson Studio at La Brea and Sunset — AKA the old Charlie Chaplin Studio. Walking around the studio has an old world feel you just don’t get on most studio lots today.
-Favorite Hollywood street: DeLongpre. There are some amazing bungalows along the street and you feel like you are in a different world! It’s hard to believe Sunset and Hollywood Blvd. are just seconds away.
-Favorite Hollywood personality: Marilyn Monroe at Hollywood/Highland
-Favorite Hollywood event: Anything at the Hollywood Bowl.
-Favorite Hollywood landmark: I would be lying if I said anything other than the Hollywood sign.
-Favorite star on the Walk of Fame: Cary Grant
-Hollywood’s soundtrack: Anything by Liza Minelli. I feel like every song would be different, crazy and all around interesting.
-My job is… helping to make the link between physical planning and building human capital. How can redevelopment HELP the residents of Hollywood? I’m looking into it and hope to have fabulous recommendations and ideas!
-My biggest challenge is… trying to pinpoint Hollywood’s identify. Then again, that’s what I like about it!
-Hollywood is… never static.
-I am… excited to be working in Hollywood and getting to know the area better!
Alexander R. Holsheimer: Technical Services Coordinator
-Favorite Hollywood hangout: Hollywood Farmers’ Market
-Favorite Hollywood memory: Fishin’ for lobster at the Happy Endings bar near La Brea.
-Hollywood’s best kept secret: The three community gardens along Fountain Avenue!
-Favorite Hollywood street: Tie between Wilcox and Ivar. Both have great civic buildings, interesting people, and residential uses. Wilcox is more historic, while Ivar has a trendier feel.
-Favorite Hollywood event: Thai New Year’s Day Songkran Festival
-Favorite Hollywood landmark: Pantages Theater, especially when Wicked was playing and the theater was a beacon of green and purple neon lights.
-Best cheap eats: RoRo’s Chicken
-When I was a kid I wanted to… be a “Renaissance man” or “jack of all trades”
-My job is… to display survey and geographic data in a visually appealing manner without misleading the viewer. Sometimes I’m a professional talker.
-My perfect day would be… Taking the Metrolink down the coast to San Diego and enjoying a nice day at the beach.
-My biggest challenge is… explaining to non-planners what I do for a living.
-Hollywood is… rich with contrasts and full of surprises.
-I am… making the move to Hollywood so that I can live CAR-free!
George Villanueva: Resident Researcher
-Favorite Hollywood memory: Being 16 years old and working my first job as a courtesy clerk at the Hollywood Pavilions on Vine Street. One time James Earl Jones came in to shop and I followed him a bit throughout the store, and I swear he was breathing like Darth Vader
-Hollywood’s best kept secret: Its recurring myth of stardom and glamor.
-Favorite Hollywood street: Cahuenga Boulevard, because it can beam you from flatland Hollywood on Melrose to Ventura Boulevard in the Valley
-Favorite Hollywood landmark: The Hollywood Sign. Funny enough, it orients oneself like the North symbol on a compass.
-Best cheap eats: H. Salt and Fish, and of course Ro Ro’s when there is a hookah in front.
-My biggest challenge is… to challenge people’s notions that Hollywood is reinventing itself or becoming impacted by one catalytic intervention. Hollywood has always been changing…we just need to step back and understand that change as a whole.
-Hollywood is… or continues to be a dream factory that more than often does not deliver on what people perceive Hollywood to be in their own minds.
-I am… hoping you all come and visit us at the Hollywood Community Studio!
Jane Dam: Planning Intern
-Favorite Hollywood hangout: Groundwork Coffee.
-Hollywood’s best kept secret: The Cat & Fiddle.
-Favorite Hollywood street: Lanewood Avenue between Orange and La Brea.
-Favorite Hollywood personality: Shirley Temple.
-Favorite Hollywood landmark: The Roosevelt Hotel.
-Favorite star on the Walk of Fame: Mickey Mouse.
-Best cheap eats: Ro Ro’s Chicken on Sunset Boulevard at Cherokee.
-Hollywood’s soundtrack: “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra.
-When I was a kid I wanted to be… a marine biologist.
-My job is… a full time graduate student and part-time intern at the HCS.
-Hollywood is… a very walkable neighborhood!
Maeve Johnston: Planning Intern
-Favorite Hollywood hangout: Nothing beats the Cat & Fiddle patio.
-Hollywood’s best kept secret: The tiny 1930s houses tucked away on residential streets behind giant studio buildings.
-Favorite Hollywood street: Fountain. It’s great for biking and there’s a Birds of Hollywood mural on Fountain at Gordon.
-Favorite Hollywood personality: Jack Sparrow at Hollywood and Highland.
-Favorite Hollywood landmark: The World Book and News Stand at Cahuenga and Hollywood. It’s a good people-watching spot.
-Favorite star on the Walk of Fame: Lucille Ball.
-Best cheap eats: Ro Ro’s on Sunset.
-Hollywood’s soundtrack: Is the same as the Cats soundtrack.
-My job is… always something new.
-Hollywood is… a constantly unfolding mystery.
Shelma Jun: Planning Intern
-Favorite Hollywood Hangouts: Hollywood Bowl and the Hollywood Farmer’s Market.
-Hollywood’s Best Kept Secret: Counterpoint Records and Books on Franklin and Bronson.
-Favorite Hollywood Street: Wilton and Lexington because they are easy to bike on.
-Favorite Hollywood Event: Hollywood Bowl summer programming.
-Best Cheap Eats: Alwazhir Chicken
-My Biggest Challenge is: To create a strong, healthy community by empowering the existing residents, not displacing them.
-My job is… a new adventure.
-Hollywood is…very accessible by bike, bus and metro rail!
-I am… exploring Hollywood and finding many treasures.
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