HISTORY
A STUDIO OF CHOICE SINCE 1915
Over the past 100 years, our iconic boutique studio has hosted a wide variety of cinematic treasures in both film and television productions alike. Built in 1915 as the Metro Pictures backlot, RSH Studios has changed hands among various notable production companies, including Desilu Productions and Paramount Pictures, to more recent owners like Television Center, Ren-Mar Studios, and RED Studios. Located in the heart of Hollywood, RSH Studios has remained the ideal location for filmmakers and producers dating back from the silent film era in the 1920s to the award-winning pictures of today.
1915 – 1925: Metro Pictures
In 1915, Metro Pictures sent a group of filmmakers to Hollywood to establish a West Coast studio, Metro Studios. Along with the legendary light of Los Angeles, these pioneers found open space to build a boutique studio in the heart of Hollywood, surrounded by bungalows and beautiful orange groves.
1923: Scaramouche
Starring Lloyd Ingraham and Alice Terry
1946 – 1947: Equity Studios
In May of 1946, construction of Equity Studios on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood begins. The studio is built primarily as a rental lot leasing space to independent producers in the center of Hollywood. In January of 1947, the studio is renamed Motion Picture Center Studios.
1948 - 1950: Motion Picture Center Studios
The 1949 Writer’s Guild of America nominee for Best Screenplay “Home of the Brave”, starring Lloyd Bridges and Jeff Corey, is filmed on lot.
1949: The Jackie Robinson Story
“This is the story of a boy and his dream. But more than that, it is the story of an American boy and dream that is truly an American”.
1949: Home of the Brave
“Divided we fall, united we stand, coward take my coward’s hand.”
– Mingo
1951: Motion Picture Center Studios
“High Noon” starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly takes home four Academy Awards, including Best Actor in a Leading Role.
1955: Desilu-Cahuenga Studios
Desilu Productions gains 51% control of Motion Picture Center Studios and together create the iconic television sensation “I Love Lucy”.
1953-1957: I Love Lucy
”You couldn’t wake him with a stick of dynamite”
– Lucy, in the episode entitled ‘Lucy’s Italian Movie’.
1960: Paramount leases studio for its overflow productions
Six-time Emmy Award winner “The Andy Griffith Show” begins its eight-year run.
1965: Hogan’s Heroes
Colonel Hogan leads a ragtag band of POWs caught behind German lines in this two-time Emmy winning series “Hogan’s Heroes”.
1967: Paramount Studios
Paramount Studios acquired the property from Desilu.
1969: The Studio is sold to Cinema General Studios
1974 – 1984: Television Center Studios
“General Hospital” begins production in 1974, which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera in production.
1984 – 2010: Ren-Mar Studios
1984: A Nightmare on Elm Street
“1, 2...Freddy’s coming for you...3, 4, better lock your door.”
– Freddy Krueger
1985 – 1992: “The Golden Girls”
Built for each of the four stars of the hit series, our legendary Golden Girls Bungalows have remained a favorite on-lot attraction to Hollywood historians and celebrities alike.
1988: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
“I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.”
– Jessica Rabbit
1989: “When Harry Met Sally”
”I’ll have what she’s having.”
– Estelle Reiner
1991: Terminator II: Judgement Day
“Hasta la vista, baby!”
– The Terminator
1996: The Birdcage
“You do Fosse, Fosse, Fosse! You do Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Martha Graham!”
– Armand
2001: K-PAX
“I shall miss Earth; it has great potential.”
– Prot
2005-2010: WEEDS
“Oh hell no, you don’t put weed in my cornbread!”
– Heylia
2005: Wedding Crashers
“I’m a little too traumatized to have a scone.”
– Jeremy Grey
2010: Red Studios Hollywood
In January 2010, Ren-Mar Studios was bought by RED Digital Cinema. The complex was renamed “Red Studios Hollywood”.
2011: Moneyball
’’When you get the answer you’re looking for, you hang up.’’
– Billy Beane
2014 - 2021: Bosch
”Everybody counts, or nobody counts.”
– Harry Bosch
2014: Gone Girl
”I am so much happier now that I’m dead.”
– Amy Dunne
2015: “The Hateful Eight”
”Well, cut my legs off and call me ‘Shorty’!”
– Chris Mannix
2019: The Laundromat
“Bad? Bad is such a big word, for being such a small word.”
– Jürgen Mossack
2020: Fast and Furious 9
”No one outruns their past. And yours just caught up to you.”
– Dominic Toretto
2021: The Masked Singer
2021-2025: American idol
”You’re going to Hollywood!”
2025: RSH STUDIOS
The name RSH is an ode to our past - a rich, vibrant, living memento to the years of Hollywood history created on these very stages.
2026: The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth
This standalone sequel to the 2019 hit “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” marks the first major collaboration for screenwriter Quentin Tarantino and director David Fincher.