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TAKE A HOLLYWOOD HISTORY TOUR

My name is Eric Gardner and I’ve worked in the entertainment industry for over 20 years writing TV promos, movie trailers and screenplays. In 2001, Lions Gate Pictures released a feature film that I co-wrote called “Race To Space.” It tells the (mostly) true story of the first chimp in space—launched aboard a Mercury Redstone Rocket in 1961 and returned safely to Earth.

Writing is what I do to pay the bills, but my real passion is movie history—and movie locations. For years I’ve been giving friends and family my “Hollywood History Tour,” where we visit some of the most famous—and famously obscure movie locations in Hollywood and Southern California.

And now I’ve decided to open up my tour to movie fans like you.

One of my favorite tours is a 4-mile hike through Malibu Creek State Park, formerly the 20th Century Fox Movie Ranch. It’s been the location for hundreds of TV shows and feature films including, “MASH,” “Planet of The Apes,” “Dr. Dolittle” and “Butch Cassidy.” I’ll take you to the original “MASH” filming location, as well as Century Lake, where they shot key scenes for “Planet Of The Apes.” If you still have the energy, we’ll also visit nearby Zuma Beach, where they filmed the climactic “Statue Of Liberty” scene from the movie.

My Hollywood tour includes the Bronson Caves (Batman, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Star Trek VI), The Greystone Mansion (The Big Lebowski, Entourage, Spiderman, X-Men) and the Bradbury Building (Blade Runner, The Outer Limits, Chinatown). Don’t confuse my Hollywood History Tour with those commercial bus tours of Hollywood. You can't learn much sitting on a bus.

To arrange a tour, contact me at: ericgardner1@verizon.net.

To find out more about “Race To Space,” go to: www.imdb.com/title/tt0167360/

© 2009 All photos were taken by Eric Gardner using a Nikon D90 with an 18-135 mm Nikkor lens.