STUDIO—Paramount Stops Rental of Backlot

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Holiday parties are grinding into high gear, but they won’t be happening on Paramount Pictures’ back lots.

The venerated Hollywood movie studio, which for decades has been renting out its facilities for splashy parties, has decided to discontinue allowing outside special events at the 62-acre complex.

“There were security concerns (after Sept. 11) that were not allowing third-party events on the lot,” said Nancy Kirkpatrick, a spokeswoman for Paramount Pictures.

This is the first time in recent memory that the movie studio, which has been renting out its facilities since the 1930s for weddings, bar mitzvahs and big-time parties like those held during the Democratic National Convention, has canceled special events.

Paramount wouldn’t reveal how much the cancellations are costing, but it runs in the millions of dollars.

The decision to cancel any outside special events came after the entertainment industry was put on high alert for possible terrorist attacks.

Paramount has not indicated when it will resume holding special events on the studio’s back lots. Meanwhile, the six employees who used to work in the special events department have been reassigned to other areas, Kirkpatrick said.

With Paramount closing its special events department, other party locations have seen an increase in business. At the Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard, party bookings for the holiday season and next year are up, said Kiera McCann, the museum’s director of special events.

Other party venues around town, such as the Skirball Cultural Center and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, continue to hold special events at their premises.

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