‘Black Dahlia’ Isn’t Exactly Putting L.A. on Tourist Maps

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Los Angeles has served as backdrop for hundreds of movies, but few films make a star of the city like “The Black Dahlia” does. The mystery from Universal Studios about the 1947 murder of an aspiring actress reinforces L.A.’s image as the city of dreams albeit dangerous ones.


Even before the movie opened on Sept. 15, its Web site featured a map of the city with scenes from the movie organized by location. Echo Park, the Crenshaw district, and a Hancock Park mansion get center stage. Another section of the site, titled “L.A.: Then & Now,” compares historical and contemporary photos of city hall, Larchmont and Sunset Boulevard. The Los Angeles Times launched a separate site filled with the actual articles about the murder from the Times in 1947.


But apparently “Dahlia” won’t boost L.A. the way “The Night of the Iguana” made Puerto Vallarta. Vahid Sapir, president of Starline Tours in Hollywood, said the Black Dahlia figures in two tours, but neither has had much of an uptick since the movie came out. “Tour of the Stars” remains as popular as before, while the “Haunted Hollywood” tour has gained only a few more believers.


Brian Sapir, the paranormal investigator who leads the “Haunted” tour, claims he had a personal experience with the ghost of Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia. He was conducting a tour through the Roosevelt Hotel at the time Steve Hodel’s book “Black Dahlia Avenger” came out in 2004. As the group stood in front of a locked glass display case showing upcoming hotel events, the door suddenly swung open. While everyone gasped, Sapir looked inside the case and saw the name “Black Dahlia” prominently displayed to promote an event for the book’s launch.


“We go by some of the infamous places where she hung out,” said Sapir, referring to Short. “I haven’t seen the movie, but it has made the Black Dahlia more of a mainstream name.”


The Sapirs weren’t expecting the movie to generate droves of new tour fans. In its opening weekend, “The Black Dahlia” placed second with underwhelming gross receipts of $10 million.



Are You Ready, Alvin?


Just in time for Christmas, the high-pitched warbles of Alvin, Simon and Theodore are coming to cell phones near you.


L.A.-based Bagdasarian Productions and Classic Media have signed with InfoSpace Inc. to bring some famous classic movie and TV stars to mobile, including Alvin & the Chipmunks, Rocky & Bullwinkle and a host of others.


The Chipmunks are the most successful animated musical group of all time with over 43 million records sold and are in the midst of a comeback attempt.


Last year, Bagdasarian Productions entered a five-year deal with Viacom Inc.’s Paramount for distribution of Chipmunks DVD releases in North America, including last December’s “A Chipmunk Christmas,” May’s “The Chipmunk Adventure,” and upcoming Halloween and Christmas releases.


Bagdasarian is also working with News Corp.’s Fox Family and Fox 2000 Pictures on a live-action Chipmunks movie, likely to be released 2008 for the trio’s 50th anniversary.


Under the new licensing agreement, InfoSpace will develop ring tones, ring-back music and wallpaper for mobile phones and handheld devices. The cartoon faces be available as graphics for mobile phones.



On Location With USC


USC’s renowned film school is going international.


King Abdullah II of Jordan was on hand for a ceremony in New York City last week to herald the creation of the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in Jordan’s Red Sea resort town of Aqaba. The school is a joint effort of the Royal Film Commission of Jordan and USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.


When it opens in 2008, the institute will be a fully accredited and free-standing graduate school that will offer a three-year master of fine arts degree through education in cinema, television and a range of other screen-based media.


The institute will enroll men and women from throughout the Middle East, as Aqaba borders Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel. Faculty will be drawn from industry, arts and academic institutions around the globe. First admissions will be in September 2008, with the first graduating class in June 2011.


USC faculty and staff teams conducted pilot programs in Jordan this year to prepare for the project.


Construction of the campus is set to begin early next year. The facilities will include digital screening rooms, post-production, animation and interactive media laboratories; sound stages with green-screen and motion capture capacities; professional video production packages and an extensive digital and print library.



Dental Partners


The Internet can make for some strange bedfellows.


L.A.-based Spot Runner Inc. enables small businesses to create their own ads online using its library of thousands of proprietary templates. Their services target those businesses that typically can’t afford TV advertising to access the medium.


Orthodontic-maker OrthoClear Inc. wants more dentists to use its products, and is willing to buy them some advertising to get them on board.


The two companies have established a deal to launch a large-scale ad campaign for dental practitioners who use their products. OrthoClear will also market Spot Runner’s services which include TV commercial production, media planning and media buying to its national client base of dental providers.


The ads, which promote OrthoClear’s teeth aligners, are customized for each dental office and will run on major cable and broadcast channels such as CNN, CBS, Discovery and VH1.


Unlike dental work, the spots come pretty cheap. Participating dental practices can run the commercials for as little as $1,500.



Staff reporter Anne Riley-Katz can be reached at

[email protected]

or at (323) 549-5225. Joel Russell contributed to this column.

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