Tear Factory: what Hollywood lost to the fires
The fires in Los Angeles could be another blow to the American entertainment industry. Events have been postponed or canceled, filming of popular projects has been frozen. Because of the deadly elements, the stars of the "golden state" and ordinary people, many of whom work for the harsh "dream factory", have lost their homes. Witnesses of the rampage became and Russian celebrities who live in California or came there on vacation. Read more about what is happening - in the material "Izvestia".
Russian stars about the fires in California
Russian celebrities witnessed the devastating forest fires in California, which declared the state in early January and turned the Hollywood Hills into ruins. The popular blogger Vlad Paper, who last December asked Vladimir Putin a question on a direct line last December, has been in touch from there these days. The guy came to Los Angeles with his family.
- Let me show you what our bonfire looks like - it looks intimidating today! Everything is a little closer, a little wider, a little red and a lot of smoke. Well, we start to panic, we start to get nervous, there is fire, " the blogger said in a video posted on his social media page.
The footage of the fire glow was also shared by Nikita Presnyakov, who lives in Los Angeles. He reported that he is safe.
"We have been living in a state of stress for three days now.We are safe, but continue to monitor the situation every minute. Feeling depressed and sad that such a beautiful neighborhood is just gone. I feel sorry for everyone who lost homes in this madness. Take care," he wrote.
Singer and actor Alexei Vorobyov, who came to Los Angeles for a vacation, had to evacuate from the central neighborhood engulfed in flames along with his corgi Mozart. Later, when the fire in that part of the city was extinguished, the cordon was lifted and residents were allowed to return to their homes while still without power.
"The whole problem is that people are trying to preserve nature within the city limits, which is absolute nonsense. It's extremely difficult for humans to survive in the wild - everyone knows that. But, for example, in Los Angeles, they are really trying to save, to preserve nature. Nature, in its turn, does not want to save anyone - it has its own life, its own cycles. And, for example, in Los Angeles, where there are a lot of these islands of wild life, literally in every neighborhood, there are fires every year. The weather conditions here... In general, everything contributes to the fact that everything burns ," said Alexei Vorobyov in a video on his page on social networks.
Russian singer and actor Alexei Vorobyev
Sasha Zvereva, the ex-soloist of the band "Demo" living in Los Angeles, was a little luckier. She reported that her house is at a safe distance from the raging elements.
"The sun is covered with smoke. Makarkina school has burned down. The fires are far away from our house, air purifiers are on in the house, all air filters are new, we read updates about evacuations, it won't reach our neighborhood (the reason I've stayed in our Venice-Marin for 10 years instinctively). Some people we know don't have homes anymore," she wrote in a blog.
Singer Rita Dakota, in turn, said that she lived near the fire-ravaged neighborhoods and managed to fly to Bali in time. The celebrity noted that because of the strong wind, the flames spread faster than they had time to extinguish it.
"Burned our favorite beach, our favorite cafe, our canyon, where we went hiking every day, and thousands, thousands, thousands of homes," Dakota wrote.
The homes of Anthony Hopkins, Paris Hilton, Eugene Levy all burned down
Among those thousands were the residences of many Hollywood stars. In an interview with News Nation, Mel Gibson said that his house in Malibu, where he lived for about 15 years, completely burned down, compared the consequences to the bombing of Dresden during World War II and added that miraculously survived his chickens. Paris Hilton found out her house was on fire when she saw the news broadcast. She shared footage of the ashes that remained of the mansion afterward on her social media page.
"My heart is broken beyond words," Hilton wrote. - This house was the site of many precious memories. This is where Phoenix took his first steps and we dreamed of making lifelong memories of London here. I am thankful that my family and pets are safe and pray for every family who has lost a home."
Anthony Hopkins' house burned down.
According to the Daily Mail, most of the affected celebrity residences are in the eastern part of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The home of 87-year-old Anthony Hopkins, which he purchased for $6 million in 2021, turned to ashes. The mansion of Anna Faris ("Very Scary Movie"), which he bought for nearly $5 million in 2019, and the home of "American Pie" and "Shittes Creek" star Eugene Levy, for which he once gave $4 million, were destroyed to the ground. According to the publication, the list of those whose homes burned down in the fires also includes Leighton Meester ($7 million), known for her role as Blair Waldorf on "Gossip Girl," Cobie Smulders ($5.6 million), who played Robin in the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," and "Divergent" and "Obsession" star Miles Teller ($7.5 million). And this is probably not a complete list. It's not just homes that have been destroyed by the flames. Jamie Lee Curtis, star of "Freaky Friday" and "Everything Everywhere at Once," posted a photo of a local church, of which only the facade remains.
"This is a church in Palisades that had a wonderful Sunday school and also a great house of worship. This is the building in which I found sobriety 25 years ago," she wrote.
The actress also said that she will send to charity $1 million. Her colleagues Sharon Stone and Halle Berry, in turn, urged followers in social networks to bring things for the victims in the distribution center.
Cancellations in Hollywood
The fire has also confused the plans of the local movie industry. Shooting of popular projects was on pause, which usually entails serious financial losses. On Jan. 9, FilmLA, the agency that issues permits for filming in Los Angeles, issued a notice of cancellation.
"Staffing resources normally available to support filmmaking may not be available during a local state of emergency," the notice said. - If you received permission from FilmLA before the fires to shoot in or near an evacuation zone, expect it to be canceled. New applications to film in or near these areas will be denied until local permitting authorities instruct us otherwise."
The Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, Variety writes, was closed due to its proximity to the fires, which affected production on the TV series "Abbott Elementary School" and "Pitt Hospital." According to the publication, the second season of "Fallout," which was filming in the Santa Clarita area, "Grey's Anatomy," "NCIS: Inception" and other projects were also on pause. For many crew members, it's all another blow in an already precarious situation following the covid, strikes and production slowdown.
"I think some people are just going to say, 'Screw it.' If you were barely paying your mortgage and now your house is gone and that was kind of the golden egg you had for your financial future ... it's devastating," The Holliwood Reporter quoted cart operator Diego Mariscal as saying.
The publication's interlocutor noted that four of his friends lost their homes. One of the dwellings was used as a location for filming a TV series. Following the fires in California there was a series of cancelations. In particular, it affected the premieres and special screenings of the films "Unstoppable" with Jennifer Lopez, "Wolfman" with Julia Garner, "The Last Dancer" with Pamela Anderson. In addition, from January 17 to 19 postponed the announcement of nominees for the Oscars.
