Fame, a remake of the 1980 feature film of the same name, just completed filming at Le Conte Middle School in Hollywood. Filming preparations began at the school in the middle of December and included building an extravagant set in the school’s auditorium.
Los Angeles Unified School District schools are frequently used for filming or parking of production vehicles when filming takes place in nearby neighborhoods. The District and individual schools both benefit by hosting filming or parking and have an arrangement to split the income.
The Fame shoot generated more than $80,750 for the District, with the lion’s share — over $60,500 — going to the school itself.
Patricia Edgar, who manages FilmL.A.’s property management team, said that bringing filming to area schools pays off in many ways.
“Although most school-based production takes place when class is not in session, school filming helps make students aware of the variety of rewarding careers available in entertainment,” Patricia said.
“But, by far my favorite part of the job is delivering schools their filming fee payments,” she continued. “After serving six years as an educator and experiencing the budget challenges schools face, it’s great to know that our work here makes us a part of the solution.”