The Farmer and the Film School Should Be Friends

posted by Johnny A on Monday December 13, 2010

Filed under: IOWest, Behind the Scenes

If only we had Rodgers and Hammerstein to solve this dispute with a song…

There’s some trouble brewing down on Ivar Street, the street just to the east of the IO West theater. The Hollywood Farmers Market closes Ivar (and Selma) every Sunday morning. They’ve been doing it for 20 years now. The Los Angeles Film School is located at Ivar and Sunset and they want to keep Ivar open to make their parking garage more accessible on Sunday mornings.

That, as they might say in the Farmer’s Market word, presents a bit of an artisanal pickle.

I’m usually against street closures. And I’m all for film schools. Some of my favorite acting experiences have been on student films. But the Hollywood Farmers Market is an institution. It brought fresh produce to Hollywood back when Hollywood didn’t have much going for it and Selma was more accurately called Smellma. And it is huge (as evidenced by this whimsical proposal for a ticketing system to keep the crowd a manageable size). Vendors, baby strollers, and improvisers grabbing a crepe before rehearsal at IO West take up every inch of the current layout.

Can the Farmers Market figure out another configuration in Hollywood that can accommodate all of its current vendors? Or can the LA Film School do us a solid and let the closure of Ivar continue? Where do you stand? If you want to speak your mind, contact Councilman Garcetti ‘s office.