Fundraiser Underway For Iconic Film Set Destroyed By Woolsey Fire

AGOURA HILLS, CA – The Santa Monica Mountains Fund, in cooperation with the National Park Service, launched a campaign last week called “The Paramount Project” to rebuild the iconic Western Town in Paramount Ranch recently destroyed by the Woolsey fire.

The Paramount Ranch western town was the location for filming hundreds of movies and TV shows over the years, including more recently HBO's "Westworld," but it was also the backdrop for weddings, star parties, music festivals and movie nights, among other activities.

A National Park Service employee lived in Western Town with her family and was one of three employees who lost park housing in the Woolsey fire.

“Paramount Ranch has been a center of movie-making in the Santa Monica Mountains for almost 100 years, and has also been telling the story of this fascinating legacy to millions of visitors,” said Charlotte Parry, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Fund. “The public’s support will ensure that movies will be made here long into the future, and the community will be able to enjoy this delightful place for many years to come.”

The new fundraising initiative is expected to restore only the Western Town, which was bought by the National Park Service in 1980 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The focus of the campaign is to tap into the "creativity, expertise, and resources" of the entertainment industry and the public to create a temporary set, and in the future, some permanent structures that will retain the rustic features of the original, but with more fire-resistant materials.

“In a difficult time like this, we are grateful to have great friends like the Santa Monica Mountains Fund, as well as the many members of the public who have reached out to tell us that they want to be part of Paramount Ranch’s next chapter," David Szymanski, superintendent of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, said. “Filmmaking is all about creating and re-creating, and that’s what we’re going to do at Paramount Ranch.”

Paramount Pictures purchased 2,700 acres of the old Rancho Las Virgenes in 1927 for use as a "movie ranch." Since then, the more than 300 films, television shows and commercials were shot at Paramount Ranch, which now makes up 765 acres.

A plethora of Hollywood stars have practiced their craft and strolled the dusty streets of Paramount Ranch, such as Bob Hope, Marlene Dietrich, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper and more, according to the press release. However, it was the diverse landscape that really shined. It offered filmmakers the freedom to create distant locales such as colonial Massachusetts in "The Maid of Salem" (1937), ancient China in "The Adventures of Marco Polo" (1938), a South Seas island in "Ebb Tide" (1937), and numerous western locations including San Francisco in "Wells Fargo" (1937).

In the 1950s, Western Town was created for television shows like "The Cisco Kid." "The Mentalist," "Weeds," episodes of the "X-Files" and Hulu’s "Quickdraw" were also filmed on the set.

To learn more about donating to The Paramount Project, visit the Santa Monica Mountains Fund website.

Photo: THOUSAND OAKS, CA - NOVEMBER 09: Firefighters from various departments work to protect structures as the Woolsey Fire moves through the property on Cornell Road near Paramount Ranch on November 9, 2018 in Agoura Hills, California. About 75,000 homes have been evacuated in Los Angeles and Ventura counties due to two fires in the region. (Photo by Matthew Simmons/Getty Images)