This is Photojournalist Fred G. Haseney with his eye on scientology. Today, I’m setting aside a blog in which I would have reported from the Pacific Area Command Base (“PAC Base” or “Big Blue”), the so-called “church” of scientology’s West Coast headquarters. Instead, I’m reporting from Scientology Media Productions (“SMP”), located at 4401 W. Sunset Blvd., about ten blocks east of PAC Base.

“It’s official!” screams a flyer for SMP’s Grand Opening on Saturday, May 28, 2016. It’s also a monumental and historic moment, as far as scientology is concerned.

Photo Caption: This map of PAC Base and SMP, courtesy Google Maps, will help event attendees and others to get their bearings.

  • (1) The black box encompasses the streets that surround PAC Base: Sunset Blvd. to the north; Catalina St., to the west; New Hampshire Ave. to the east, and Fountain Ave. to the south. The blue box inside the black box indicates “Big Blue.”
  • (2) This is the parking lot for the Los Angeles Organization (“LA Org”), located at 4810 W Sunset Blvd. The event flier indicates that event attendees will be required to go to this parking lot: “Everyone will need to sign in at the LA Org parking lot… Leave yourself at least 2-3 hours for this process.” The building south of LA Org is the American Saint Hill Organization (“ASHO”), located at 1413 L. Ron Hubbard Way (“LRH Way”), the street in between Catalina St. and New Hamsphire. There are two entrances into LA Org’s parking lot: one from Catalina St., and the other is from LRH Way (see “A” and “B” below).
  • (3) This square indicates the Advanced Organization of Los Angeles (“AOLA”), located at 1306 LRH Way as well as the Continental Liaison Organization (“CLO”), at 1308 LRH Way and the International Association of Scientologists (“IAS”), on Fountain Ave.
  • (4) This is a parking structure owned by scientology.
  • (5) This is The Fountain, apartments for out-of-town scientologists doing training or auditing.
  • (6) This is the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and Vermont Ave., frequented by LA Org Body Routers (“BR”).
  • (7) The black box encompasses the streets that surround the SMP facility: it’s bordered on the west by Sunset Blvd., to the north by Sunset Dr., and to the east by Hoover St.
  • (8) This shows the actual SMP facility.
  • (A) This is the Catalina St. entrance to the parking lot behind LA Org and ASHO.
  • (B) This is the LRH Way entrance to the parking lot behind LA Org and ASHO.
  • (C) This is the main entrance to SMP from Sunset Blvd., at 4401 W. Sunset Blvd.
  • (D) If you were to drive south along Commonwealth Ave., and cross Sunset Dr. (the street that borders SMP to the north), you would drive right onto SMP’s back lot.
  • (E) This appears to be a delivery entrance onto SMP from Hoover St.
  • (F) This appears to be another delivery entrance onto SMP from Hoover St.
  • (G) This is an entrance into a parking structure at the south end of the facility.
  • (H) This might be an entrance to a good-sized alley that cuts through the center of the facility.

Photo Caption: This is the main entrance to SMP from Sunset Blvd. at 4401 W. Sunset Blvd. This is the “exit” side of the entrance and is blocked by staging and seating for the event.

Photo Caption: Here is another view of the “exit” gate to SMP at 4401 W. Sunset Blvd. What will they be doing with all of those yellow cones? In the distance, you can see stand-alone lighting, most likely for night time viewing.

Photo Caption: This is another view of the staging area. Notice the SMP logo on the wall in the background. Sea Org (“SO”) members work hard at getting the event set up.

Photo Caption: This is the entrance to SMP at 4401 W. Sunset Blvd. Notice the SO Security Guard (“SG”) on a bicycle. To his left, a female SO member walks by. In the distance, SO workers help unload a truck of equipment fresh from Acey Decy Lighting (“ADL”). Google identifies ADL as an “established resource for sales, rentals and service of professional lighting fixtures & accessories, located at 200 Parkside Dr., in San Fernando, CA 91340.

Photo Caption: This is another view of the staging area as seen through the entrance to SMP.

Photo Caption: This view shows the entrance to SMP (on the right) and the “exit” from the facility (on the left). I shot this picture on Sunset Blvd. I suspect that every inch of these gates will covered for the event; I foresee SO members using “Bed Sheet Tech” to keep out prying eyes. Notice the tower because it now hosts two huge SMP Logos.

Photo Caption: This is another view of the entrance to SMP off of Sunset Blvd. All of the facility’s signs are still covered up. Notice the red ribbon and bow over the staging area. Also notice the SO SG straddling his bicycle further up the sidewalk.

Photo Caption: This is a close-up of the red ribbons and bows.

Photo Caption: Have scientology event goers arrived early and parked along Hoover? Here is a motor home parked on that street with a cat keeping the dashboard warm.

Photo Caption: This is item (F) on the map, a delivery entrance onto SMP from Hoover St. I suspect that this will not be used as an entrance to the facility for its Grand Opening because of the metal framing set up at that location. An entrance into the parking structure (a portion of which can be seen to the left) is item (G) on the map.

Photo Caption: This sign (“Scientology Media Productions”) is the focus of the staging area. I’m standing on Hoover St., at item (F) on the map, looking at the entrance/exit onto and from Sunset Blvd.

Photo Caption: This is item (H), a gate at an entrance to SMP from Sunset Blvd., south of the main entrance and closer to Fountain Ave. Notice SMP’s transmitting tower.

Photo Caption: Here I’m standing on Sunset Dr., north of the facility, where Commonwealth meets an entrance to the facility, marked as item (D) on the map. Notice the framing erected inside the facility’s rear parking area. Those structures are not blocking the entrance.

Photo Caption: Red ribbons and bows over the staging area as seen from item (D), an entrance to the facility where Commonwealth meets Sunset Dr.

Photo Caption: Here is another view of item (D). Notice the unblocked gate, the framing that’s been erected, and the large wooden flower boxes. I counted 5 such boxes, and they appear to be waiting to be relocated to a better spot.

I didn’t obtain a photo of map item “E,” a delivery gate near the corner of Sunset Dr. and Hoover St.

All images (unless noted otherwise) © 2015—2016 Fred G. Haseney. All rights reserved.

Sources:

Loonapix Photo Editor (“Squirrel on the Green Grass”).

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