Skip to main content

In 1972 filmmaker Steven Paul DeVorkin unknowingly captured the end of one era and the start of another in Los Angeles.

“For over 50 years we had a 150 height restriction on buildings (one exception LA City Hall at 400 feet) so the city spread out horizontally rather than vertically. One year after celebrating the first “Earth-day” we were asked to do an essay on city blight. I did not like essays so I made a “multi-media” presentation. Consisting of three film formats: 35mm slides, 16mm and 8mm movies shown simultaneously to an ad hoc sound track of what ever was on the radio at the time it was supposed to represent the fall of Western Civilization.

The 16mm and 35mm slides are someplace, so all I have is the 8mm footage. With the help of good friend and fellow filmmaker Donne Daniels (and a 65 Cadillac De Ville he owned), we got up at dawn and traveled the streets of LA. Serendipity 50 years later, because of my hatred of written work, I captured the moment of time when LA changed dramatically.”

©Wasted Talent Magazine
Contact us