The wildfires that tore through parts of Los Angeles didn’t just destroy neighborhoods; they also left a visible scar on the entertainment industry.
Several well-known filming locations in and around fire-damaged areas were burned or made inaccessible, forcing productions to pause, relocate, or rewrite scripts altogether. Industry insiders say the losses ripple far beyond sound stages, impacting crews, musicians, and local businesses that depend on film and television work.
For musician Chris Fuderich, the devastation is painfully personal. His home in Altadena was destroyed in the fires.
Fuderich is a film and television composer who has worked on projects including Coyote Ugly and was in the middle of scoring a Netflix series when the fires began. As flames tore through his neighborhood, he and his partner Annie were forced to evacuate.
When they returned, the devastation was overwhelming.
Homes were still burning. Streets were unrecognizable. Fuderich described it as something he had never experienced.
“I’ve never been in a war zone, but it felt like walking through a war zone,” Fuderich said.
Their house was gone. So was his studio. Every instrument. Decades of work. Forty years of creativity, racks of gear, albums, and recordings all reduced to ash.
Film LA spokesperson Philip Sokoloski says that many filming locations were also lost in the fires, including canyon roads, hillside neighborhoods, and wooded backdrops that are frequently used for commercials, TV dramas, and music videos.
Beyond production delays, the fires have intensified conversations about climate risk, housing stability, and whether Los Angeles can continue operating as the world’s entertainment capital without major infrastructure and policy changes.
Meg James covers entertainment for the LA Times. She says the biggest financial loss from the fires isn’t with the studios, but with the creatives who work in and around the industry.
Industry leaders warn recovery will take years, but many agree the wildfires have permanently changed how Hollywood works in fire-prone Southern California.
This special report was originally featured in LA Fires: One Year Later, a KFI News team special that aired on KFI AM 640.
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