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Thirty Mile Zone 

The studio zone or TMZ is a 30 mile radius used by union film projects to determine per diem rates and driving distances for crew members. The center of the studio zone is located at the southeast corner of Beverly and La Cienega in Los Angeles, California. More than 90 cities and parts of three counties including Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties fall within the 30-Mile Studio Zone.

Within its boundaries, on-set laborers, particularly extras and other craftspeople, are expected to transport themselves; the zone also determines pay scales and other working conditions. When workers are required to show up for work outside the zone, studios become responsible for transport, meals, and other compensation.

Existing informally as early as 1917, the zone has shifted its size and locus dramatically through the years. A 1934 agreement formalized its geography, circumscribing the production zone within a circle six miles in radius, centered on the intersection of Rossmore and Fifth.

Today, the zone extends over a 30-mile radius and pivots around the intersection of La Cienega and Beverly boulevards, the former headquarters of the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), where the Beverly Center now stands. It also now includes other pockets of filmmaking activity that technically fall outside its circle: Agua Dulce; Castaic, including Castaic Lake; Leo Carrillo State Beach; Ontario International Airport; Piru; Pomona, including the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds; and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Ranch property. 

 

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