page_title: Los Angeles
section_title: Movies and the performing arts
hierarchical_section_title: Los Angeles / Culture / Movies and the performing arts
caption_attribution_description: Dolby Theatre, formerly Kodak Theatre, Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA.
context_page_description: Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the largest city in California. With an estimated population of nearly four million people, it is the second-most populous city in the United States and the third-most populous city in North America. Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, Hollywood entertainment industry, and its sprawling metropolis.
  Los Angeles lies in a basin in Southern California, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, with mountains as high as 10,000 feet, and deserts. The city, which covers about 469 square miles, is the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States. The Los Angeles metropolitan area is home to 13.1 million people, making it the second-largest metropolitan area in the nation after New York. Greater Los Angeles includes metro Los Angeles as well as the Inland Empire and Ventura County. It is the second-most populous U.S. combined statistical area, also after New York, with a 2015 estimate of 18.7 million people.
  Home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542.
context_section_description: The city's Hollywood neighborhood has become recognized as the center of the motion picture industry and the Los Angeles area is also associated as being the center of the television industry. The city is home to the major film studios as well as major record labels. Los Angeles plays host to the annual Academy Awards, the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards as well as many other entertainment industry awards shows. Los Angeles is the site of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the oldest film school in the United States.
  The performing arts play a major role in Los Angeles's cultural identity. According to the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, "there are more than 1,100 annual theatrical productions and 21 openings every week." The Los Angeles Music Center is "one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation", with more than 1.3 million visitors per year. The Walt Disney Concert Hall, centerpiece of the Music Center, is home to the prestigious Los Angeles Philharmonic. Notable organizations such as Center Theatre Group, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the Los Angeles Opera are also resident companies of the Music Center. Talent is locally cultivated at premier institutions such as the Colburn School and the USC Thornton School of Music.
caption: The Dolby Theatre, venue for the Academy Awards
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