Hollywood is a world of contrasts — a place where dreams come true and nightmares lurk in the shadows. While it has produced some of humanity’s most beloved stories and icons, it also harbours secrets that demand our attention. Behind the bright lights and red carpets lies a shadowy underworld — a side of Hollywood that’s far darker than the picture-perfect image it projects. Whispers of Hollyweirdness have circulated for decades - secret societies controlling the industry, movie stars embroiled in the Manson murders, decadent lifestyles gone wrong, fallen stars, drug deals and strange occurrences all dominated the real 'Tinseltown'.

While the Hollywood sign has become a signifier for fame and the “American Dream”, it originally read “HOLLYWOODLAND”. Made to promote the name of a new housing development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles in 1923, the development syndicate aimed to create a fantasy village with storybook homes, but in reality it was actually a slum build, leading to neglect and it being burning down for insurance fraud before the city took over the sign and repurposed it for the film industry.

This collection investigates 15 authentic stories that have Hollywood as their epicentre, from the seedy bars below the iconic sign to the hills of Laurel Canyon in the West and out to the high desert in the East. Flawed film stars, UFO cults, porn stars, dive bars and outlaw bike gangs. Hollywood has seen it all.

Film by Simon Goodrick