Welcome to the documentary, the Cultural Front Line from the BBC World Service.

I'm Laura Hubbard and I live in Los Angeles, California, which has recently experienced the worst wildfires in its history,

killing at least 29 people, destroying thousands of homes and leaving communities reeling across the country's second largest city.

A picture of utter devastation.

The flames here are pitiless, sparing nothing in their path,

not the glitzy houses of Pacific Palisades nor the hillsides.

In this cultural front line, I'll be looking at the ongoing impact of these devastating fires on the arts and

cultural life of the city, looking at how Los Angeles is using this moment to reflect on what the city

has lost and how it will rebuild, both physically and artistically.

I was just so full of feeling and emotion that's hard to really describe, so this is my outlet for it,

you know? I can't not paint it.

Los Angeles has faced fires during the dry Santa Ana winds in the past, but many of us

have never experienced anything like this before. Initially, there was focus on the celebrities who lost their

homes, including Anthony Hopkins, Paris Hilton, and Billy Crystal. However, the whole communities

of Pacific Palisades and Altadena were destroyed in the blaze, as well as portions of Malibu and

Topanga Canyon as well. One evening, everything was completely taken away, and now it's all gone.

Since the early 20th century, Los Angeles and Hollywood have been the home of the movies.

With the industry still reeling from the effects of COVID, and the writers and actor strikes,

a phrase started permeating the industry, survived till 25. Then, on January 7th this

year, fires began tearing through parts of the city. To find out more about what's been happening in

the LA film industry since the fires, I go to meet Pat Saperstein. She's the deputy film editor at

Variety, a weekly magazine that covers

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