Droves of visitors descend upon Hollywood every day, each of them with different dreams, expectations, fantasies, and demands. There are film buffs, Raymond Chandler fanatics, wanna-be stars, and star-crazed fans, all pilgrims mesmerized by the legacy of Tinseltown, the place where dreams not only come true but become larger than life.

Many visitor envision Hollywood as a sophisticated environment filled with huge studios, celebrities at every street corner, popping flashbulb premières, and all things glamorous the reality is that most of the moviemaking and associated deals do not take place in Hollywood at all. With the exception of Paramount Pictures the major studios have long since moved to Burbank, Culver City, and Century City.

Hollywood proper runs form the Silver Lake neighbourhood to Laurel Canyon Boulevard, portions of Santa Monica Boulevard, and the Hollywood Hills. The territory is separated into the flatlands on the hills. Businesses are conglomerated in the flats, along with some major landmarks, older bungalows, and shabby apartments; here there is a large population of recent immigrants form the former Soviet Union, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.