User:Okmores/The egg company

The Egg Company, a famed two-story brick building, was the original headquarters of LucasFilm in North Hollywood, California.

Few people walking down Lankershim Blvd across the street from Universal Studios realized what was behind the ivy-covered walls and unmarked entrance with only a 10 inch brass plaque reading "The Egg Company."

Over protests of many who wanted to preserve the 70 year old building as a historical landmark, it was torn down by the city to make way for a parking lot. The irreversible legal decision (case BC 096-946) angered tenants, former tenants and thousands of entertainment people who had visited and conducted business at the building for many years.

The prize-winning 70-year-old Egg Company building, located at 3855 Lankershim Blvd., had been a stylish office space for many famous entertainment filmmakers, stars and producers.

George Lucas acquired the building in 1977, and with the help of his then-wife Marcia, created a beautiful tree-decorated atrium and garden environment while converting the rest of the interior into a high-tech, 40-suite facility that served originally as corporate headquarters of the Lucasfilm production company, and later as home for independent filmmakers and tenants allied to the entertainment industry.

In 1990 The Egg Company building won an architectural and management award from the L.A. Chapter of Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). Later that year, it was awarded the same distinction from the BOMA Pacific Southwest Region. In 1991, The Egg Company went on to win the International award over entries from throughout North America.

Marcia Lucas, who edited such notable films as "American Graffiti," "Star Wars," "Return of the Jedi" and "Taxi Driver," later became the sole owner of the building.

Among the mix of entertainment producers, directors and talents who have officed through the years at The Egg Company are Steven Spielberg, Randal Kleiser, Ed Asner, Sid Ganis, Howard Kazanjian, Craig Darian, George Baker, Charles Webber, Roger Davies, Ed Meyerson, Jim O'Neal, Doug Richardson, Jones Entertainment Group, Chelsea Studios, Richard Kline, Lee Reem, Peter Saphier, Chuck Warn, Preuit Holland, Gary Caplan, the Weissman/Angellotti public relations company and others.

To mourn the demise of the building before bulldozers tore it down, Marcia Lucas invited 500 former tenants to a last party on Saturday, Sept. 24, 1994. Attending mourners recieved memorial bricks, potted plants of ivy transplanted from the building's exterior walls and a dozen eggs commemorating the original owner, Olsen Egg Farm (hence, The Egg Company name).