00:00It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a new tramway to the Hollywood sign?
00:04Warner Bros. has a bold vision for an aerial tramway that would transport visitors to and from
00:09its Burbank lot to the Hollywood sign. Like a plan that Elon Musk has for a high-tech hyperloop
00:14that would shuttle riders between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Warner Bros. tramway
00:19would alleviate traffic and parking problems. The studio, now owned by innovation-focused
00:24AT&T, told Los Angeles officials on Monday that it will pay the estimated $100 million
00:30for the so-called Hollywood Skyway. A Warner Bros. spokesperson said in a statement,
00:35"...the Hollywood sign is an important historic and globally recognized landmark for the city
00:40of Los Angeles. The sign's fame, however, has created unintended negative effects such as
00:45heavy traffic in adjacent residential areas and related safety concerns." Warner Bros. decided to
00:51step up given its close proximity to the north side of the Hollywood sign, and it wanted to be
00:56part of a solution that has the least impact possible on the environment, so that Griffith Park
01:00and the surrounding residential neighborhoods are left largely undisturbed. The spokesperson added,
01:05"...we understand there are a number of possible solutions being considered, but we are confident
01:10the city's feasibility study will show our proposal to be the best option, an option that can be built
01:16and operated at no cost to the taxpayer, and that will provide public benefit to the city of Los Angeles
01:22and its residents." The length of the route would be more than one mile, and the ride would last
01:26roughly six minutes, traveling up the back of Mount Lee to a planned visitor center near the sign.
01:31It's unclear how Warner Bros. would carry out construction without impacting the ecologically fragile
01:36Griffith Park. The studio's plan would have to pass the necessary environmental impact studies
01:42and be accepted by neighborhood organizations. A source says the tramway would take about three years
01:47to be built. Now, back in December, media mogul Barry Diller spearheaded a different $25-30 million
01:53gondola project that would transport tourists from the LA Zoo to the sign, but it has been met
01:59with fierce resistance. If Warner Bros.' plan is realized, it would definitely help Warner Bros.' own
02:04tourism business, with an almost certain increase to the studio's daily visitors for its various
02:09movie- and TV-related attractions. So, would you want to see this Hollywood Skyway built?
02:14Why or why not? Be sure to sound off in the comments. Until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News,
02:19I'm Tiffany Taylor.
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