Here’s a fun way to not just visit Hollywood, but participate in a virtual economy. The website
Hollywood Stock Exchange lets you “invest” in different shows, celebrities, producers, directors or movies. You build a portfolio, earning “Hollywood Dollars” and meeting other players on the discusion board.

It’s fun, and gives you a view of the Hollywood industry never seen before.

There’s no “making up” between cosmetics tycoon Ronald Perelman and his ex-wife, Ocean’s 13 star Ellen Barkin.

The Revlon mogul is taking Ellen and her brother to court, accusing them of using one of his companies — the film company Applehead I — as “a private piggy bank.” According to his lawyers, the Barkins even set up their own venture called Applehead II, which they funded with his own money.

The tycoon also said that Ellen’s brother gets a $250,000 salary from Applehead I for absolutely no work.

Gower Street may not be the most popular or well known areas of Hollywood, but it’s played a big role in its history. This humble road was home to the very first motion picture studio was built here, the Christie Studios, founded by Al Christie in 1911. It later became the location of major players like Paramount Pictures, Sunset-Gower Studios (occuping the former lot of Columbia Pictures). The Oz Film Manufacturing Company also used to stand here, before it was bought out by Paramount.

Gower St’s Columbia Drugstore was also the favorite hangout of young movie stars who loved the soda fountain. They would also buy their hometown magazines and newspapers from the vendor outside the store.

So who’s Gower? He was not a producer, or an actor. Actually, he was a farmer who brought in the area’s first farming equipment — back when Hollywood was mostly pastureland. In the 1930s Hollywood actors called the place “Gower Gulch”. It was the height of the Western films and many extras would walk around in their cowboy costumes. A mall named “Gower Gulch” now stands here.

Most directors are happy to stay behind the scenes, but a couple of them will slip into the scene for a couple of seconds — just for kicks.

Alfred Hitchcock, in particular, made 37 self-referential cameos, including his little “talk” in “The Wrong Man”. Others had a little more fun with their roles. Richard Attenborough played an escaped lunatic in “A Bridge Too Far” Elia Kazan played a Mortuary Assistant in “Panic in the Streets”and Rob Reiner was a helicopter pilot in “Misery”. Horror master M. Night Shyamalan was Dr. Hill in “The Sixth Sense”, a Stadium drug dealer in Unbreakable (2000), and the security guard at the desk in “The Village”. You’ll also glimpse Oliver Stone in “Platoon” — he’s the officer using the phone in the US bunker right before it was blown up.

There’s no business like show business — especially when you earn billions.

George Lucas heads the list of Hollywood’s richest producers, listed in Forbes’ count of “World’s BIllionairs” with an estimated net worth of 3 billion dollars! His Skywalker Ranch is worth US$50 million alone.

Steven Spielberg isn’t doing too badly, with a net worth of $2.7 billion. He has his own jet worth$30 million, and splurges on his favorite hobby: collecting movie memorabilia. He spent more than half a million each for the OScar trophies of Bette Davis and Clark Gable. He’s not selfish, either, donating $1.5million to the Tsunami Relief Fund.

Opah Winfrey, who owns Harpo Productions, is the first African-American woman to make it to Forbes’ billionaires list. She’s worth about $ 1.3 billion.

You’d never guess it, but we owe the rise of Hollywood to the ego of Thomas Edison.

Originally the movie capital was New York and Chicago, and Thomas Edison — whose inventions had helped spearhead the film industry — wanted to create a monopoly that would give him control over distribution, exhibition, and pricing. He called this monopoly “The Trust.” But independent artists wouldn’t have anything of it. So they moved to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles was perfect for film making. The mild climate and sunshine allowed outdoor shoots in fantastic settings, significantly lowering costs of making indoor sets. There was a big and cheap labor market.

Back in New York, German Carl Laemmle delivered a big blow to the movie giant Edison had created. He introduced the star system, a direct contract to “The Trust’s” policy of cloaking actors in anonymity. Laemmle pirated actress Florence Lawrene and mobilized a huge publicity campaign. The “celebrity” was born.

Back in Hollywood, David Horsley established the first studio (The Nestor Film Company), quickly followed by 15 other companies. Then, Cecil B. DeMille (photograph above), Jesse Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn introduced the first feature-length film, “The Squaw Man.” Hollywood’s Golden Era had begun.

How are the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame selected? Most are nominated, with the entries reviewed by the Walk of Fame Committee.

The committee meets once a year, ploughing through over hundreds of applications. Only a fraction are approved, though those who don’t meet the cut are automatically rolled over for a second review the next year. (That’s the last chance, though – if they still don’t make it, they must be re-nominated to be considered.)

Nominees must show that they have made significant contributions to the industry, in the areas of television, motion pictures, radio, recording and live performance. These must be “proven” by the application documents: a biography (maximum of 2 pages), a list of accomplishments, a photograph and samples of work. Fans can nominate, but the celebrity/manager must give a letter of agreement. There is a sponsorship fee of $25,000.

The committee passes its short list to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce’s
Board of Directors, and the Los Angeles City Board of Public Works. The Los Angeles City Council has the final approbation.

Send submissions to:
Hollywood Walk of Fame
7018 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90028

We know about Oprah’s fortunes, but aside from the talk show host, topping the list of Hollywood TV millionaires is Simon Cowell. His shows like “X Factor” and “American Idol” have earned him a staggering £100million fortune. Some magazines pin it to much, much more — factoring in merchandising and other income sources, the two brands bring in as much as
£750million.

Weakest Link presenter Anne Robinson isn’t doing too badly with a £62million bank account, though she could lose half of it to ex husbang John Penrose.

Hollywood producers are willing to invest millions on films if it can bring in the audience — you got to spend money to make some money, right?

That’s probably how the accountant of SpiderMan 3 justified a budget of $258 million, giving it one of the highest price tags of any movie before or after its release. But it’s not really the most expensive movie if you factor in inflation.

Cleopatra cost about $ 44 million, a princely sum considering it was filmed in 1963 (that would be worth about $295 million today). It is the most epensive movie made in HOllywood.

However, the Soviet movie “War and Peace” based on the Tolstoy classic cost $ 100 million in 1968, and took over 7 years to finish. It’s won the Guiness record for the largest battle scene (about 120,000 soldiers). If you compute for inflation, that would be worth abot $ 500 million today.

There are easier ways to get pictures of celebrities than to crouch hidden in the bushes. Just go to the restaurants where they hang out. Just be prepared to pay — these celebrity hang outs charge an arm and a leg for their food, though (if you’re lucky) the “view” could be excellent.

Some legendary Hollywood hangouts are Chasen’s and Spago’s. This is where A-list celebrities go for a quick lunch between takes, or meet with reporters for their magazine interviews. Restaurants like Morton’s serve as Hollywood’s unofficial power center. Here agents, producers, and other deal-makers negotiate million-dollar deals.

Some, such as the Hotel Bel-Air, entice their wealthy celebrity clientele with sheer luxury.
Still others are well-kept secrets; modest, inexpensive places like Nate & Al’s Deli or Patrick’s Roadhouse, where the stars go simply because they like the food (or the company).