Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Gentefied’ focuses on the story of three young people who discover that the neighbourhood that they grew up in is changing drastically. And this wave of change has finally caught up with them too. In the name of gentrification, their homes and the business that they spent their lives on are being taken away from them. Well, the authorities might be ruthless, but the people will not go down without a fight.
While watching ‘Gentefied’, you might find some familiarity in the locations as much as finding it in the plot itself. You might see your own neighbourhood in place of the one portrayed in the series. This makes one ask: where was this series filmed? Here are all the filming locations of ‘Gentefied’.
Where was Gentefied Filmed?
When you are creating a series that hits close to home, not just for you but an entire community, you want it to come across with the best possible authenticity. ‘Gentefied’ revolves around a family that lives in LA. To capture the magic of the city, along with the struggles and challenges faced by its inhabitants, there is no better place than the city itself to do the job. Hence, Los Angeles served as the primary filming location for the show.
Co-creator Marvin Lemus drew from his own experiences living in the city and the changes that had affected the neighbourhood. This is why it was considered the best to film the series where the heart of the matter lies. In an interview with the LA Times, he talked about the extreme relevance of the subject matter and how, during filming one of the scenes on the street, the locals thought it was for real and cheered in their support. The crew also kept in mind to keep the disturbance caused by them to a minimum and tried to give back to the community rather than just exploiting it as a background for their story.
Boyle Heights, Los Angeles
The series made its home at L.A Hangar Studios in Boyle Heights where most of the filming took place on the soundstage. This allowed the makers to create a unique look for the show and customising the background according to the characters. However, filming was not restricted to indoors. The plot requires the characters to go out and speak for their community. One of the scenes also features a protest march, which means, the crew had to take to the streets to get the job done.
‘Gentefied’ focuses on the struggles of a community to hold on to their identity, which is threatened by a new system that aims to take away what’s theirs and put it on market for others who can pay for it better. Boyle Heights in LA is one of the most active places where the gentrification process is protested. Because the story of the show revolves around the same topic, it was only logical to take the characters home.
The neighbourhood of Boyle Heights became the anchor for the series. Various places like cafes and restaurants depicted in the show are real locations. La Ronda Restaurant, that lies on the intersection of Cesar Chavez and Townsend Avenue, serves as the taqueria that is one of the prominent sites on the show. Some of the scenes were also filmed across the street from White Memorial Hospital, so, if you get a glimpse of that in the background, you’ll know where the crew has been.
Other sites that might seem familiar to the locals are various locations on El Mercado and Mariachi Plaza. The cast and crew of ‘Gentefied’ were also found filming on Plaza de la Raza on Mission Road in Lincoln Heights.
