Sharon Waxman On the Business of Entertainment
The founder and editor of TheWrap’s take on life on the left coast, high culture, low culture and the business of entertainment and media. Waxman writes frequently on the inside doings of Hollywood, and is is also the author of two books, Rebels on the Back Lot and Loot
One month and a week after LA’s epic wildfires tore through the tranquility of Malibu’s beach homes, the aftermath is stark.
The cold, hyper-bright blue sun of winter in Los Angeles is like a distant spotlight on what is left: a lone staircase climbing to nowhere. A cozy brick entryway leading to nothing.
Driving through Malibu is eerie. Pacific Coast Highway has been closed indefinitely from the southern border with Santa Monica, past the interchange with Topanga Canyon and clear up to the Malibu pier.
So on a Saturday there is nothing but electric workers up against new metal poles, bulldozers removing debris, army engineers and their tanks. How long will this work go on? Not much appears terribly different than it did three weeks ago. Clearly it will take years to restore Malibu to its former glory, or to get this coastal paradise to whatever it will be next.
“Concrete” passes through your mind as you see several instances of concrete homes still standing next to a burned hulk of a more traditional home, with nought but an iron beam remaining.
On the side of Pacific Coast Highway, a homeowner leans against her car and observes workers clearing debris from an incinerated lot along the water. The look on her face is some cross between pain and expectation.
Here is a look at Malibu in the aftermath.
