Inventing LA

Inventing LA, a PBS documentary from 2009, is a captivating exploration of Los Angeles's history through the world-shaping influence of the Chandler family. The Chandlers, who over four generations built and ran the Los Angeles Times, have played a pivotal part in the growth of LA from a small town into a sprawling metropolis. The film intriguingly profiles the Chandlers who used their unimaginable wealth and influence to fashion Los Angeles into their vision.

The documentary, which runs for approximately 90 minutes, was created by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jones. The film begins with the Chandler family's entry into the newspaper world in 1881 when General Harrison Gray Otis took control of the fledgling Los Angeles Daily Times. Otis's powerful editorials and voracious appetite for growth helped fuel the rise of Los Angeles as a burgeoning power in the American West.

Inventing LA then delves into the leadership of Otis's son-in-law, Harry Chandler, who took over the reins of the Times after Otis's death. Harry arguably did even more to shape the city, using the newspaper as a platform to promote his real estate interests, lobby for water rights, and explicitly support the defense industry. His vision and ambition molded the city's future, with the newspaper serving as a potent nexus of power.

Reflective of its time, the Los Angeles Times under the Chandlers was not always a beacon of journalistic objectivity or altruism. The film does not shy away from exploring the darker sides of the Chandler legacy, including the paper's bias in its early days, the ethics of using the paper to promote personal interests and the uneasy relationship with African-American and Latino communities.

After Harry's death, the documentary shifts to Norman Chandler, Harry's son, who was uninterested in the newspaper business but ended up taking the helm. Under Norman, the Times would change drastically, transitioning from a conservative, agenda-driven newspaper into an award-winning publication with national prestige.

As the generations go on, the film moves into the turbulent decade of the 1960s, which market a changing point for the Times and the Chandler family. The focus then falls on Otis Chandler, Norman's son, an Olympic athlete, and car enthusiast who, much to the surprise of everyone, shook the foundations of the old empire. Otis's determination to make Times a reputable, objective, and global newspaper was a direct antithesis to the editorial policies of his forefathers. His stewardship marked the Times golden age, earning handfuls of Pulitzer Prizes and international respect for the first time.

Plenty of the Chandler family drama, professional rivalries, power struggles, and personal failures are touched upon, making Inventing LA feel intimate and revealing. Remarkably, given the family's notoriously private nature, the filmmakers managed to get numerous family members to talk on the record, creating a richer and more nuanced narrative. These individual stories mesh together to depict a complex family that shaped Los Angeles in ways beyond comprehension.

Meanwhile, the city of Los Angeles emerges as a character unto itself in Inventing LA. The documentary helps viewers appreciate the city's dramatic growth over the past century and offers an understanding of why it has become the hub of cultural and economic activity it is today. From the lush orange groves that defined the city in the late 19th century to the bustling sprawl of the city today, viewers get a sense of how the Chandlers' visions have manifested in the Los Angeles we know.

Inventing LA is a well-executed historical investigation, using extensive archival footage and photographs, coupled with expert on-screen commentary from journalists, historians, family members, and media figures. It mixes storytelling, history, and personal memories to draw a comprehensive picture of a family’s impact on a city.

At its core, Inventing LA is an engaging and fascinating examination of legacy, power, ambition, and the interconnection between media, money, and metropolis-making. As such, it serves as a masterful addition to the studies of urban development, journalism, and family legacies. Through the story of the Chandlers and the Los Angeles Times, viewers are given a vivid and insightful account of how a city was invented, brick by brick, story by story.