Designer John Jasper quit the Chaplin Studios in 1919 and began building three production-stages on 15 acres of land at what would become 6642 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles. Hollywood Studios, Inc. (aka Jasper Hollywood Studios) was born, operated by C. E. Toberman.
In 1923, several Los Angeles businessmen purchase the studio. In 1924 producer B. P. Schulberg bought a controlling interest in the studio for Preferred Pictures Corp. In January 1925, John Jasper left and Al and Charles Christie, producers of the Christie Comedies and owners of the Christies Film Corporation, buy the lot. C. E. Toberman also leaves and takes the Santa Monica Blvd. frontage with him. The new studio entrance is moved to the Las Palmas side (1040 N. Las Palmas).
During the summer of 1926, Metropolitan Studio's executives are sure of the coming age of sound, so they break ground on the Metropolitan Sound Stages. By 1929, Stages 1 and 2 were outfitted with Vitaphone equipment and the Las Palmas lot is renamed Metropolitan Sound Studio.
Because of the Depression, in January 1933, the Christie brothers find themselves in receivership and relinguish control of Metropolitan to General Service Studios which operated several studios on both coasts. Its parent company Electrical Research Products, Inc., (ERPI) an AT&T holding which had developed Vitaphone sound, positions the stages to capture sound business.
United Artists leased the studio for a time during the early 1940's. In 1941, AT&T is ordered by the U.S. government to divest its interest in General Service Studios. Producer Benedict Bogeaus won the bid by promising to give the government use of the facility for the wartime effort. By March 0f 1946, Bogeaus acquired the land and all of the buildings of the studio. By May, he began a $500,000 construction program of television sound stages.
Brothers Jimmy, George, and Ted Nasser bought into the studio. By 1950 they own it outright.
In 1951, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz rent Stage #2 to shoot the pilot for I Love Lucy.
After 27 years of running the lot, the Nasser Brothers sell it in 1976 to the Dallas oil and gas firm, Miles Production Company, which renames the lot Hollywood General Studios.
By 1979 the Nasser Brothers briefly regain control of the lot, but Francis Ford Coppola takes over the lot on March 14, 1980, renaming it Zoetrope. In 1984, the studio is acquired by the Singer family, Canadian real estate developers, and renamed it the Hollywood Center Studios.
