Creating any thing good is an exciting adventure. Creating a house, creating a work of art, creating a business, an invention, a book, a newspaper, or a magazine. Hollywood gets a bad rap for being flakey, fickle, and extreme in the most ridiculous of ways. I won't argue those points. But the entertainment capitol of the world, which we call Hollywood, is also a refuge and eternal home to some of the greatest artists and creative masters of all the world. Name any world renowned creative giant, and they usually stomped around not only in New York City, but also, in the other greatest city in this nation, Los Angeles.
Hollywood is a land where children dream of running to, where teenagers long to arrive at, where adults blow every last penny to try and make it in, and where millions of dreams have been dashed to bits by the cold hard reality of its brutal ways. But if it were easy, its pinnacle wouldn't reach so high. If it were simple to conquer, it wouldn't shine so bright, and if it were had by all, it wouldn't be so much worth having. Hollywood is filled with more creative people than any where on planet earth. And its creative spirit is nurtured, not stifled like in so many other great cities.
It is with this love and passion for this town, as we say in the biz, that this magazine is named. Hollywood the name, was begun of course, as an advertising ploy for some real estate. The developer called it Hollywoodland. The shortened version of Hollywood finally stuck, and the rest, as they say, is history. Hollywood has the hottest of the hot. A constant stream of dream catchers and chasers by the busload. And yet some have a flame of talent and passion that burns so bright, that they are destined to be known by the world.
And so The Hollywood Sentinel was created. With this magazine we intend to strip away some of the facade. Some of the hype, yet leave you something exciting and real. A sentinel is an onlooker, a guard, who protects and watches over. And so, this magazine serves as a voice from Hollywood, as insiders, to the outside world, somewhere on the edge of both, defending its glimmering dust.
Hollywood will always be the scapegoat for the ills of the world. Yet it fuels the spirit through the transmission of feelings, words, symbols, visions, and ideas, giving us hope, love, happiness, and pleasure. Hollywood is merely a machine to reflect and perpetuate all that is human, or un-human, on a massive, instant scale. Yet our work, though seemingly easy, is no instant achievement. It takes toiling of years, training, and of course, chutzpa.
It is with all of this, and so much more that we welcome you to our first issue. May humanity rise higher, and may Hollywood be elevated with the stars, to its legendary heights once again.
Bruce Edwin
Editor, The Hollywood Sentinel ®