TV & Movies

You'll Want To Pose For An Instagram At All Of These Spots In Fake Famous

From the Hollywood sign to a fake private jet.

by Jessica Lachenal

HBO Max's documentary Fake Famous (out now) dives into the nitty-gritty life of an influencer as it follows three people working to make a living as social media stars. However, they don't begin as influencers; as the trailer for Fake Famous explains, they wanted to "take some random people ... and make them fake famous." The film then follows as Dominique Druckman, Wylie Heiner, and Christopher Bailey have their social media presences flooded with fake followers, and reap the rewards.

As their numbers rise, the perks come rolling in — free merchandise, gym memberships, and more — all in exchange for what amounts to advertising on the influencer's feed. On the other end, to maintain that lifestyle and those numbers, influencers often have to resort to great lengths to maintain relevance. For example, in the trailer, Druckman fakes lounging in a hip Southern California spa, which is, in actuality, a kiddie pool in a backyard decorated with rose petals. They also travel to some other iconic Instagram-friendly locales across SoCal, and we've rounded up the best of them for you below.

Athletics Propulsion Lab

If you're familiar with Lululemon, chances are you've encountered Athletics Propulsion Lab (APL), a shoe brand that was once sold only through Lululemon stores starting in 2017. However, per a Quartz report in 2019, Lululemon moved on to announce their own shoe line, while APL branched out into their own brick-and-mortar store later that year, located in Los Angeles. The space features in Fake Famous' trailer as well, as the shoe store that hooked Druckman up with some new kicks, which she posted about on her Instagram.

The Kingsley House

The Kingsley House is a prime destination in Los Angeles for fashion photographers, filmmakers, and, you guessed it, influencers looking for a stylish backdrop for their shoots. It's a French chateau located in Los Angeles' Koreatown, and, according to the sample photos posted to its Peerspace listing (where you, too, can rent the space for $140 an hour, with a two hour minimum), its brightly-colored walls and fortress-like hedge-lined pool have appeared in numerous pictorials and films, including 2000's What Women Want.

Royal Personal Training

A far cry from your average Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, or even Equinox, Royal Personal Training was designed to be much more private, "where everything was more exclusive and elite," according to CEO Shahin Safae, who spoke with Voyage LA in 2018. It boasts a host of classes, many of which only have 5-10 people, according to their website. It also offers personal training, which is featured heavily on its Instagram stories.

The Hollywood Sign

William Nation/Sygma/Getty Images

A quintessential mark of Hollywood — literally — the Hollywood sign has been a famous backdrop for photographs since long before "selfies" and "influencers." It's ubiquitous in many people's imaginations of Hollywood and even the wider Southern California area. First erected in 1923, less than a decade after Hollywood earns its "Tinseltown" nickname, the sign originally read "Hollywoodland" and would light up at night for all to see. By 1949, however, the sign was changed to just "Hollywood" by the city to better reflect the growing district.

Global Fitness Studio

According to its site, Global Fitness Studio is a gym geared specifically towards photographers and filmmakers in need of either a gym set or full-scale boxing ring. Their video gallery features various projects that have shot at Global Fitness Studio, which includes commercials, music videos, and how-to fitness videos. Of course, it's not just for show; the gym also offers personal training on a private, one-on-one basis.

Olympic 4 Private Jet

Ever wanted to shoot in a private jet, but didn't have the bank to purchase one for yourself? Look no further than FD Studio's "Olympic 4" private jet set, which is set up to look like the interior of, well, a private jet. It only features the passenger section, complete with fuselage and windows. However, on the other side of those windows is the rest of the room housing the fake jet, which has seats for other film crew and your entourage.

Psycho

Psycho is a gym facility in West Hollywood that offers two different types of classes: high intensity interval training (HIIT) or yoga and meditation. Like Royal Personal Training, Psycho is a stylish, trendy gym catering to the two aforementioned workout styles. It's currently closed due to COVID-19 regulations, with no announced plans for reopening just yet.

The spots listed here in our roundup of Fake Famous filming locations are indeed some particularly trendy, highly-Instagrammable spots, and while a few of them are members-only types of locations or require advanced rental, a few are public-facing, and there waiting for you take pictures in front of.