For Sony Films, a New Ending and Beginning : Film: The studio announces that its movies will carry a ‘Made in Culver City’ tagline in the closing credits. The new identification will begin with upcoming ‘Hook’ and ‘Bugsy.’

When movie credits roll by, Culver City has historically gotten the short end of the stick.

Even though scores of America’s most memorable films were made within its city limits, Culver City’s movie studios insisted on displaying the words “Made in Hollywood” on the ending credits.

But Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City announced at Monday’s City Council meeting that it would depart from that tradition. Studio Vice President Arnold Shupack said that from now on, movies filmed at the sprawling 44-acre lot would carry a “Made in Culver City” label.

“Sony Pictures Entertainment has taken Culver City to its heart and made the decision to identify its filming activities as being in Culver City,” Shupack said.

The news comes after a struggle that dates to the 1930s. Community leaders hope that their city will finally get the recognition it deserves.

“Culver City has always been the home of the movie-making industry,” Chamber of Commerce President Steve Rose said. “Now, I think Sony Pictures is going to make it known throughout the world.”

Sony Pictures, which owns Tri-Star and Columbia pictures, will start the new identification with its Christmas releases, “Hook” and “Bugsy,” Shupack said.

Nearly a dozen studios have made their home in Culver City over the last 75 years. They included Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, RKO, Pathe, De Mille and Desilu. The studios produced such classics as “Gone With the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “Citizen Kane.”

But nobody can remember a single one of these films giving Culver City any credit. Even though the city supplied extras and employees, the films credited Hollywood or did not name a filming location at all.

“It was a big thorn in the side,” said Julie Lugo-Cerra, past president of the Culver City Historical Society. “For one of the city’s major employers to sit there and say they weren’t located in Culver City did not sit well.”

According to Lugo-Cerra, studios opted for the term Hollywood because it “had glitz” compared to Culver City.

Councilwoman Jozelle Smith agreed.

“Hollywood became synonymous with film making at the outset,” she said, “and it stayed that way.”

In the 1930s, a movement began to change the name of Culver City to something flashier in order to promote it as the movie-making capital of the world.

In 1934, the local weekly, “The Citizen,” ran a contest to come up with a new name. Some titles submitted were “Cinema City” and “Filmville.”

“We were a small town with major studios in it,” said Roy Donovan, manager of Citizen Publishing. “It was our only claim to fame, but we were being ignored, shunted aside.”

The movement failed, but later that same decade, another movement began to adopt the Hollywood name, since Culver City was not yet incorporated.

A friendly rivalry developed between the two towns. At one point, the Culver City Chamber of Commerce irritated Hollywood leaders with the logo, “Culver City, where Hollywood films are made.”

The rivalry was put to rest when leaders of the two cities met at Graumann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and literally buried a hatchet in a block of concrete.

The decision to identify Culver City as a filming location comes at the same time that Sony Pictures Entertainment is working with the city on plans to expand its lot at Overland Avenue and Washington Boulevard for a corporate world headquarters. But Shupack said council members had been asking him to look into the problem for years, and that the talks stepped up when Sony bought Columbia Studios in 1989.

“I don’t think that’s the reason,” he said. “Sony has said in public that they really want to be a good neighbor. I think that’s the truth.”

Councilwoman Smith sees it as “an astute and well-intentioned move by Sony to reinforce their image in the community.”

“They are a very big part of what we’ve always known as ‘the heart of screenland,’ ” she said, referring to the logo carried on the Culver City seal.