With LA's spot as the US Olympic bid secured, now it's time to court the rest of the world. LA2024, the bid's organizing committee, released this uplifting promo video today called "This is LA."
Full of skyline shots and happy people, the video presents an LA that's swimming, jogging and biking its way to greatness. It touts our multiculturalism—"the western capital of of the US, the northern capital of Latin America and the eastern capital of the Pacific Rim"—and hard-working dreamers as our greatest assets. We suppose those hillside hikes and breezy beaches don't look too shabby either.
We were able to spot some of our favorite landmarks in the video (LACMA, the Getty, Chinatown, Griffith Park, Upstairs at Ace Hotel) as well as what appears to be footage from Ian Wood's hypnotic drone-shot videos. More importantly, though, we have to applaud LA2024 for what they don't include. Instead of the typical Hollywood iconography, we see virtual reality and aerospace; in place of traffic, it's the Metro Red Line.
Though it can come a little too close at times to a bland corporate video, the promo is an admirable start to persuade people that LA is actually a lovely place—and not at all the unfriendly city for which we apparently have a reputation.
By the end of the video, we really are convinced that we're on the edge of a new LA—that, and an era where enough time has passed to set Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" to inspirational videos again.