The Reseda Theater’s iconic blue marquee is featured in Boogie Nights’ famous opening Steadicam shot, which swoops down Sherman Way directly into Hot Traxx Disco. By the time the production came along, the establishment had been shuttered for nearly a decade, necessitating a facelift.

“Obviously the theater was deserted, so [we had to re-do] the marquee in the front,” says Ziembicki. The spatial demands of Anderson’s ambitious tracking shots made the theater especially appealing given its proximity to a number of other locations. “We lucked out that that stretch of Sherman Way had all of those elements,” Ziembicki says.

The disco where future “Dirk Diggler” Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) is discovered by porn producer Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) was formerly known as the Reseda Country Club. In its ’80s’ heyday, the venue hosted such big-name rock acts as Guns N' Roses, Slayer, and Iggy Pop, but by the time Boogie Nights went into production, it was on its last legs.

"That building as I recall was in the middle of being sold, so it was kind of deserted and ready [for filming]," says Ziembicki, who notes Anderson quickly oriented himself to the space. "When he walked into the club, he knew exactly what he wanted that shot to be and the geography of that.”

The location that gets the most screen time is Horner’s sprawling house and sparkling backyard swimming pool, though ironically, the 4,000-square-foot abode is located in a different Valley entirely.

As Ziembicki tells it, the production had resigned themselves to shooting at another home when Anderson pulled a photo of the West Covina residence from the “reject box.” Once they scouted the interior, its period-perfect details sold them immediately.

“Those people had bought that house in the ’70s, the same period as our movie, and they didn't have that much money,” he says. “So that's why it was kind of in a time warp.” Though the house itself required very little work prior to shooting, the pool got a serious makeover. “[It] was in bad shape,” he adds. “It was cracked, we had a big reno[vation] and we resealed it, et cetera. And then we put the hot tub in, of course.”

The Studio City Du-par’s where Jack lays out his grandiose art-porn vision didn’t require much work on Ziembicki’s part, and that was lucky given that they only had a night to shoot there. “Because it's very period-looking, it was pretty much a walk-in location,” he says of the restaurant, which was also featured in Martha Coolidge’s 1983 teen flick Valley Girl.

Spanish Pantalones graces the marquee at the Santa Monica Pussycat Theater, one of the few locations to take Anderson and company outside the Valley. Like Jack Horner’s film business, the theater was wiped out by video and finally closed in 1998. It was subsequently converted into a restaurant space that first hosted a Bucca di Beppo and now houses the popular eatery North Italia.

After becoming a star, Dirk moves into this groovy house in Woodland Hills, which happens to be the final residence on a dead-end street (how’s that for a metaphor?). “That was like a one-day shoot,” says Ziembicki. “It was a really busy day getting that set together, and then I think we did [scenes of] driving around in the Corvette that same day.” Property records show it was built in 1977, but it looks like it has been thoroughly remodeled.

The scene where Buck (Don Cheadle) is caught in the center of a robbery-turned-triple-homicide was filmed at Miss Donuts in Reseda, which still exists today. Given Anderson’s mandate to find locations within close proximity to one another, securing the donut shop was imperative, though it wasn’t easy to get.

“[The owner] gave us all kinds of problems renting that location,” says Ziembicki. “But it was obviously key, because as you remember, everything kind of connects on that street.”

Indeed, the shop is located on the same stretch of Sherman Way as Hot Traxx, the Reseda Theater, and even the sidewalk where Jack and Rollergirl (Heather Graham) beat her former high school classmate.

Since upgraded to the El Royale Hotel, this cozy roadside inn located on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City is where Todd (Thomas Jane) ropes Dirk and Reed (John C. Reilly) into his boneheaded drug-dealing scam. The motel was only used for an establishing shot; according to Ziembicki, the rooms were “really tiny” and not suitable for filming.

Though the production originally secured a different pad for Alfred Molina’s gun-happy drug dealer, a certain Star Trek actor put the kibosh on that location before filming commenced.

“It was close to William Shatner's house,” says Ziembicki, who built the interior used for the blood-spattered scene. “And he said, 'No way you're gonna shoot night exteriors around my house.' So they shut us down and we had to quickly find another location.”

Amateur location scouts be warned: If you’re thinking of driving to Encino to see the home that was eventually used, save your gas money. It has since been torn down.