Lucie Arnaz Returns to the Lot Her Parents Built—This Time to Help a Fan Finish His Film
Raji Ahsan proves it's always great to meet your heroes. Perhaps your childhood obsession was Barbie or board games, but for young Ahsan growing up in Orange County in the 90s, it was Desilu Studios, the long-gone TV production company founded by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The filmmaker is partnering with Lucy and Desi's daughter Lucie Arnaz for 'Lucie on the Lot' a fundraising event to complete his new film Dr. Sam at the old family studio on June 5.
After completing their iconic series, I Love Lucy, Desilu produced shows like Star Trek, Mission: Impossible and Mannix from the old RKO Studios (now Paramount) at the corner of Melrose and Gower in Hollywood. Lucy sold her shares in the company to Paramount decades before Raji was born.
'I'm a Desilu nut,' Ahsan says. 'Right after 9/11 they stopped giving studio tours. When I was 12 I had a school assignment to write a persuasive essay and my teacher said you should mail it to the studio so I did…and I put in my tiny little headshot.' Two weeks later he dialed up the studio and a friendly page told him he was moved by the letter and offered a private tour. 'My mom lived in a shelter and she cleaned houses to keep us fed,' Ahsan remembers. 'When she was home, we'd watch I Love Lucy. It was my comfort.'
Ahsan grew up to become an actor and a waiter – the classic Hollywood combo. Through mutual friends, he met Emmy-winning actress Lucie Arnaz and a friendship was born. 'He had a podcast and asked me to be a guest,' says Arnaz. 'He's really smart and funny and full of ideas. I instinctively took him under my wing and wanted to help him. He's a powerhouse. You've gotta be like that to get anything done in this world.'
Ahsan wrote the short film Dr. Sam about a struggling actor, musician and waiter who masquerades as a therapist and offered a part to his hero Arnaz. 'He said he'd like me to play his mom,' she says. 'I so do not look Egyptian, so in the movie he's adopted.'
Lucie and her brother Desi Jr. spent part of their childhood exploring the historic Hollywood lot that today is part of Paramount. 'We would be let loose in some wonderful big empty stages,' Armaz remembers. 'It was so fun to go through the prop room at RKO and play with a life size King Kong and all the wonderful costumes and amazing props from all the films they had done. It was a kid's paradise.'
Today, Arnaz lives in Palm Springs, where she writes and produces new shows and oversees the merchandise end of the family business with her daughter. Her brother Desi is retired, and jokingly calls himself a 'self-imposed recluse.' Arnaz will be performing standards live in concert at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood on June 27-28 and opening the new season of the Purple Room in Palm Springs August 29 and 30.
The 'Lucie on the Lot' event on June 5 will screen Arnaz's award-winning film Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie on the big screen at the Paramount Theater. There will be a celebration of the 75th anniversary of Desilu, photo ops in front of the famous Bronson gate you remember from Sunset Boulevard and a chance to chat up the filmmakers. Proceeds will be split between finishing up Ahsan's film and the Long Beach shelter his mom landed in when the family immigrated to L.A.
'I wanted to live on the lot,' Ahsan says. 'The fact that Lucie is coming to this place I wrote a letter to when I was 12 is full circle.'
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on May 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
6 minutes ago
- Forbes
Ex-ViX Exec Rodrigo Mazón Joins Paramount As Head Of Latin America And Canada
Former ViX and Netflix executive Rodrigo Mazón has been named Paramount's Head of Latin America and Canada direct-to-consumer operations. He started this week in the newly created position. Based in Los Angeles, Mazón will oversee all initiatives, operations, strategy and programming across two high-priority regions for both Paramount+ and Pluto TV. His focus will be on execution, market development and platform alignment, working closely with Paramount+'s international general manager Marco Nobili and Pluto TV's international general manager Olivier Jollet. He will place particular emphasis on developing Spanish-language content for the streaming platforms, though the company has not announced specific projects yet. Mazón will report directly to Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland. José Calderoni, currently Paramount's senior VP of streaming for Latin America, will report to Mazón and continue focusing on day-to-day operations for both platforms in the region. The seasoned exec brings extensive streaming expertise in scaling businesses and local content operations across Latin America. Most recently, Mazón served as TelevisaUnivision's chief content officer of streaming after joining Univision in 2021 (before its merger with Televisa) as executive vice president and general manager of SVOD. He was brought on to help launch TelevisaUnivision's global streaming service, which later evolved into ViX. He stepped down from ViX in May 2024. Previously, Mazón spent six years at Netflix as VP of Content for Latin America, where he overlapped with Holland. Before Netflix, he worked at Hulu as director of content acquisition. Mazón's appointment follows the August 7, 2025 closing of the $8 billion Skydance Media-Paramount merger and subsequent leadership changes. David Ellison, now chairman and CEO of the new Paramount Skydance, outlined his vision to create "an all-star executive leadership team, united by a shared vision and empowered with the resources and creative autonomy to boldly drive our business forward" in his message marking "Day One of a new Paramount." The move reflects Paramount's strategy to continue investing and scaling globally, with the company emphasizing that market-specific direct-to-consumer leadership is critical for growth. Latin America and Canada are identified as uniquely positioned for expansion, building on the strong foundation already established by Paramount+ and Pluto TV in these regions.
The Hill
35 minutes ago
- The Hill
‘South Park' mocks Trump's DC takeover in upcoming episode
An upcoming episode of 'South Park' is set to make fun of President Trump's efforts to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C. A teaser for the Wednesday evening episode, released on social media and YouTube, shows the iconic character 'Towlie' arriving in Washington, D.C. As 'Towlie' gets off a bus arriving in the district, a tank rolls by in front of the White House while the character says, 'This seems like the perfect place for a towel.' Trump has sparked widespread backlash with his takeover of the local police force and mobilization of National Guard troops to help fight crime in D.C. 'South Park' has used the first several episodes of its new season to mock Trump and his allies, poking fun at the administration's deportation efforts as well as controversy relating to the Jeffery Epstein files. The show has targeted media conglomerate Paramount, the parent company of Comedy Central which earlier this year awarded the show's creators a new lucrative contract for rights to broadcast the animated satire program.
TechCrunch
35 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
Labubu could make $1 billion this year
In Brief Labubu is a plush monster toy, but it's also on track to be a billion-dollar business. This week, Labubu-maker Pop Mart released its financial results for the first half of 2025, giving the public more insight into just how rabid the world is for this plush monster toy. Pop Mart's Monsters series, which includes Labubu, generated around $670 million in revenue in the first half of the year, putting it on track to earn over $1 billion by the year's end. That's a 688% increase year-over-year, even eclipsing the sales of Mattel toys like Barbie and Hot Wheels. Sold in a mystery 'blind box' format, these toys — sold by Chinese company Pop Mart — blew up in popularity internationally when BLACKPINK member Lisa confessed her obsession with the ugly-cute creatures. Then, celebrities like Cher, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Marc Jacobs and others were spotted with Labubu toys, which sometimes hang off of their designer bags as keychains. These ten-year-old, mythologically-inspired characters have now become as popular an accessory as a Telfar bag in 2020, and they're just as hard to get your hands on.
