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Lucie Arnaz Returns to the Lot Her Parents Built—This Time to Help a Fan Finish His Film
Lucie Arnaz Returns to the Lot Her Parents Built—This Time to Help a Fan Finish His Film originally appeared on L.A. Mag.
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.
