Twin Peaks Film Location – FBI Chief of Staff Denise Bryson’s Office

FBI Chief of Staff Denise Bryson from Twin Peaks – Part 4 on Showtime and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in Los Angeles City Hall (Photos: Showtime / LAmayor.org)

The quest to find every Twin Peaks film location continues with a return to Los Angeles, California. In Part 4 on Showtime, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Deputy Director Gordon Cole visits Federal Bureau of Investigation Chief of Staff Denise Bryson to inform her that they found the missing Special Agent Dale Cooper. This scene, like several others that served as the location for the FBI Headquarters in Philadelphia, was shot inside the iconic downtown Los Angeles City Hall Building. Here’s how I found it.

Google Maps
Google Maps

The Los Angeles City Hall building is located at 200 North Spring Street in Los Angeles, California. The exact coordinates for this building are: 34°03’13.3″N 118°14’34.2″W.

Google Maps
Google Maps

Designed by John Parkinson, John Austin and Albert Martin, Sr., the building was completed in 1928. At one time, it was the tallest building in downtown Los Angeles, with 32 floors extending 454 feet high. According to Martin Turnbill’s website, the concrete in its tower was “made with sand from each of California’s 58 counties and water from its 21 historical missions.”

I LOVE the building’s Art Deco design (reminds me of my favorite building in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio – the Lincoln Leveque Tower). According to GlamAmor, the tower was “based on the shape of the Mausoleum of Mausolus” (or Halicarnassus).

Los Angeles City Hall
October 26, 2013

The building’s exterior has appeared in numerous films and television shows including Adventures of Superman (1950), War of the Worlds (1953), DragnetPerry Mason, and a favorite film of mine, L.A. Confidential.

While the building exterior is not shown in Twin Peaks, the FBI Chief of Staff’s office is found on the third floor. Let’s examine the scene

FBI Chief of Staff Office
Part 4

The scene in Part 4 opens with an empty shot of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chief of Staff’s Office (isn’t it nice to say “Federal Bureau of Investigation? It sort of just rolls off the tongue).

Gordon Cole and Bill Kennedy
Part 4

Bill Kennedy (played by Richard Chamberlain) escorts Gordon Cole into Denise Bryson’s office. He asks Bill about “Martha” who had a thing with “Paul.” It sounds like the thing was resolved and “Paul” is in the “North Pole” now.

Gordon Cole sitting
Part 4

Gordon Cole sits and waits for Denise to arrive.

Based on the interior design, I figured the building was probably located in downtown Los Angeles and was somehow involved with the government. It looked too formal to be anything but a government building.

Eric Garcetti
LaMayor.org

I stumbled upon the LA Mayor’s website which featured current mayor Eric Garcetti standing behind a podium in this same room as Denise’s office.

Photo by Monica Griesbach, August 1997
Photo by Monica Griesbach, August 1997

Additional image searches revealed some fantastic black and white photos from August 1997 by Monica Greisbach. The image above is titled, “VIEW OF LOS ANGELES CITY HALL THIRD FLOOR MAYOR’S RECEPTION ROOM, FACING SOUTH.”

Gordon Cole
Part 4

While patiently waiting, Gordon looks around the room.

Flowers for Denise
Part 4

He looks at the chair next to him and spots a bouquet of flowers.

Eric Garcetti
Eric Garcetti / Flickr

Fortunately, Mayor Garcetti posted this image on his Flickr account that showed the room looking north. Notice how the windows match the window behind Gordon Cole.

Denise Bryson arrives
Part 4
Los Angeles City Hall
ImageEvent photo by Derek

FBI Chief of Staff Bryson enters the room. The bottom image by Derek from ImageEvent shows the same room with probably the same conference table as Mayor Garcetti’s photo. Denise entered from the far right side.

Gordon Cole
Part 4
Los Angeles City Hall
ImageEvent by Derek

Cole stands to greet Bryson. An image from Derek again shows the windows behind in the room.

Denise Bryson
Part 4
Denise Bryson
Part 4

Denise crosses to her desk and sits. Take a look at the seal behind her – it’s a logo for the FBI which was added to the set.

Asian Journal
AJPress photo by Noel Ty

A close up photo from AsianJournal.com the same area shows the actual seal.

Denise Bryson
Part 4
Gordon Cole
Part 4

Denise and Gordon discuss Agent Preston and Cole’s history of supporting Bryson during her younger days. During the scene, Cole utters one of the most perfect quotes from all of Season 3, “When you became Denise, I told all of your colleagues, those clown comics, to fix their hearts or die.”

Gordon Cole
Part 4

Bryson knows Cole is onto something big and he is approved to proceed.

Mayor's Reception Room
Photo by Monica Griesbach, August 1997

Photographer Monica Griesbach also took a photo of the room looking north. Again, the windows match the scene.

Cole leaving
Part 4
Bill Kennedy and Gordon Cole
Part 4

Cole departs and is greeted by Bill Kennedy again before leaving Bryson’s office.

Los Angeles Mayor's Reception Room
Photo by Monica Griesbach, August 1997

Griesbach posted a closer look of the spectacular wooden doors that Cole and Kennedy exit.

Bill Kennedy and Gordon Cole
Part 4
Los Angels Mayor's Office
ImageEvent By Derek

As Cole exists, we catch a small glimpse of the black-and-white checkered floor outside Bryson’s office. The same floor can be seen in an image by Derek from ImageEvent.

Denise Bryson
Part 4

The scene ends with Denise Bryson fanning herself. Is it hot in here?

Stay tuned for additional looks at other scenes of the “FBI Headquarters” shot inside the Los Angeles City Hall from Season 3.

Author

  • Steven Miller at Twede's Cafe enjoying cherry pie and coffee

    A "Twin Peaks" fan since October 1993, Steven Miller launched Twin Peaks Blog in February 2018 to document his decades-long fascination with David Lynch and Mark Frost's wonderful and strange show. With his Canon camera in hand, he's visited numerous film locations, attended Twin Peaks events and conducted extensive historical research about this groundbreaking series. Along with fellow Bookhouse Boys, he dreams of creating a complete Twin Peaks Archive of the series and feature film. Steven currently resides in Central Florida.

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One thought on “Twin Peaks Film Location – FBI Chief of Staff Denise Bryson’s Office

  1. Just noticed this same room in 1996’s Mulholland Falls with Nick Nolte, had to come here and double check.

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