She moved to L.A. as Hollywood moved out. She got a one-woman show, but will the TV pilot sell?

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Set us as preferred In the spring of last year, as the entertainment industry continued its much lamented move out of L.A., Katie Folger was moving in.For the third time in nine years, she’d driven to the city from Austin, Texas, her worldly possessions stuffed into her parents’ 2012 Cadillac SUV and her sights set on becoming a star.Folger is one of thousands of hopefuls aiming to beat the odds as Hollywood implodes.

And though the news is full of failure, Folger’s story is one of modest success — including a recent sold-out performance of her one-woman show “Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man” at Elysian Theater, with two more on the way — demonstrating that old-fashioned tenacity can still prevail in a city of increasingly hollowed out dreams.When Folger first showed up at my Silver Lake guesthouse in October 2025, I’d been interviewing potential tenants for weeks.I gave Folger’s vintage-chic look a once-over, followed by a quick house tour (the only possible kind; the guesthouse is 350 square feet).

As we emerged onto the sun-drenched deck, Folger declared herself “interested, if the terms are right.”“Terms?” I repeated.Courtesy of the Lee List, I’d hosted dozens of actors, musicians and screenwriters in my guesthouse over the decades.

Not one had ever used that word.“I can’t afford the price you’re asking,” Folger clarified.“I’m an actor.

A good one, but not a rich one — yet.Would you consider a starving-artist discount? Based on our shared artistic dreams?”Half of me wanted to offer Folger the starving-artist kick in the pants.

The other half was intrigued by her chutzpah.Also, this was no time to be a picky landlady.

Hollywood was my tenant pool, and Hollywood was tanking.Before COVID, I’d seen people driving around my neighborhood searching out a “For Rent” sign.

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