Where was ‘The Shards’ filmed? Inside the real-life locations of Ryan Murphy’s 1980s thriller series
Ryan Murphy’s latest series, ‘The Shards’, debuted on August 5. It is an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ 2023 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. The thriller drama is set in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. And that raises the question of where the show was filmed and how the production crew recreated the 1980s’ atmosphere. Season 1 was filmed at several locations across Los Angeles. Production wrapped in around five months, from November 2025 to March 2026. During that period, filming moved between multiple spots around the city. It goes without saying that the locations were transformed and dressed to recreate the authentic look and feel of the ’80s.
Part of the filming took place along the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles. There, according to MovieWalks, Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere were seen filming together in January. South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach was another filming location. According to RadioTimes, the mall was redesigned to resemble the Sherman Oaks Galleria. It’s the San Fernando Valley shopping mall that was popular among teenagers during that era. The series also needed to film scenes set at Buckley Prep School, which is important to the story as it follows the lives of high school students.
But instead of shooting at the real Sherman Oaks institution, the production used Occidental College at 1600 Campus Road. Other filming locations include Weyburn Avenue and Broxton Avenue in Westwood. A movie theater scene was filmed at a theater next to Taco Bell, which was modified to match the show’s requirements. So, if you watch the series and wonder how it managed to travel back in time so convincingly, know that the behind-the-scenes crew put in a lot of effort to make it happen.
Meanwhile, the first two episodes of ‘The Shards’ are available to stream on FX and Hulu, with the remaining episodes releasing weekly on Wednesdays. The story follows “Bret (Igby Rigney), an aspiring writer and keenly observant teenager whose reality begins to unravel with the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic new student, Robert Mallory (Homer Gere). Transferring in just before his senior year, Robert’s appearance coincides with the growing terror of The Trawler, a serial killer targeting teenagers across the city.” Other cast members include Kaia Gerber as Susan Reynolds, Hayes Warner as Debbie Schaffer, Graham Campbell as Thom Wright, Wes Bentley as Terry Schaffer, Evan Rachel Wood as Liz Schaffer, and Jordan Roth as Steven Reinhardt.
