Verified answer

there are a lot of abandoned spots in Downtown LA. Go at your own risk and def. in the daytime. There are a number of places I'm listing here that house potentially dangerous vagrants.

Here's a link to 10 abandoned spots in the downtown area:

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/downtown-s-wors...

A lot of film crews go down to banks of the LA river. under the bridges there are areas that look like abandoned buildings. That is free and free access. There's a cool building down near third street that has a cool 19th century Maxwell House coffee logo on it (near the toy factories).

The reason you are finding little to nothing is because that's what's out there. Property in LA County is rarely "abandoned". It's always being redeveloped. Anything that's not currently under development is boarded up and fenced off. And those few places that are, as you say, abandoned, are full of squatters: Drug users, mentally ill, and/or homeless. Not a good shooting location.

Try Calico Ranch or someplace like that.

There's an unused supermarket about 3 miles from my house, but it's boarded up and locked up tight. If you try to go in there and film without a permit, that's trespassing. And you'll be shooting your own documentary, "JP goes to jail".

Hollydale Insane Asylum

56 Descanso

Downey

The abandoned asylum, which is now called Rancho los Amigos, has a long history of being haunted by former inmates. The property is well guarded as it's now part of a large medical complex, but is often vandalilzed.

Get proper authorization if you want to enter the building!