The Brief

The New Beverly Cinema has had many, many lives. It’s been an ice cream factory, a nightclub and a porn theater. Today it’s the home of director Quentin Tarantino’s personal film collection — a place where you can always catch a classic double feature, or a marathon of, say, all the Twilight movies, on 35mm.

“Quentin has a vast collection. Cartoons, trailers, 35 features, 16 features,” says the theater’s operations manager Jules McLean. “We have a warehouse full of film.”

The importance of film

At the New Beverly, the projection booth is where the magic happens. Everything at this revival house is always on film, which means specialty and rare prints, vivid colors and sound, and that inimitable warmth and grain that appears on screen.

(And don’t worry if you don’t know the difference between 16mm, 35mm, and 70mm. To put it simply, that’s the difference in the width of the film strip. The bigger the number, the higher quality the image.)

“I think there's a tendency to think film is precious, which it is, and we should be preserving it. But I think it's more important to be screening the prints,” says New Beverly projectionist Danielle Wakin.

Projecting film isn’t just hitting play on a movie — there’s a whole show going on up in the booth that audience members never get to see. Before the movie starts, the projectionist checks the film reel for dust and debris. They measure the reel and mark out “changeover cues” — that’s where they’ll literally load and change reels. Most feature films take up between five and nine reels. 

“There's an art to it, there's timing … but yeah, there's nothing better than whenever you hit every changeover and it's a perfect show,” Wakin explains. “Or watching my coworker have a perfect show is also a very, very good feeling.”

Given the effort that goes into projecting film, this isn’t an experience you can get at any movie house (and it’s the center of a contentious debate in the moviegoing world). But it should be noted that the additional effort of a movie house and projectionist to screen a print that might be decades old, does turn a screening into something special.

Danielle Wakin, New Beverly Cinema's projectionist, splices film building up the pre-shows for the following showing on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024.

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Julie Leopo

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LAist

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Danielle Wakin, New Beverly Cinema's projectionist, splices film building up the pre-shows for the following showing on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024.

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Julie Leopo

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LAist

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With the emphasis on film — and the Tarantino connection — it’s easy to assume that The New Bev might be intimidating, or full of “film bros” ready to judge. But the programming is accessible and diverse.

“I think that is what makes the New Bev cool is [the movies] we show isn't just, you know, like Jeanne Dielman, which like a bunch of film school people show up. But then we had like a Twilight marathon for Twilight fans,” says Wakin. “It's like we kind of show something for everyone.”

The New Bev welcomes kids too — weekend screenings always include family matinees, where you can catch films like A Goofy Movie, The Muppet Movie, or E.T.

But one of Wakin’s favorite moments was the screening of the cult classic Phantom of the Paradise.

Phantom of the Paradise is a 70s rock musical directed by Brian De Palma with music by Paul Williams. It’s a blend of Faust, Phantom of the Opera, and a critique of the music industry, with fabulous costumes, musical numbers, and a dash of horror. While it didn’t get rave reviews upon its release, it found a dedicated fanbase, even inspiring the French duo who would become Daft Punk.

“I remember sitting there in the theater, and when Beef came on screen the whole audience roared and I was just smiling and I was like, 'this is why I work here,'” she says.

From candy to porn to 'respectable movies'

So, how exactly did Quentin Tarantino end up owning the New Bev?

Well, it’s kind of a long story.

The building’s been around since 1929, and in the '30s it was occupied by a candymaker, and then an ice cream manufacturer.

“Then it became Slapsy Maxie's Nightclub in 1937, starring the once famous Maxie Rosenblum,” says theater historian Ross Melnick.

Slapsy Maxie's was a Mid-City nightclub that is now the home of the New Beverly Cinema.

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Courtesy of the Huntington Gardens Digital Library

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Slapsy Maxie’s was a celebrity hotspot run by actor and former boxer Maxie Rosenbloom, nicknamed “Slapsie” for how he liked to throw a punch with an open glove.

Slapsy Maxie’s moved locations and other nightclubs moved in and out of the space throughout the 1940s. In the '50s, the space became a venue for live theater — The New Globe. The demographics of the Fairfax area were shifting and the neighborhood was starting to become primarily Jewish.

“The New Globe became a venue for actually Yiddish and other theater … it was actually in part because of the location, the Jewish community was leaving Boyle Heights and coming to Fairfax,” says Melnick. “And so this was a place where Yiddish theater could actually survive for a time.”

But by 1958, live theater was no longer drawing crowds. A film producer purchased the space and divided it into two cinemas, named the Riviera-Capri.

When the 1960s hit, almost every theater in the city had to make the decision — pivot to porn, or no?

The theater was renamed again in 1970 to “the very appropriate Eros Theater, which had not only films, but also live nude dancing,” says Melnick. “The Beverly name was inaugurated in 72, and adult films continued until about 1977.”

At the end of the 1970s, local publishers started banning ads for adult films. Business started to dip for the Bev, creating an opportunity for yet another buyer.

How Tarantino got involved

In 1978, Sherman Torgan, a location scout described by the Los Angeles Times as a 33-year-old “mild mannered UCLA graduate in sociology,” took over the theater. He’s quoted as saying he “wanted to get in a business that really had sort of a positive vibe. Movies put a smile on people’s faces.”

The Times headline ran: “Theater Returns to Respectability.”

Early double features at the now “NEW” Beverly that summer included Cabaret and Sweet Charity, and Robert Altman’s 3 Women paired with Ingmar Bergman’s Face to Face.

It was during this time that a young Quentin Tarantino started going to the movies here. It was his childhood movie house, so his love for the place started early.

When Sherman Torgan died in 2007, it was a tough time for movie theaters. DVD sales were booming and services like Netflix started streaming.

Tarantino had already been subsidizing the theater for $5,000 a month, so he decided to purchase the theater outright in 2010, and took over operations in 2014. He’s quoted as saying: “As long as I’m alive, and as long as I’m rich, the New Beverly will be there, showing double features in 35mm.” 

Torgan's son Michael continues to help operate and program the theater.

Jules McLean, director of operations, in the auditorium of the New Beverly Cinema on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024.

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Julie Leopo

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LAist

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Jules McLean has now been running the New Beverly for 10 years. And her history with Tarantino goes back even further.

“I knew Quentin because we worked at Video Archives together. So we have a long history and friendship,” says McLean.

She worked as his personal assistant for years, saying “one of the things you do for a film director is try to facilitate his dream.” That’s the attitude she brings to the New Beverly.

“I'm facilitating Quentin's dream, which was part of, you know, Sherman's dream.”

Tarantino's house, a community hub

There is a LOT of film here.

According to McLean, “probably 60, 65% of the stuff we show is Quentin's collection.”

The New Bev often screens Tarantino’s films as midnight movies every few weeks — titles like Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained — the whole filmography, really.

The projection room at the New Beverly Cinema only projects film.

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Julie Leopo

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LAist

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McLean says even the weekday matinees sell out. It’s a relief. After the pandemic shut theaters down, there was a question about whether places like the New Bev could bounce back. But it has indeed come back, and McLean says it's attracting new audiences.

For her, it’s all about passing on that communal moviegoing experience to the next generation.

“I cannot stress how important it is to see films with an audience. That communal feeling, you can't replicate that,” she says. “I think you get something emotionally and even though you might not know the 200 people you're sitting with, you just had a collective experience.”

And she’s seen those collective experiences turn into relationships: “I know so many people that have met their husband, wife, partner here, you know, friendships just because they came to the New Beverly.”

“I know it sounds antithetical because you're just sitting passively,” adds Melnick. "But in fact, you're connecting with the filmmaker and the actors and everyone else who put that film together. And then you're connecting with everyone else around you.”

Whether you bring a date, make a friend or go solo and find a friend in the movies, you won’t be alone catching a movie on film at the New Bev.

Thanks for joining us at the movies. It’s all part of a new series from How to LA called Revival House. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts.

It always sucks when your favorite L.A. restaurant closes. Multiply that feeling tenfold if you happen to be vegan and already live as an outlier. While Los Angeles has long been seen as a hub for plant eaters, lately, not everyone has felt that way.

Donna Jean, an Italian-inspired vegan restaurant in Sherman Oaks, which shuttered at the end of 2025, was just one L.A. restaurant to close in recent years. Chef Roy Elam opened Donna Jean, which became a beloved community staple, in 2022, naming it in honor of his mother who died of breast cancer but switched to a vegan diet in her final months, in lieu of another round of chemo. The restaurant became known for preparing all its pizzas, pastas and sauces from scratch while using top-notch ingredients.

Donna Jean's cast iron mac and cheese, #1 crush pizza, kombucha on draft and lasagna.

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Courtesy Donna Jean

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“It really felt like a small-time kind of community restaurant in a lot of ways,” said Josh McClain, a former manager, going as far as calling it a “lifeline” for certain customers with niche allergies.

In spite of its dedicated fanbase, at the end of the day the restaurant just never was able to expand beyond them, said Elam, who still operates the original Donna Jean restaurant in San Diego.

“We could have a $10,000 day and that would be our whole entire week, and every other day would be, like, $0.”

Donna Jean's sitting vacant on Woodman Ave, after closing in December.

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Ezra Salkin

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LAist

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It’s a problem spread across the local landscape. Other notable vegan restaurants in the Valley to have closed over the last five years include Krimsey’s, Mamicon’s Vegan Mexican Restaurant, Sugar Taco and the Van Nuys location of Grain Cafe.

It got us thinking .... What do plant-based diners do when their favorite restaurants go away? Stay home and cook? Eat vegan dishes at omnivore restaurants? Give up the lifestyle altogether? We spoke to a handful of vegan Los Angeles diners to get a better grasp.

Veganism out of fashion?

McClain, a former manager at Donna Jean, became vegan during the last five years of Covid, initially due to supply-chain fears related to the availability of meat. He does believe there’s substance behind conversations about veganism going out of fashion. Post Donna Jean, rather than eating out, he and his girlfriend have been staying home, disconnecting — as much as possible — “from the structures of agriculture,” he said.

Josh McClain and his girlfriend have begun the practice of homesteading, making their own tofu, sourdough, soy and oat milk.

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Courtesy Josh McClain

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The couple have started the practice of homesteading, making their own tofu, sourdough, soy and oat milk, continually dialing in and refining their processes, as being vegan “can get pretty expensive,” he said.

 “Typically, most people that are vegan, they have the time to be able to do so," he added. "They have the money to be able to do so. They have the time to figure out dishes, test, and experiment."

He acknowledged that it’s only in recent history that vegans have been able to go out and enjoy restaurants like everyone else. To do it at home, he admits: “It’s a privileged position.”

Natural correction

Eric Eichelberger, a local filmmaker who’s been vegetarian across different cities since 1994, has the hindsight of remembering what it was like before the boom of the 2010s. What’s happening now is a natural correction, he said, and nothing to be overly concerned about.

“There was a fad of opening vegan restaurants. And so there became, just like anything, too many to really support the people who were vegan, vegetarian, whatever,” he said. “It’s now back to a reasonable amount.”

Eric Eichelberger believes if you have great food and a great price point, vegan restaurants can survive.

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Courtesy Eric Eichelberger

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That doesn’t mean Eichelberger hasn’t lost some of his go-tos. Real Food Daily comes to mind, but he stands by a simple truism: “If you have a great price point and you have great food, you're going to survive.”

He also added that places that have maintained a hippy, punk or political approach have done better, with some spots having been around for decades.

For example, he points to Studio City’s Leonors Organic (which opened in 1985), and Oh Happy Day Vegan Café and Grocery (in 1977), which sadly burnt down during the Altadena fires, though the owner is reportedly looking for a new location.

“It’s all these sort of vegan, Bacari-like kind of places that are closed now,” he said, referring to the hip — and pricey — Silver Lake omnivore restaurant. Veggie Grill is always a dependable option, he said. (One of their locations closed in the Valley, as well.)

Vegan heaven

Jacinda, who comes from Texas, is an optimist about L.A.'s vegan food scene.

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Courtesy Jacinda

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Jacinda, a customer care associate for a plant-based brand, has been a strict vegan for 16 years. (She declined to give her last name for personal safety reasons). Hailing from Lubbock, Texas, she’s one of the optimists. “L.A. is [still] vegan heaven,” she said.

As someone who likes to eat her way around town, “Every time I see one [restaurant] close, I see a new one open,” she said. “[To this day] I don’t know how somebody could go eat at every vegan restaurant here.” 

Still, every closure, like her local favorite Hijo De Su Madre, is “heartbreaking,” she added.

But what if all the restaurants did close? “It's just not an option to change either,” she said. “We will do whatever we have to do [to stay vegan]. If we have to eat beans and corn bread at home, then that's what we're going to do.”

Supper clubs baby!

Jef Travis, a hospitality professional, has been vegan since 1991, taking on the lifestyle initially as a form of rebellion against his father who insisted on taking him hunting as a kid. As prices continue to rise, Travis predicts some vegan restaurants will continue to exist, but they’ll be expensive, and will exist mainly for special occasions. 

As produce prices continue to surge, sometimes faster than meat, due to a mix of agricultural labor shortage and escalating oil and fertilizer prices, he said things won’t get any easier for restaurants.

“Hopefully those costs will begin to plateau,” he said, as we see more streamlined mechanized processes be implemented, and as we cross the threshold into the much-vaunted AI-driven fourth agricultural revolution. 

In the meantime, Travis urged other vegans to try and stay ahead.

“Don’t neglect the frozen food section” at your grocery store, where you can stock up on produce that’s flash frozen at the peak of ripeness. That, as well as finding gathering places, “Supper clubs, supper clubs, supper clubs, baby! Let's supper-away and do it together. Let’s go to the grocery store!”  

Leaving the lifestyle

If the restaurants continue to close, Eden Gordley, an actor who started her journey toward veganism six years ago to help with sinus issues, said she might be discouraged enough to leave the lifestyle herself.

“I would say that it's not easy to cook for yourself all the time," she said. "It's really hard. Anybody who is able to do that is, like, extremely privileged.”

 “I'd be discouraged to eat out {as well},” she added, noting that vegan dishes at omnivore restaurants aren’t really reliable options. This goes for national restaurants and fast food chains, too, not just mom and pops, who often use L.A. and similar big blue cities as test markets for specialized trends. Some dishes disappear overnight, she said, and others that find their way onto menus often aren’t given much thought or intention. “They just aren’t good.”

So, what’s next for vegan restaurants in L.A.? Donna Jean’s Elam said: “This is the one thing I noticed about L.A., is that when you're new, they care. When they can't have you anymore, they care. But the middle part — that’s the hard part.”

Civilian commissions that review the conduct of local law enforcement agencies have long been criticized for lacking teeth.

One way to remedy that is to give the civilian groups subpoena power so they can compel witnesses to testify or a department to provide documents.

Law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, have pushed back against that idea. But in 2020, L.A. County voters approved Measure R, which gave subpoena power to the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission.

Six years later, the commission is still having trouble getting the department to comply.

“L.A. County voters said loud and clear in 2020 we wanted real oversight with subpoena power.. for real accountability of the largest Sheriff’s Department in the nation,” said Hans Johnson, chair of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission. “We still don’t have it."

A big part of the delay is state labor law that requires the county to meet and confer with the union that represents sheriff’s deputies about the impacts of any changes in the law, including subpoena power.

It's a process that has taken years.

Johnson and others accuse the union and county lawyers of dragging their feet. He said the commission is supposed to have independent and unfettered oversight of the Sheriff’s Department, which has a history of deputy misconduct.

The oversight commission has gone to court to challenge the meet-and-confer requirement.

Others cite additional factors that may be causing problems and slowing the process, including the number of agencies involved and the fact that the oversight committee doesn’t have authority to use lawyers that are independent from the county.

The Sheriff’s Department has said it cooperates with the oversight commission to the extent the law allows.

A beating leaves unanswered questions

The oversight panel wants access to several case files.

In 2024, an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty in federal court in connection with beating a transgender man in Whittier a year earlier. The incident was caught on video, and the deputy admitted later that he retaliated against Emmett Brock, a 23-year-old high school teacher who was on his way home from work when he gave the deputy the middle finger.

Prosecutors said Deputy Joseph Benza III punched Brock repeatedly and bashed his head onto the pavement.

In a plea agreement, Benza admitted to one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law. The FBI found a group of deputies had exchanged text messages with Benza discussing how to cover up his action, according to the Los Angeles Times. Eight deputies were relieved of duty as a result, the Times reported.

But after reviewing the incident, the process left the oversight commission with questions, according to Johnson.

Why did the initial internal review of the Feb. 10, 2023 incident find that Benza had committed no violations of department policy?

Why was a sergeant who had been involved in the incident allowed to head an internal investigation into what occurred?

And what steps has the Sheriff’s Department taken to ensure such a coverup doesn’t happen again?

In an effort to get those answers, the commission issued a subpoena to the department in February 2025 seeking use-of-force reports, body-worn camera and bystander footage as well as witness statements related to the incident. The Sheriff’s Department refused to comply, according to Johnson.

“It was another failure by the Sheriff Department to respect and comply with oversight,” Johnson said.

On the advice of county lawyers, the department cited state laws and rulings by the L.A. County Employee Relations Commission that require the county to meet and confer with labor unions that may be affected by the subpoenas before complying with them.

“California labor relations law, the County’s Employee Relations Commission (ERCOM), and recent court decisions legally obligate the County to meet-and-confer with its union partners,” county counsel said in a statement.

The executive director of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs said the negotiations should be fairly simple: “How is the deputy going to be compensated? How are they going to be notified? Should they appear in their uniform? Should they appear in a suit?”

Other reasons for the delay

County counsel said lawyers for the county and union “have communicated extensively” and met seven times regarding Measure R.

Yet the statement didn’t say why the negotiations had not concluded six years after Measure R was passed.

One possible reason, according to Hsieh, is the number of parties involved in the negotiations, which includes the Sheriff’s Department, the county Board of Supervisors, the Civilian Oversight Commission, the county chief executive office and two labor unions.

“This is a multi-party process and because of that there are a lot of different interests,” he said.

Robert Bonner, a former federal judge and one-time chair of the oversight commission, argued the meet-and-confer requirement is a stalling tactic by the deputies union and shouldn’t apply to the issuance of subpoenas.

“These subpoenas are issued under state law. There is no meet and confer obligation whatsoever,” Bonner said. “The county counsel’s argument is weak.”

The meet-and-confer requirement under labor law can be an obstacle for effective oversight of law enforcement organizations, according to Cameron McEllhiney, executive director of the National Association for the Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.

“Labor laws, officer bill of rights — all of those can become impediments to oversight,” McEllhiney said. “It's a challenge everywhere.”

County lawyers also represent both the Sheriff’s Department and the Civilian Oversight Commission in negotiations.

The current chair of the commission said that’s a conflict of interest.

“County counsel is not acting in the interests of pursuing oversight in Los Angeles County through the COC,” Johnson said.

Bonner agreed, saying the county counsel’s office can’t fairly represent the interests of both the Sheriff’s Department and the oversight commission.

“It's taking a position that is adverse and in conflict with the commission’s position with respect to enforcing its subpoenas,” Bonner said.

A Los Angeles Grand Jury came to a similar conclusion. In a report last month, the panel also found that county counsel’s representation of both the Sheriff’s Department and the Civilian Oversight Commission does constitute a conflict of interest..

“Recent trends in oversight now call into question whether they can equally and fully represent the ‘public interest,’” the report stated.

“County Counsel is conflicted in equally representing the BOS [Board of Supervisors], LASD and the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission,” the report continued “Accordingly, we recommend: COC would have its own legal staff, i.e., no longer represented by County Counsel.”

In a statement to LAist, county counsel denied any conflict, and essentially said it's not a conflict because, technically, the commission is an extension of the Board of Supervisors.

The statement read: County counsel’s legal advice to the oversight panel does not create an attorney-client relationship “separate and distinct” from counsel’s relationship with the Board of Supervisors, “so it is not possible for a conflict of interest to exist when County labor issues are at issue.”

It continued: “In fact, the courts viewed the COC and Sheriff as all one County entity for the purposes of labor issues.”

What’s next?

The oversight commission, meantime, decided to go around county counsel in an attempt to enforce the Brock subpoena and two others — one involving the beating of Joseph Perez in July 2020 in East Valinda and one involving the fatal shooting of Andres Guardado in June of 2020 in West Rancho Dominguez.

Perez has filed a wrongful death lawsuit that is pending. The Guardado family won an $8 million dollar settlement with the county.

The commission hired Bonner on a pro bono basis to file a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department seeking enforcement. The suit was filed last month.

In January, a new state law took effect that said civilian law enforcement oversight panels were entitled to confidential personnel records.

The law has triggered new meet and confer negotiations between county lawyers, the Sheriff’s Department and the union representing deputies.

Southern Californians are in for a little relief this week after another muggy weekend.

The region is expected to experience a slight cooling trend over the course of the week, though forecasters say conditions will still be hotter than normal and continue to put people at risk of heat-related illness.

Highs in most of L.A. and Orange counties will be in the 80s and 90s through Friday. Some interior parts of L.A. County, much of the Inland Empire and the region’s deserts are expected to hit triple digits.

Don’t get too used to the — somewhat — milder temperatures either. Forecasters say the heat will soon return with a vengeance.

The high pressure system that’s been driving much of this summer’s weather has retreated eastward, forecasters say, allowing for the cooling trend. But the system is expected to migrate back toward Southern California this week and bring the heat with it.

Temperatures will tick up steadily from Friday to Sunday, when parts of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys are expected to reach 100 degrees or higher.

Dangerous beach conditions

Meanwhile, forecasters continue to warn of dangerous currents and surf at the beach.

For the last several weeks, Southern California’s beaches have been pummeled by strong rip currents, big waves and surging tides.

Officials are particularly concerned about the hazardous conditions as people flock to the beach to escape the heat

Lifeguards performed nearly 2,000 rescues over the weekend in L.A. County alone, according to the county Fire Department’s lifeguard division.

And the upcoming weekend is expected to present similar hazards for beachgoers. South-facing stretches of coastline will experience the most severe currents and waves.

Officials recommend checking surf conditions before heading to the beach and, if you do go in the water, stay near lifeguards and listen to their instructions. It’s also a good idea to stay off of tidal rocks and jetties.

If you end up caught in a rip current while swimming, relax, stay calm and float as much as possible to conserve energy. To escape the current, swim parallel to the beach, then at an angle toward the beach. Do not try to swim against the current. If you can’t reach the shore, call and wave for help.

The surf conditions are being driven by a series of tropical storms churning hundreds of miles to the southeast in the Pacific Ocean.

One of them, Hurricane Fausto, has been pushing its storm surge towards Southern California since it formed off Central America on July 16. Since then it has moved toward Hawaii, becoming a Category 2 hurricane over the weekend. It is now weakening.

This week, another storm, Hurricane Genevieve, is running parallel to the Mexican coast about 500 miles off the tip of Baja California. Genevieve was briefly classified as a Category 5 hurricane on Monday.

The storms, along with swells originating from storms in the Southern Hemisphere, have combined to create dangerous surf here.

“It's been definitely a long period of very frequent and hazardous rip currents,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Lewis.

There is also a chance the surge could cause minor coastal flooding.