Paul Kulak, a supporter of many of our clients and the head of an innovative acoustic club in Los Angeles, is in trouble. Although he’s never had a single complaint from a neighbor or a patron, the City rolled in and shut down his venue because he doesn’t have the required number of parking spaces for a performance venue.
It’s a frustrating situation, but the City has told Paul that they’ll be flexible if he can show that his venue positively affects his community. They’ve specifically asked for calls and letters of support. If you’ve ever played at the Woodshed, mobilize your street team and your resources to show Los Angeles why Paul’s work is so essential. In a city where it’s near-impossible to get booked, Paul has given lots of folks a helping hand.
Hi Everyone it’s Paul Kulak with some bad news. As of Wednesday 5/5/04 the Woodshed was forced to close by the City of LA and remain that way until further notice. I need support from ALL of you everywhere to call on our Council Woman Wendy Greuel to help us re-open the Woodshed, especially those of you who live in North Hollywood, Studio City, Valley Village, and Sherman Oaks. I visited Wendy Greuel’s office yesterday and it was clear that phone calls along with a letter work best to get their attention. Here is the contact info once again.
Council Member
Wendy Greuel
6350 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Suite 201
North Hollywood, Ca. 91606818-755-7676
greuel@council.lacity.orgPlease send the Woodshed a copy of your letters as well.
Kulak’s Woodshed
5230 1/2 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91602I am operating with the belief (based on what city officials have told me) that we can get approved for the parking variance. However, we need to raise a LOT of money to pay for it. As of now I have an empty bank account. Also, it looks like we’re gonna get slammed for some other surprise violations as well, such as the Health Department for making self serve coffee and soft drinks available to all of you. I haven’t a clue why but I’m gonna find out. Fines and fees are piling up fast. I am told that including the variance fee they could approach $10,000 or more.
By the way, ASCAP has recently sent me a bill for cumulative fees totaling about $2,200 over the last 3 years. BMI has been calling me as well. Can anyone out their help me work it out with them? It seems the best path to raising the money for all this is to put together a series of fundraisers, bring in some big name headline performers and get it done. Can a few of you help me with this? We will need a venue/s as well.
For those of you who can help by making an additional financial contribution please do so now. Details are on the website. (www.kulakswoodshed.com) A wonderful organization called the North Hollywood Community Forum, has partnered with us (as of June 2003) to act as our 501(c)(3) Fiscal Agent. If you’d like to make your contribution Tax Deductable please contact me and I can provide all the details. I may not know what is gonna happen next and how we’re gonna get there but I gaurantee you all that I’m gonna re-open the Woodshed by doing whatever it takes as quickly as as possible !!! But I can’t do it alone. I need your help !!!
When I first opened the Woodshed four years ago I never could have imagined my dusty lil’ hole in the wall becoming what it has to so many people in L.A. and around the world. The Woodshed has exceeded my wildest dreams and there’s no end in sight with the webcast. I’ve got a feelin’ we’re on the verge of something really BIG. The talent that performs here on a daily basis continues to blow my mind. The world is gonna find out about it one day and I’m gonna do my best to make sure it does as soon as possible. Look what we’ve all done. We’ve come together and created an incredible singer/songwriter labor of love community !!! I will never let this die. Please help me. Thank YouPaul Kulak
16 responses
How can you guys be so gulable? I performed there and he told me to leave his equiptment alone when I wanted to move it.
He is a scam, people donate and he pays rent, himself and his girlfriend plus buys equiptment, collects donations over the net and uses the artiost material and work for his profit. R U Blind???
He doesn’t pay taxes on the donations, the facility is not built for entertainment and we have tortured his neighbor with our sound for years.
Lets call a spade a spade and a crook a crook.
Go ahead, buy him or his girl another house (she just bought one). or buy him another deck to rent out from his other business Decks etc.
I cant believe people have been supporting him and his facility for years, he runs another business out of the back, free and clear.
Wake up
Scam thats what he is dont you dare go for his side instead go against it, this man is a scam he should be as broke as a homeless man, he doesnt deserve ANYTHING
go against him
My note was taken off before, I guess this is as corupt as the woodshed. You people need to get a life, the shed is not a place to have live entertainment
Jeffery,
Thanks for bringing some civilized discussion to the thread.
Amazing how Stewert and Robert don’t seem to have last names or valid e-mail addresses.
And if we were in the habit of removing posts, which we only do in the case of spamvertisers or extreme profanity, wouldn’t I have removed these by now?
I just began to think this is a scam. He now says the city is saying that everyone who comes to the shed must have a membership. That seems like he just want’s to make a few extra bucks. What do other people think?
No, this is actually legit. In most towns, you can establish a “membership organization” to host shows and serve food without going through more stringent permit process. My understanding is that all you have to do to become a “member” is contact them before you come over and make sure your name is on the list.
Joe,
Can I come over and kick your ass?
The line forms along the side of the building, Joe.
If Paul Kulak has made any mistakes, it’s the fact that he is attempting to run this operation as a club.
This is why he is being hammered by the city.
Kulak might not realize that, but he NEEDS to approach this entire problem AS A BROADCASTER.
Now, I cannot begin to tell you why the City of L.A. has decided to go on a crusade against someone who has taken a novel approach the way that Kulak has, but that is the reason why he is being hit with vice squad visits, parking variances, etc. The city is treating him the way they treat club owners and it is routine for them to do so. Kulaks is PRIMARILY a studio, a broadcaster, and his audience in the world of the internet is most likely a great deal bigger than the forty or so people who gather for the nightly show.
How can the city harass someone for letting guests make a cuppa coffee unless they try to operate as a nightclub?
They certainly wouldnt think twice if it was a broadcast studio, and the fact is, Kulak needs to re-evaluate what his operation really is.
The folks who stop by for the webcast aren’t club patrons, they’re the studio audience!
All that being said, anyone who tunes in should pass the hat and send him something, because this valiant effort is well deserving of it. Paul Kulak has REDEFINED the entire notion of “broadband content” and has made great strides in filling up the gaping hole that is currently only being served by self-promoting film trailers, advertisements and little else except the occasional sports clip. Broadband customers are starving for original content and Kulak gives it to them.
JeffH
Ch.S.
If Paul Kulak has made any mistakes, it’s the fact that he is attempting to run this operation as a club.
This is why he is being hammered by the city.
Kulak might not realize that, but he NEEDS to approach this entire problem AS A BROADCASTER.
Now, I cannot begin to tell you why the City of L.A. has decided to go on a crusade against someone who has taken a novel approach the way that Kulak has, but that is the reason why he is being hit with vice squad visits, parking variances, etc. The city is treating him the way they treat club owners and it is routine for them to do so. Kulaks is PRIMARILY a studio, a broadcaster, and his audience in the world of the internet is most likely a great deal bigger than the forty or so people who gather for the nightly show.
How can the city harass someone for letting guests make a cuppa coffee unless they try to operate as a nightclub?
They certainly wouldnt think twice if it was a broadcast studio, and the fact is, Kulak needs to re-evaluate what his operation really is.
The folks who stop by for the webcast aren’t club patrons, they’re the studio audience!
All that being said, anyone who tunes in should pass the hat and send him something, because this valiant effort is well deserving of it.
JeffH
Ch.S.
I mis-typed my link above. Here’s a corrected version.
Kulaks is a rip off
Greuel makes her own laws, Its what her moral attitude is at the time. She breaks laws and attempts to violate peoples rights as she sees fit.
She did not having any one running against her, what can ya say>?
She sure showed special treatment to Kulak when she had her staff run them downtown then have an immediate permit to open Kulaks 3 hours after Dept of Public Health and Safety closed it.
Don’t stop there, she over ruled the demand to vacate the building that Kulaks illegally using,
further then that, she knowingly allows him to operate while charges are pending on his illegal running of a dance hall and operating without a permit.
further she attempts to break city zoning code by allowing a change of usage in 2 buildings that Kulak illegally turned into one by again illegally knocking out the wall.
Her hatred for the porn guy next door has overruled her duty to uphold the law. She should move that banging club next to hers, it is illegal there. But, it shows people, if you cant afford to have a entertainment venture in the NoHo district she supported, then do it where ever, you can get her assistance to break laws and allude criminal prosecutions for the crimes you commit.
She is changing the usage of a building for Kulak which goes against the city councils already made future plans for the city and its to no benefit to the community, only kulak and maybe Greuels favorite charity, like he did to the country School just for them to say they would allow him to park there, just a formality responds Kulak, “we will never use it” and they can’t because it is LOCKED at 4PM every day. That’s ok, they apply for a 26 seater saying it wont upset the neighbors, then they have 35 people or more at the hearing? Stupid, if all of the people showed up it would block street parking for all other stores on the entire block…
what if they grow??? Come on, where is the futuristic thinking??? Its going to be a mess if anyone of the crowd shows.
So lets go back to the laws, KULAKS have changed the usage of the building, went against all goverment agencies with the help of Dear Mrs. Greuel. They operate to date Illegally while the application for variance is being discussed and calculated!
What!!!
FOLLOW THE CLEAR CUT LAWS REGARDING CHANGE OF BUILDING USAGE…
SHES NOT FAIR,
ITS GREUELS WAY, SHE IS THE QUEEN OF NOHO, Ooopppss you cant go there, rents to high, sit up shop where ever Mr. Kulak because you donated to the right person! Ill save ya money, if its not Zoned, Ill change it.
She doesn’t care about your area, she doesn’t live there.
She let office go to her head, bring her back to earth or replace her next time round.
Greuel makes her own laws, Its what her moral attitude is at the time. She breaks laws and attempts to violate peoples rights as she sees fit.
She did not having any one running against her, what can ya say>?
She sure showed special treatment to Kulak when she had her staff run them downtown then have an immediate permit to open Kulaks 3 hours after Dept of Public Health and Safety closed it.
Don’t stop there, she over ruled the demand to vacate the building that Kulaks illegally using,
further then that, she knowingly allows him to operate while charges are pending on his illegal running of a dance hall and operating without a permit.
further she attempts to break city zoning code by allowing a change of usage in 2 buildings that Kulak illegally turned into one by again illegally knocking out the wall.
Her hatred for the porn guy next door has overruled her duty to uphold the law. She should move that banging club next to hers, it is illegal there. But, it shows people, if you cant afford to have a entertainment venture in the NoHo district she supported, then do it where ever, you can get her assistance to break laws and allude criminal prosecutions for the crimes you commit.
She is changing the usage of a building for Kulak which goes against the city councils already made future plans for the city and its to no benefit to the community, only kulak and maybe Greuels favorite charity, like he did to the country School just for them to say they would allow him to park there, just a formality responds Kulak, “we will never use it” and they can’t because it is LOCKED at 4PM every day. That’s ok, they apply for a 26 seater saying it wont upset the neighbors, then they have 35 people or more at the hearing? Stupid, if all of the people showed up it would block street parking for all other stores on the entire block…
what if they grow??? Come on, where is the futuristic thinking??? Its going to be a mess if anyone of the crowd shows.
So lets go back to the laws, KULAKS have changed the usage of the building, went against all goverment agencies with the help of Dear Mrs. Greuel. They operate to date Illegally while the application for variance is being discussed and calculated!
What!!!
FOLLOW THE CLEAR CUT LAWS REGARDING CHANGE OF BUILDING USAGE…
SHES NOT FAIR,
ITS GREUELS WAY, SHE IS THE QUEEN OF NOHO, Ooopppss you cant go there, rents to high, sit up shop where ever Mr. Kulak because you donated to the right person! Ill save ya money, if its not Zoned, Ill change it.
She doesn’t care about your area, she doesn’t live there.
She let office go to her head, bring her back to earth or replace her next time round.
Bob,
Don’t hold back, tell us how you REALLY feel.
It’s amazing to read the crap that idiots write and then to see it published as well.
Kulak’s might be many things but it is this first and foremost, the greatest event in the history if streaming internet media…
I’ve never been to the venue in person as I live in Texas, but I am a regular viewer almost every night and there is nothing else like it in the world.
As far as the parking variance and all the other hassles are concerned, I believe that the performers and the regular crowd that frequents the place will take it upon themselves to make it happen, and I will be a contributor too, in the hopes that it will continue to keep the webcast alive. The rest of you naysayers need to go find another cause to harpoon, because this one will flourish and prosper despite your best efforts to the contrary.
Jeffery Haas
Dallas
I have been to Kulaks many, many times. I know Paul. I remeber seeing him many years before he started the shed. He was going around the singer songwriter curcuit in LA with his Guild acoustic singing his heart out. He has always loved this community. Paul is not a rich man. His other business is a partnership of which he provides the talent, marketing and deliveries. These boneheads who write rumors of any scam must be extremly unhappy and cruel people. Paul is one of the most giving, caring and truly unselfish people they will ever meet. They just can’t seem to believe that someone might want to help others even more than themselves, because they could never or would never help others!
I know very little of the girlfirend, but Paul was running the shed way, way before they met. Get a clue guys, Paul needs your help if you want the shed to continue. If you would like a shot for yourself or your favorite writers at a world wide broadcast of your original music on the internet to share with your family and friends and maybe a few industry people every now and then. If you want to experience something truly unique, where some of the real up and comers can shine, and you can shine right next to them because Paul won’t judge anyone if you’re really giving it your all. I love this place, I’ve played there several times and it really makes a big difference if you know the other clubs and joints around LA. There’s nothing like Kulaks for both the big names who love it for the warmth that is so obvious, and for the beginners and the intermediate singer songwriters for the support, the kindness and the chance to be online with some of the best gear (most of which was donated by the top dogs who could afford to give it). If you just want to tear people down, I believe the readers of a thread like this will see you for what you are. An Idiot! Please give all that you can as I have to a truly great idea that is Kulak’s Woodshed. It’s just so sad to know the the man, and what he is trying to do for the people who still dream of a music career, and then, to have boneheads like Stewert and Robert talking out of their ass! They know nothing! People like them start wars and laugh about it!