Words By A. David Cooper
Photography by Caesar Lima

In the 1996 film "Escape From L.A." Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) navigates the earthquake-scarred remnants of the no longer glamorous dark world of pirate plastic surgeons, drugged out has-been stars and megalomaniac homeboys from the 'hood. Well, John Carpenter's film may have painted a compelling (albeit dark) picture of a possible future Los Angeles in 2013, but the truth of modern day L.A. in the year 2002 is every bit as bright and sunny as a Red Hot Chili Peppers music video.

An apocalypse of sorts almost did land on the shores of Los Angeles during the recent dot com boom. Following the lead of their Northern Brethren in Silicon Valley (roughly, San Jose) and in Silicon Alley (New York City), L.A.'s digital community decided to join in the fun and dubbed itself The Digital Coast. At one point the movement even spawned a magazine by the same name that featured some of L.A.'s hot up-and-coming Internet entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, the boom turned bust and most new media companies from the East Coast to the West Coast ended up folding before they could cash in on their IPO dreams. Now almost a year has passed since the business tumult, and in L.A. it's back to business as usual, except now the city has a new digital gleam in it's collective eye.