A Guide to Where The Paper Was Filmed (DETAILS)
We’ve investigated everything you need to know about where The Paper was filmed.
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Key Takeaways
- The Paper is set in the fictional Truth Teller Tower in Toledo, Ohio, but both seasons were primarily filmed in and around Los Angeles, including the Universal Studios Lot.
- Much of the office interiors are custom-built soundstage sets, while several Los Angeles locations were used as stand-ins for Toledo, including the Standard Oil Building and the former Chandler Valley Center Studios.
- The Paper shares production roots and continuity with The Office, including the same mock-documentary crew style, overlapping filming locations, and the return of Oscar Martinez as a connecting character.
Over the years, screenwriter and producer Greg Daniels has perfected creating shows that feel extremely real and lived in.
From The Office and Upload, to his latest Peacock Original sitcom The Paper — which returned for a second season September 9, exclusively on Peacock — audiences are often left wondering, do these places in Scranton and Toledo actually exist?
If you’re a fan of The Paper or The Office, Peacock Blog has found everything you need to know about how much of each series was filmed in real locations and what is just the magic of Hollywood. Find out the answers, below.
RELATED: Meet The Paper Season 2 Full Cast, Plus Every Guest Star (Official Bios & Photos)
Where is The Paper set?
The Paper is set in the offices inside the fictional company Enervate’s HQ building, Truth Teller Tower, in downtown Toledo, Ohio.
Where was The Paper filmed?
Both Season 1 and Season 2 of The Paper were filmed in Los Angeles, California. Primary interiors and some exteriors were filmed in the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California. Some remote locations and exteriors meant to look like Greater Toledo were filmed in the immediate Los Angeles area.
Here are some key locations in SoCal:
- The historic Standard Oil Building in downtown Los Angeles is the stand-in exterior of the fictional Truth Teller Tower building in downtown Toledo, Ohio.
- The interiors of The Petroleum Building in downtown Los Angeles double as the Truth Teller Tower building elevators and hallways.
- In The Paper’s pilot episode, the documentary crew returns to the Scranton Business Park building which is actually the exterior of Quixote Chandler Studios, formerly known as Chandler Valley Center Studios when The Office filmed there.
- The interior of Smoke House restaurant in Burbank is the location for the Macaroni Barn restaurant.
- Santa Anita Park is where the printing press for The Truth Teller newspaper is filmed.
Is the office in The Paper a real location?
Yes and no.
No, because the corporate HQ of Enervate in Truth Teller Tower is fictional, including the ninth floor shared offices of Softees Toilet Paper and The Toledo Truth Teller newspaper staff. However, the yes applies because the eighth and ninth floor offices are in fact detailed sets designed by The Paper production designer Susie Mancini (The ‘Burbs) inside soundstages at the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California.
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When was The Paper filmed?
Filming for Season 1 of The Paper took place in Los Angeles in 2024. After Peacock picked the series up for a second season, The Paper returned to Los Angeles to film 10 new episodes from January to April of 2026.
Was The Paper filmed in the same locations as The Office?
Yes, both The Office and The Paper were filmed in and around Los Angeles. Lovations across the city were cleverly staged and filmed to look like Scranton, Pennsylvania and then Toledo, Ohio.
In the Office Ladies podcast hosted by Angela Kinsey (Angela) and Jenna Fischer (Pam), the actors revealed that The Office pilot was filmed in a real office building in Culver City, California to capture the most authentic corporate cubicle vibes. However, once the series was picked up by NBC, production moved permanently to their Dunder Mifflin standing sets built inside the Chandler Valley Center Studios in Panorama City, CA.
From its pilot episode, The Paper has filmed in the soundstages on the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California. Exteriors are filmed in local areas of Los Angeles, including North Hollywood.
RELATED: The Surprising Advice That Connects Oscar Martinez's 2 Bosses in The Paper Finale
Both sitcoms also share some common elements including the same faux documentary crew who filmed at Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania for almost a decade. In The Paper, the same crew returns 20 years later and shifts their production to Toledo where Dunder Mifflin’s parent company, Enervate, houses several of its companies, including the staff of the once mighty newspaper, The Toledo Truth Teller.
Along with the doc crew, The Office and The Paper also share the character of accountant Oscar Martinez (reprised by Oscar Nunez) who is the only Dunder Mifflin Scranton employee who relocated to Toledo to stay employed.
