I came out here 6 years ago and still love LA to this day. Here's some advice:

Absolutely come out here. Don't let anyone tell you you shouldn't. If you don't make it, you don't make it, but at least you tried.

You won't get a job without being here. End of story.

Don't worry about your location to your job's proximity. For your first several gigs, they will be spread out all over town, and there's really no way to predict where.

That said, there are a few spots that I would recommend based on my experiences in the industry:

*Hollywood / West Hollywood. Decent rent (some places rent controlled), lots to do, relatively central to LA proper, and close to Studio City where all the big guys are.

*Culver City. Rent is very reasonable, and while it's not as happening as Hollywood, it's still a good place to live and there are good restaurants / bars.

*Santa Monica. Very nice area, some decent rent, but it's going to be far from a lot of your friends and work. For the jobs that do exist in SM, you will love it. But otherwise you will hate your commute.

*Studio City. If you choose to live in the Valley, this is the only spot I'd recommend. It's still really nice, rent is better than in Hwood. You will have some shitty drives during rush hours because of the limited options for coming over the hill, but you'll get used to it.

*West LA/UCLA Area. Rent will be a bit higher, and there's less going on, but it's a nice part of town, and still decently central.

People who love the Valley will argue with me on this one, but other than Studio City, don't live in the Valley. With a roommate, the rent is totally doable (around 700 - 800 a month, per person) in the places I mentioned. Living in the Valley you will drive A LOT. You will have lots of friends on the other side of the hill, and the best places to go out are in LA proper (see below). The Valley has a very suburban feel to it, and if you want to feel like you live in LA, live in LA.

LA proper: The area bordered by the 101 to the north, downtown to the east, the 10 to the south, and Santa Monica to the west. This is where you will spend 95% of your time.

Burbank, Glendale, Downtown, Sherman Oaks, South Bay are all lovely places and have fun stuff, but I don't recommend living there based on what you want to do.

Be prepared to be unemployed. Even once you find a first job, it won't last very long. It's a very freelance based industry, and we all don't work for periods of time. Even when you are working, SAVE YOUR MONEY. I can't express this enough. It takes time, dedication, and patience to make it out here, and having some savings to fall back on when you're unemployed will make all the difference.

The adage is true: it's all about who you know. I've never gotten a job based on a cold resume. Meet people and keep in touch with them, even if they don't seem to have any job connections. You just never know. I've gotten lots of work this way.

And the people that you do work with? Make sure they see that you're the hardest working, most smiling, willing to do anything type of person. You will take a lot of shit starting out, but keep your head down and push through. NEVER EVER tell anyone off or burn bridges. Sometimes you'll feel an intense need to do this, but fight it with all you have. Film biz is a very small high school. Everyone knows everyone.

Last thing: don't let people influence your feelings about what LA people are like. Los Angeles is a HUGE city - there are many, many different types of people here. Yes, there are lots of douchebags, bitches, wanna-bes, and has-beens, but that's true for any major metro area. There are also lots of warm, genuine, caring people as well. You will find them, don't worry.

This was probably a lot of random advice, but I hope it helps. Be confident, don't get discouraged, have realistic expectations, and work your ass off and you'll do fine.