Have lived in LA for about seven years now, all in the Northeast quadrant.
I would say that if your job is in Playa Vista and you’ll be going in to the office and not working remotely, you should try to find a place that’s as close to your work as possible.
Lot of discussion about different neighborhoods on here which is all good and dandy but if your commute is going to be an hour each way, it’s not going to matter if you live on the nicest street in echo park / silverlake / wherever.
I would also worry less about neighborhoods and focus more on specific blocks. Things change here drastically block by block.
Feel free to PM me if you’d like more info / like to chat, OP.