Setting Up Shop for a Double Dip

It’s too bad these full closures seem to be allowed BEFORE studying the potential traffic impact.

At 7:30a this morning, there seemed to be no reason why Spring Street had to be closed for this production. I am certainly looking forward to seeing the finished product to measure the need for the closure in the shots of the final cut.

By mid-day, the horns were blasting away on Broadway between Sixth and Seventh as if somehow that was going to help dislodge the wrench this closure threw into the traffic of Central City.

Are Joy Films and MJZ related?

I know it’s frustrating if you are in the car, but it’s fine when you are walking. I think a big problem is that we are such a car-dependent society in LA, that anybody blocking just one block, gets the whole city upset. I’ve never had to detour my walk significantly for a movie shoot (other side of the street, at most). I’m sure New York as a lot of filming going on as well, but b/c car dependency is low, you don’t have the same hinderance. And, at the same time, there’s plenty of places to film in Manhatten that makes the shoot appear you are in a downtown setting. Unlike Los Angeles, which only has the natural downtown boundaries (110, LA River, 10, & 101). A much smaller area for film companies to rent to shoot a downtown setting.

What if you are bus dependent?

How mass transit traffic Downtown reacts is so much more of an issue with respect to over-filming than single car use.

I can understand your desire to turn the point to one individual, but when that individual often sees hundreds of people sitting in buses snarled by a filming street closure, he just wants to walk on board with leaflets telling them how to complain about it.

Maybe that onboard television news show will carry a story on it? Or maybe someone will buy some advertising space inside telling people how to complain about delays from filming Downtown?

Then maybe we can get a real sense of how this is impacting mass transit and the flow of the workforce through the City.

If the owners of the apartment/loft complexes here on Spring objected to all this constant filming I’m sure they could make a difference, but I would imagine they’d rather keep collecting all that money they get from the studios…

There’s some truth to that, Dev – property owners have the right to withhold their signatures and some blocks require only a few signatures despite HUNDREDS of residents.

Renters can complain to their landlords. Interruptions in enjoyment of the use of the residence could be negotiated with your management to get the point across. Moving out and saying it was because of over-filming is black and white.

Letters to the corporation of the product in the commercial are also acceptable. The Internet makes blasting off an e-mail very easy way to let your consumer displeasure known. There are products I will not buy because of their connection with a misbehaved commercial production.

Of course, we all still have the right to NOT vote for councilmembers who aren’t leading only this issue. It’s very easy to register for an absentee ballot and fill it out in the comfort of your own home:

http://www.lavote.net/VOTER/AbsenteeVoting.cfm

Finally, residents have a right to be heard at the Board of Public Works hearings where these closures are decided. Those decision-makers have e-mail, faxes and phone numbers.

The legal standard is outlined in the Los Angeles Municipal Code as minimal interference with the enjoyment and use of adjacent property.

One way of reading that is the moment the film production interferes with the enjoyment of your home more than what a reasonable person would consider minimum, you have the right to call the Watch Commander at LAPD Central Division on (213) 972 1298 and ask that LAMC Chapter 1 Section 12.22 A 13 be enforced.

Additional avenues for police action fall under the Noise Ordinance.

I’ve complained to the police before about the noise from a shoot. Some director was shouting into a megaphone below my window past 3 a.m. The police did nothing.

It would be nice to see an ordinance passed that limited night shoots, and more importantly, that required the consent of individual residents rather than of landlord companies.

People!- LA is the entertainment capitol of the world. Film production is what keeps LA on the map. You scream about runaway production - and you have people screaming about production in their neighborhoods! Get real. You live in LA’s backlot. You have chosen to live here.

I live in downtown. I’ve had the lights shining in my windows all night, helicopters circling, explosions, car crashes, directors yelling, etc. I take it as it is. It’s to be expected when you move to LA!

Film production was here long before you decided to move here and it is what makes LA. If you don’t like it move to Peoria!

(…and I am not employed in the entertainment industry)

D, Like many others I think you have confused a stance against over-filming as one against the entertainment industry.

Over-filming is waking up more than once looking for an alarm clock only to realize it’s a piece of production equipment backing up. Over-filming is watching people unfamiliar with Downtown flounder in traffic detours do to filming and feeling sorry for the panic they might be experiencing.

Over-filming is what causes location burnout. Location burnout threatens local production in Southern California more than anything else. Over-filming threatens the BILLIONS of dollars in development going on in Downtown right now for many reasons. One is the small businesses cannot survive day after day of having their storefronts covered by production trucks. No small businesses, less residential interest, stalled projects, slowed construction, etc.

The myth of runaway production is harder to sell now that foreign exchange rates don’t favor the dollar. But do you really think multi-national corporations would not be making their product cheaper elsewhere if they could? Get real. These are corporations with stockholders. If they could be doing it somewhere else for less, they would or their investors should be asking why not.

The other concerning myth is that by moving into an area with a pre-existing problem you accept the status quo – even when it is in clear non-compliance with the existing law. Funny thing about this one is that it may sound great in the spin, but it won’t go far in court.

What you should really be doing is asking your civic leaders why they have not shown more leadership in managing the inevitable intersection of increased residential development Downtown in the world’s most filmed neighborhood.

That is why the Neighborhood Council has had to take action and has been working with stakeholders for months developing special conditions which seek a reasonable balance to prevent location burnout from over-filming.

Hey D, your argument is the same as saying that Rocketdyne is an essential part of the economy, so look the other way when they dump toxins into our water.

The behaviors that are problematic are not those that are reasonable, it is the behaviors that are ILLEGAL. If they are buzzing a helicopter over a residential building they are violating federal law.

Activities that are conducted without notification or proper procedural clearance are illegal. It happens all the time. The agency that issues permits to film companies does so without legal oversight or proper public input, as is required with every other activity that enters into the public sphere. When a shoot violates the terms of their permit, or does not follow reasonable, common sense precautions, there is no recourse by anyone once the permit has been issued. This is why film companies get permits that say one thing and then they go ahead and do anything they want, regardless of whether or not it is on the permit. Nobody can stop them.

The film industry is making millions by abusing the system. Nobody wants filming to go away, so stop the nonsense. It’s about respecting everyone else’s right to live their lives.

By the way, filming, especially location filming, is a very small part of the economy, and pays NO taxes. None. Look into it. Look at the production companies, and tell me how many are located in Los Angeles. Very few, most are in Santa Monica, Burbank, Culver City.

We are being used.

WAAA WAAA WAAAA - You are all really boring losers. I got this page by accident and then read a few posts. WOW what a bunch of pansy ass whiners.

Caring about better film permit and location management is whining!?

I’ve actually seen this commercial several times now on air and fail to see why it was ever necessary to close two blocks of Spring and two blocks of Seventh at the same time for two days in a row.

The decadent use of public thoroughfares by the entertainment industry does not go unnoticed by people who live and/or work Downtown.

The Industry is wearing out its welcome in this neighborhood by not adapting its location filming past practices to the reuse and new use of Downtown as a residential area.

One might expect that in a City not familiar with entertainment production, but the lack of leadership on this issue by The Industry has been disappointing.

As I consequence, productions can continue to expect to have their behavior scrutinized while shooting Downtown in order to better document the negative impact of over-filming in a redeveloping community.

uh, put a pocket protector on and put the pooch on a leash, go down to the ‘location’ and just walk around. Let the dog take a dump, wear a fanny pack and look like a tourist. Soon they’ll get the idea and then pack up and leave, especially if you carry a sign that says “GEORGE BUSH & MARY CHENEY IN ‘2008!!!”