CSI:NY: Sorry About the Wake Up Call

By Eric Richardson
Published: Friday, August 31, 2007, at 05:38PM
Eric Richardson

I arrived home just now to find that an entertaining letter got posted in our lobby during the afternoon. It's from CSI:NY, apologizing for an incident two nights ago where someone thought it would be a great idea to have 40 cars on the street honking at 4:30am. The filming took place on Broadway, so I can't say I heard it over on the Spring street side of the building (though I would have from my old apartment).

At about 4:30am we were set up for a traffic jam scene on the street. Someone on the production team thought it would be much more realistic if the 30 - 40 cars we had on the street honked their horns.

Due to an unfortunate string of events, the cooler heads that would have prevailed in such a situation were unavailable to stop this from happening. Once we realized what was going on we halted the honking, but by then the damage was done.

I'll post the whole letter after the jump. To me this situation illustrates the larger issue very well. CSI:NY is typically a good neighbor. They shoot here a lot, and therefore have a strong interest in maintaining good relations. How can a resident of Downtown be expected to trust any sort of shoot to behave when even the good ones are screwing up and waking people up in the middle of the night?

For every responsible shoot like this one, with a Location Manager who cares about the neighborhood, there are several other productions that would never apologize for a similar situation. Often the worst offenders are commercials, whose only care is to get their shots quick and get out.

I won't even get into how this shoot was one of three over the past few days for which my building hasn't gotten any notice. That horse is long dead.

The whole letter:

Dear Residents, Neighbors and Business Owners,

On Wednesday, August 29, 2007, CSI:NY was filming scenes for an up-coming episode on Broadway between w. 6th St. and W. 7th St. during the night hours (from approximately midnight to 6:00AM). At about 4:30am we were set up for a traffic jam scene on the street. Someone on the production team thought it would be much more realistic if the 30 - 40 cars we had on the street honked their horns.

Due to an unfortunate string of events, the cooler heads that would have prevailed in such a situation were unavailable to stop this from happening. Once we realized what was going on we halted the honking, but by then the damage was done. I'm sure that many of you were rudely awakened by this oversight and for that we apologize.

CSI:NY spends a lot of time filming in the downtown area and we make very conscious efforts to abide by the guidelines of the ever-changing residential/commercial landscape and revitalization of the area. We realize that we are visitors to the area and we wish to show the neighbors the respect they deserve so that we may be welcomed back.

On behalf of CBS Productions, Inc., we also wanted to take the time to thank you for allowing us into your neighborhood during our recent filming. Because of your support we believe we were able to complete our scenes.

We know what an inconvenience having a film company in your area can be, with all the trucks, noise and disruption of traffic. However, it is also important to know that, because we had your assistance, 150 people were directly employed and approximately 75 other businesses received work from us either directly or indirectly, adding to the economy of Southern California and, more specifically, Los Angeles County.

Again, our thanks and we hope to have the honor of being allowed to work in your neighborhood in the future.

Sincerely,

Timothy Hillman -- Location Manager

Comments

1
whitmanlam writes:

Ha Ha ! Maybe the film worker's union had a gripe and wanted to send a message...

# on Aug.31.2007 AT 06:38 PM
2
Dana writes:

Or maybe it's just a publicity stunt/free advertising.

# on Aug.31.2007 AT 10:24 PM
3
writes:

GASP!

Or, maybe it's someone taking responsibility for something?

# on Sep.01.2007 AT 10:02 AM
4
Dana writes:

Maybe.

# on Sep.01.2007 AT 10:21 AM
5
writes:

They can have the 30-40 cars there, but as for the horns? Have it dubbed in. It's called FOLEY. They should look into it sometime.

# on Sep.01.2007 AT 10:22 AM
6
writes:

CSI:NY has a strong interest in keeping the neighbors happy because they operate a full time location on the 2nd floor of the Barclay, and shoot weekly in the neighborhood. They have been generally very good about their behavior, but it is problematic that they maintain a permanent location in a residential building, which is illegal in Los Angeles without a conditional use permit.

# on Sep.01.2007 AT 11:03 AM
7
MarcDT writes:

"Someone on the production team thought it would be much more realistic if the 30 - 40 cars we had on the street honked their horns."

Why'd they have to do that on location is even more surprising since I thought a lot of background noise on many TV and movies often is dubbed in.

Because of modern technological trickery, doing something as basic as re-creating sounds made by autos should be easier than ever before. However, maybe the sound engineers got lazy or were under a time crunch and didn't want to insert the bleats of car horns in post-production?

# on Sep.01.2007 AT 11:51 AM
8
writes:

I can think of ONE time in my neighborhood that a film crew did exactly what the law, common sense, and a sense of decency told them they ought to. I don't like to use the kind of language my apartment building manager used after the most recent incident. Such is the price we live here, eh?

But for them to apologize... now, that's a first...

# on Sep.01.2007 AT 11:59 AM
9
writes:

The City Council green-lighted residential development Downtown through adaptive reuse and other measures.

Council must now reconcile the billions in real estate investments going on Downtown with simple guidelines which would preclude things like live honking at 4:30 a.m. from happening without informed consent by residents.

Expecting either FilmLA or The Industry to self-police these leadership issues is clearly not working.

# on Sep.01.2007 AT 12:27 PM
10
writes:

Oh, and did anyone on the film crew get fired over this?

# on Sep.01.2007 AT 11:13 PM
11
writes:

Fill in the blank fun:

"Someone on the production team thought it would be much more realistic if..."

CSI NY shot in NYC?

Had dialogue that didn't make real crime scene investigators cringe?

Stuck to the parameters of real forensic science so juries wouldn't keep expecting wiz-bang instant results?

# on Sep.02.2007 AT 11:58 AM
12
writes:

Our new building manager is hosting a BBQ on the roof tonight from 7 to 11. Come on up!

# on Sep.02.2007 AT 04:08 PM
13
anon writes:

The letter makes it sound like the honking occured just once, but it was four times, at about 40 seconds each time--and it was just after 4am. Someone should have been fired over this.

# on Sep.03.2007 AT 04:21 PM
14
writes:

Anon, Thank you for the details.

I encourage you complain to Councilmember Jose Huizar, the City's Office of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and CBS.

# on Sep.03.2007 AT 06:51 PM
15
david writes:

complaints have been filed with everyone and anyone. trust me. i was on the phone with FilmLA at 4am. CSI's permit had nothing on it about the cars or the horns. i live directly above where the shooting took place and although the apology is nice, this situation has to give at some point. we constantly deal with cars, lights, gunfire, music playback for videos...all in the middle of the night. the nice location managers apologize but truthfully this situation on broadway is way out of hand and nothing is going to change until more people move in and people start taking notice. right now i feel like a man alone.

PS - dont the cops on these sets ever ask questions like, "hey, is it necessary or LEGAL for you to be doing that?"

# on Sep.04.2007 AT 09:08 AM
16
writes:

David,

The police officers are hired to work on sets by the production company, not the City. However, in order to work in the uniform, these officers must maintain a work permit from LAPD.

While there are a number of officers who would step in and ask what the permit allows, many know such questions mean not getting a call back from the production company the next time there is work.

Most are retired so the income becomes lucrative.

In an ideal scenario, LAPD would randomly assign officers to such detail from a list of approved and trained officers (retired and/or active duty) and the productions would pay LAPD rather than contract directly with the officers.

If you haven't already, you can make a personnel complaint to the LAPD's Internal Affairs section asking why the officers working that shoot did not enforce the permit. The information you need to do that is available on lapdonline.org

I know there is opposition to DLANC's proposed special conditions from at least one theater owner on Broadway but we have yet to hear what the specific objection is.

Please feel free to contact me if you need any additional information or if our ad hoc Filming Committee can be of further assistance.

# on Sep.04.2007 AT 04:36 PM

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