I work downtown and a couple months ago I was waiting at a stoplight and saw what I thought was a homeless guy wearing an "end is near" sign. For a second I thought it was the first time I'd seen one of those for real and the next second I realized they were filming something. A week or so later I saw the guy on tv in a Volkswagen commercial.
<http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-downtown2jul02,1,1175455.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage>http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-downtown2jul02,1,1175455.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
From the Los Angeles Times
Downtown L.A. residents yell 'Cut'
Noise and other disruptions from film shoots at all hours have spurred calls for tighter controls. By Richard Verrier Times Staff Writer
July 2, 2007
For Benjamin Pezzillo and his wife, Erica, the flashpoint came one Sunday night in March, when the noise from the black chopper was so deafening that it made the couple's glass dining room table vibrate.
Hovering about 300 feet above their building at 6th and Spring streets in downtown Los Angeles, the helicopter's incessant roar had Pezzillo convinced he was in the middle of a police chase. At least until he saw the aerial camera pointed downward that, he learned later, was being used to film a Verizon ad.
"It was like a bus revving its engine right outside your window," Pezzillo said. "It was inescapable."
Concerned that downtown is turning into an urban back lot for movie, TV and commercial producers, the area's growing population of residents and merchants is rebelling. A surge in filming, combined with incidents such as the March chopper episode, is galvanizing residents to push for tighter rules that could crimp shoots in one of the world's busiest places for filming.
The dispute reflects a larger clash playing out in the world's entertainment capital between producers and residents weary of trucks, trailers, klieg lights, noise and crews in their neighborhoods at all hours.
"We're not against filming, we're just against filming that's out of control and with no common sense," said Russell Brown, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. "It's been a very, very contentious issue for a lot of people."
Southern California's signature industry likes to shoot close to home. But it can easily pack up and move shoots to other locales that promise to make things easier. Elected officials worry that an inhospitable downtown could drain the region's economy of some of the billions of dollars the industry generates each year.
Melissa Patack, vice president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, said companies recognized the changes downtown and were working to accommodate residents. But, she added, "there are many governments and other cities that are actively pursuing the industry."
Downtown Los Angeles has been one of Hollywood's favorite film spots dating to 1909's "In the Sultan's Power." Its skyline is relatively free of landmarks, so it can easily stand in for other cities.
High above 9th Street and Broadway, silent film legend Harold Lloyd clung to a clock's hands in 1923's "Safety Last!" Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prowled downtown streets as an evil cyborg in the 1984 sci-fi classic "The Terminator."
More recently, Kiefer Sutherland chased terrorists through the streets and across the Los Angeles River bridges on episodes of "24." BMWs, Mazdas, Volkswagens and Hyundais zip down streets such as Grand Avenue in commercials.
During a 19-day period this spring, some 90 productions filmed downtown. On any given night, the 2nd Street tunnel west of Broadway, one of the bridges over the Los Angeles River or City Hall may be featured in a movie, TV program or commercial.
"What people have to remember is that there is a 98-year history of downtown Los Angeles playing big city USA and other locales on the big screen," said Harry Medved, coauthor of film location guide "Hollywood Escapes."
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