Movie Shoot in Sunset Park

kikintina

There is a film called "Don't Let Me Drown" shooting a birthday scene in SP. Now, from what I understand, it's a first-time director (Cruz Angeles), but it seems to be incredibly disorganized, and some members of the crew are just RUDE.

There are signs all up and down 44th btw 5th and 7th saying that there was no parking from Thursday 8:30 AM through Saturday 10 PM. There were cones blocking that side of the street, and two young guys "guarding" the cones. They were just hanging out and walking up and down the other side of the street looking into cars. At night, they just lounged in a car that I assume was there for their convenience. Late on Friday, there was a heated exchange between someone who wanted to park and someone who didn't want him to. Pleasantries and creative name-calling were tossed back and forth at loud volume. From Thursday through Saturday morning, NOTHING happened despite two blocks being inconvenienced with half the amount of parking available.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, while I was taking a jaunt in SP, members of the crew were not allowing people to walk on certain walkways, and the entire front area of the park was taken up with the shoot. In addition, the swing set area was being guarded by two guys and a cone. No filming was going on, they just wanted it to themselves. A major shame for the neighborhood, especially since the weather was so pleasant. Again, there wasn't a helluva lot of politeness towards residents.

Now, at 8:30 AM on Sunday, the cones are still there and still no one is being "allowed" to park on the park side of the street. The entire front side of the park is even more overrun with the set. The reason I'm posting this is because I just heard (from my apt.) a member of the crew yell obscenities at some people in the park. Now, I don't know what happened, but I do know that it's incredibly unprofessional. Just because they have a permit, doesn't give them the right to be ugly. Hmph. IF they have one.

So my question is this: Are they allowed to keep people from parking due to their inability to finish on time? If the signs say Sat 10 PM, don't they have to go by that?

My other question is this: Has anyone else had better interactions with these guys? I hope what I've seen and heard is a group of isolated incidents. I want to support small, independent film-making, but not if it means being pushed around on my own street!

shishkab

the ones who have the answer to that question is the Department of Film and Television. they're the ones who issue the permits. unfortunately they are also closed on Sundays.

my suggestion is to call 311, but they are most likely going to tell you to call your precinct (not 911).

here's a bitchy things to do: if they are shooting on the street today, go over and make NOISE. mess up their sound. bang a couple of pots, yell back and forth to your neighbors. believe me, they'll get the picture.

and if you haven't done it already, take down all the info on the production company from the signage that's posted, write a letter to the city office of Film and Television, and have as many of your neighbors sign it as you can.

you can also complain to the local paper -- some of them love the underdog.

pitu

I have a lot of sympathy for filmmakers, but the neighborhood take-over approach sucks. The site for the MOFTB, who issues the permits for film shoots, is
http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/index/index.shtml

but the local precinct is who deals with the filmmakers once they have permits to shut down streets or sidewalks