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Filming Fades to Black in South Williamsburg

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The Unusuals filming on South 4th and Bedford, Williamsburg
The Hollywood lights have been shining down on South Williamsburg a lot lately, so much so that the neighborhood is being given a three-month reprieve from the action by city officials. Several projects got the greenlight to finish up filming before being tossed out of the new no-film zone, after which they'll certainly be able to find that "gritty urban look" Williamsburg offers in other areas of New York City.

The Brooklyn Paper reports that "the neighborhood bound by Kent and Bedford avenues, and South Second and South Eighth streets has hosted a large number of recent shoots, including Gossip Girl, The Unusuals, and Law and Order." Seems like just yesterday the city wanted its sidewalks to be Hollywood backlots, now with the tax credits being replenished to the tune of $350 million, residents are complaining again.

So what had residents all riled up about the film crews? One explains, “There’s no parking here already, then they come here and occupy these spots for weeks and weeks with their trailers. They are taking over our lives for just a little bit of money.” However, the big productions also bring in money to neighborhood businesses, which may be more worth it right now than a precious parking spot.

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Comments [rss]

  • I work in film and the crews are all new yorkers, they don't pay to bring in crews from LA or other far off places. We do get our lunch from a catering truck but guess where the caterers are from.

    Please be kind to the P.A.s they get paid almost nothing and work an average 14 hour day.

  • meowster

    my SO works in film and even he is over the disrespect and unprofessionalism from The Unusuals, Gossip Girl et al. The lunch trucks come from the Bronx or Queens. Definitely NOT from the neighborhood. As previously stated, I think we all know the PAs are not the problem. I'm just happy to have some relief. Try living with this crap for months on end, with your apartment as the epicenter and have to clean up their trash.

  • JacqueMehoff

    there's no reply to that. the small business guy get's screwed out of a day's worth of potential customers.

    People will avoid that block. how bout helping out locally?

    the stores and restaurants are there, the residents are right there. not some connected community non profit org or connected catholic church or someone who has the mayor's ear on getting them some free movie passes.

  • brandonz

    South Williamsburg = south of the bridge where tha Hasidim live.

    This area is the "South Side" subneighborhood of Williamsburg. Come on, Gothamist. You are the worst at knowing anything about where neighborhoods are sometimes...

  • ides_of_march

    All those cameras, lights, trucks, cables and sundry equipment they use; must be a heck of a carbon footprint there. This is why I laugh at these idiot show-biz hypocrites when they pontificate about the environment.

  • wobbleSmith

    you are so smart! don't limit yourself to the confines of the gothamist comment section, ides. i say go for president of your respective borough. or, dare i say, mayor?

  • Jen S

    The parking situation is the worst. How about a credit to park in a local garage, instead of being forced to search for a spot miles from your home?

  • wobbleSmith

    alternatively, you could just leave your car where it is and force them to move it. it's not a real tow. they just tow it to the nearest legal spot. one of the low level (read: "easily accessible on the street") crew members will know exactly where it went.

  • Jen S

    That'd work in a perfect world, but I'd be worried that the job would be somehow fucked up. (For the record, it's not my car! I'd get so sick of the hassle, or forget where I parked it.)

  • JacqueMehoff

    I never complained about the PA's. just the sweet deal the state and city are giving to this industry.

    10K is not a lot of workers, that can easily be absorbed in LA. and why is it I always see the location trucks from down south? are they local workers living locally? they're Union right? no touchee them. they got theirs, screw you locals.

  • inoyourider

    People who shoot in NYC do so because they want to shoot in NYC.

    The tax break makes us competitive enough to keep them here.

    Why drive an industry away?

    There's no doubt that the city benefits.

    The trucks are mostly Haddad's, because they're the biggest and the best provider of support trucks.

  • th63

    The trailers and campers most people see are from a vendor in Pittsburgh or a vendor in Atlanta. There is nobody else doing this kind of business outside of these two and California. And they both either rent parking lots or own parking lots for their vehicles in the NYC area. NYC theatrical teamsters travel to their locations to bring them back to NYC for use on a film. Though it does happen once in a while, usually no one comes with the campers to replace NYC labor.

  • em

    So I guess those of us who support ourselves by working in the film industry (over 10,000 of us in NYC, union and non-union) don't matter? Our jobs don't matter? The film industry injects more money into the local economy than you probably realize.

    While I agree that there are productions that are disrespectful of the places where they shoot, there are many productions that have hard working people who care about the neighborhood and about being respectful.

    And don't blame the production assistants for being jerks. They're just doing what they're told to do. P.A.'s make very little money and get treated like shit by everyone. Blame their jerky bosses (Assistant Directors, Production Managers, Producers) who make way more money and actually have the power to resolve an issue with a local resident.

    Also, I guess none of you actually watch TV? Your daily entertainment has to made for you before you can consume it...

  • sharpshoota

    I don't get entertained by watching the crap you guys put on TV anyways. All you guys do is bother the residents of the neighborhood.

  • wobbleSmith

    except no film crews are going anywhere since your elected officials support them being there. so if you have a problem, don't take it up with the legally permited crew. take it up with the guy/girl who invited them there in the first place.

    or shut up. either way!

  • ides_of_march

    "And don't blame the production assistants for being jerks. They're just doing what they're told to do."

    So they are actually told to never say please or thank you when asking people to do something? They are told to use the most rude and disrespectful tone of voice possible?

  • wobbleSmith

    well, based on your attitude ides, they're probably not being nice because you seem to be a dick. most PAs i know are as pleasant as possible, considering the amount of shit they take from people such as yourself.

  • Mr. Vos

    Whenever they try to film on my block (and this is especially effective during night shoots) I place full length mirrors in all of the street-facing windows. It really fucks with their lights, etc.

    Air-horns also work wonders.

    I agree that this would not be so annoying if they acted like guests of the neighborhood rather than pillagers.

  • JacqueMehoff

    the only people making money are the connected.

    the connected charities, the community organizers, churches. it's all who you know.

    how bout giving residents a property tax rebate if a film crew invades one's block? that way everyone benefits, not the connected few.

  • meowster

    Ya know, if they gave back yo the communities they literally TRASH while filming, it would be something different. They leave trash, relocate our cars, break noise ordinances, block bike lanes, cause accidents and are not held accountable for anything. I'm all for TV, but this free pass to literally take-over with no consequences needs to end. Also, why not set up a program, implement a fee that gets funneled into the neighborhood directly? Also, some simple manners would be nice.

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