A few weeks back, I made this news regarding the prodcution of the latest Die Hard movie the subject of our now-traditional Friday bitch-off.
I just heard word that they've been granted their permit and will be allowed to close down a major street into LAX AND parts of the 105 Freeway for up to two weeks.
Un.
Friggin'.
Believable.
The worst part, aside from the fact that this is going to make life a living hell for everybody, including me, that lives in the area or needs to get to the airport, is that you can't find any news about it anywhere, outside of reports about the initial controversy. They are literally days away from filming and there have been no press releases or any kind of plans for diverting traffic made available to the public. It's almost like they want to keep it quiet until it's actually underway so that nobody can do anything about it. Except, of course, sit in traffic, lose thousands of dollars in business revenue, miss flights and appointments and deliver millions of tons of domestic and international cargo past deadlines because the hundreds and hundreds of trucks that rely on those roads have been re-routed to smaller avenues that are already busy enough on their own.
Like I said, un-friggin'-believable. The City of Los Angeles and the producers of that movie can just SUCK IT. Assholes.
UPDATE: I finally got a hold of the location manager and what he sent me in response is below.
/
LIVE FREE
ORDIE HARD
LOCATION DEPARTMENT
20th Century Fox 100 Universal City Plaza, Building 9128, Suite E, Universal City CA 91608 (818) 733-2285 Office (818) 866-1389 Fax
To recapitulate our meetings re: filming at Imperial Highway:
Prep Dates: October 26, 27, 30, 31
.
Lane Closures - One lane will be closed from 7am until 7pm on all prep days.
Film Crew Work - On Imperial Highway, east of Douglas, a fence will be added
on the median strip, to be used as a set piece. Building the fence involves putting bolts into the median surface to erect a pillar. Sleeves will also be installed to add posts for the fence.
.
Filming Dates: November 2,3,4,5, 8,9, 10,11,12,18,19 (Bold are weekends)
.
Lane/Street/Highway Closures:
Imperial Highway eastbound - Nash Street to Aviation Blvd. will have full closure From 9am until 4pm every day
Imperial Highway westbound - Aviation to Nash will be closed from 9am to 7pm on weekdays and from 9am until 7pm on weekends with the following exceptions:
One lane will be kept open whenever possible to allow for airport cargo traffic
Local access would be made possible at the following locations: Douglas Street at Atwood Street to get to:
East entrance Kilroy Center
2300 Imperial
Nash Street - From Atwood to Imperial, Nash would be made to run 2 ways to allow traffic to go north to access Imperial West and to get to the airport from Douglas St. (this will be done via police officers, cones, and barricades).
Century Freeway 1-105 - Closure on weekends only - Nov. 4,5 and 11,12 and 18,19
Eastbound lanes from Sepulveda to La Cienega
Connectors from 1-105 east to 405 north and 405 south
Westbound lanes from 405 to Sepulveda will be closed on Nov. 5 and Nov. 12 only from 5am until 7am. '
..,..
9
LIVE FREE
ORDIE HARD
LOCATION DEPARTMENT
Note: A lane will be open whenever possible on eastbound lanes and westbound lanes will have rolling breaks.
.
Film Crew Work - On Imperial Highway, a truck and several cars will be precision driving each day of filming. At one point, the truck will drive across the median strip
and crash into the constructed fence built by the film company. The film company will be using explosives and gunfire with squib hits.
On weekends only, there will be a helicopter flying. They will not be involved in the stunts directly, but they will be there to film an aerial POV. The film company will be in compliance the city and with the control tower at LAX at all times.
In conclusion, safety is always first. We will do everything in our power to maintain public safety as well as the safety of our crew.
There are two hundred and fifty southern California residents on our cast, crew and staff. Weare grateful to all of you for your efforts to keep our jobs here at home.
Sincerely,
Curtis Collins Location Manager (Telephone number deleted with hesitation-E)
Chris Campbell
Key Assistant Location Manager (Ditto - E)
Actually I think the whole state of CA can be lumped into that category....
Maybe they need a lot of people sitting in endless traffic jams as a back drop for Brue W.
Posted by: Zendo Deb at October 25, 2006 12:25 PMDeb,
Some cities are actually pretty strict when it comes to allowing movies and TV to film to shoot within their borders. Back in the 80s, that lame show "Riptide" was filmed in Hermosa Beach and some of the businesses that were located there literally went bankrupt and had to close. Since then, that city's been pretty protective and rigid when it comes to when and where people are allowed to shoot there. That beach house that some of the characters on "Beverly Hills, 90210" lived in was in Hermosa Beach and they were only allowed a certain number of hours, a certain number of crew members and were strictly regulated when it came to having any adverse effect on traffic or commerce.
The thing is, these people are so friggin' arrogant, they think everyone around them is just going to be soooooo THRILLED that they're shooting a movie that it's not going to bother them that they have to go hours out of their way to get somewhere they need to go. Or mind the little matter of losing their business. Clueless dickwads.
Posted by: Emily at October 25, 2006 12:41 PMWow...it's almost like they WANT mass confusion, wasted time and productivity, angry people, screw-ups. I mean - you'd think they'd have learned from all the botched evacuations and such lately that early and copious information is good, and keeping people in the dark until the last minute is bad.
I hope your commute doesn't suck too hard when they set this whole thing up.
Posted by: ricki at October 25, 2006 12:42 PMLucky for me, it won't matter either way in regards to my commute, but it's going to make my job HELL.
For two friggin weeks! I still am having a hard time believing this!
Posted by: Emily at October 25, 2006 12:44 PMI used to live in Redondo, and counted on "going the back way" through that area in order to avoid getting on the 405 (and even doing that was hell). I can't imagine what it will be like, especially since every doofus rubbernecker is going to want to stop and watch them film!
Besides, hasn't there been enough Die Hard movies? I mean, it's "Die Hard", not "Live Forever".
Emily,
I don't suppose there's any chance of your taking your two weeks' vacation (or at least some vacation days) during that time? I mean, yeah, it's unfair to other people...but my new motto is fast becoming, When life hands you crap, spread that crap around!
Posted by: ricki at October 25, 2006 12:59 PMJulie,
If you lived in Redondo, you're probably familiar with the area I'm talking about. Yeah, the 405 is already crappy and congested. I can't even imagine how much it is going to suck once filming gets underway.
Ricki,
I don't have two weeks left, sadly, but that wouldn't be realistic anyway. Besides, there'd be such a huge mess to clean up after I got back, it wouldn't be worth it.
I can't believe they're actually going through with it. Feckin' assholes.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at October 25, 2006 01:05 PMI lived on the beach side of Esplanade in 1980-81, in my dad's 1-BR condo he bought in 72 for (are you ready?) $30K. I commuted to Glendale while I was in training, then ARCO gave me my territory: Watts, Compton and Bell.
Yeeeeah.
Those were interesting commutes.
He still uses the condo for vacations. Maybe next year I'll stay there for a week... If so, I'd love to meet you, Emily. You sound like an interesting and intelligent lady. :-)
Posted by: Julie at October 25, 2006 01:16 PMIf you wind up coming out, drop me a line, Julie.
Posted by: Emily at October 25, 2006 01:19 PMOh there you go, stealing my friends.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at October 25, 2006 01:21 PMWell, 250 jobs. That's worth disruptions for thousands of others possibly costing millions of dollars. That won't in any way shock back and cost jobs elsewhere at all.
Posted by: marc at October 25, 2006 01:23 PMMarc,
I especially love the "grateful for your efforts to keep their jobs here at home" part. Do you think I give a shit where these people's jobs are? Yes, that's going to be a tremendous comfort to people stuck in traffic for hours and hours. "At least 250 people in the movie business didn't have to go to Toronto and dress parts of it up to look like L.A."
Ken,
Are you talking to me or to Julie?
Both of you.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at October 25, 2006 01:31 PMKen, do you want some cheese to go with that whine? :-P
Better yet, why don't you join us in LA... we can have a menage a trois. :->
Posted by: Julie at October 25, 2006 02:12 PMThere is of course a cure for the insanity generated by living on the Left Coast.... move.
I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 4+ years. It was without doubt the worst place I have lived (even Cincinnati was more livable aside from the weather.)
Everything was overpriced. Traffic was insane as a matter of policy I think. Polution wasn't as bad as LA, but it wasn't good. (They kept closing down wells that had been contaminated by various high-tech firms.) Did I mention the prices of everything - not just real estate - were insane?
I've since found a better bay area.
Posted by: Zendo Deb at October 25, 2006 03:35 PMThat's not really an option for me, Deb. Most of my family lives here. I grew up here. I have a lot of sentimental attachments. For all the nuttiness of this town, there's still a lot of things I love about it.
Posted by: Emily at October 25, 2006 03:38 PMI love the whole "every other day there will be a helicopter" part of the incomprehensible memo. Like - wow, thanks for being SO clear about how you are going to disrupt all of our lives.
Posted by: red at October 25, 2006 04:19 PMSheila,
Isn't it just really, really badly written? I think I had to read it three times before I could understand what he was saying.
And yeah - the helicopter. Not only will you be blocked from getting where you need to go, but we'll even throw in some noise pollution at no extra charge!
Posted by: Emily at October 25, 2006 04:31 PMI noticed that it's not exactly a reply, is it? It's a schedule. There's nothing like, "We understand your concerns, blah blah blah, worked closely with state and city officials to ensure the least possible disruption, etc etc." I mean, it would have been boilerplate hokum, but it would at least mean that they were dimly aware that a few people, perhaps, may show a little reluctance about this.
Posted by: Nightfly at October 25, 2006 08:47 PMI want to direct a movie and block traffic access to the UN building in Manhattan for a month.
Posted by: Alan K. Henderson, Parole Officer of the Stars at October 25, 2006 10:12 PMAlan,
I'd sign the permit. ;)
What I can't believe is that I STUMBLED on this post and it's the ONLY news I've heard of it!! I live off of Aviation and 122nd. Traffic, helicopter, explosions... FRACK! I pass by the setup every morning on my way to work. Thanks for the info. We're moving to DC!
Posted by: Taurus at November 1, 2006 03:39 PMWork in the general area so am a bit concerned. Since I've enjoyed all of the Die Hard movies, I'm not going to slam this effort. Sure do hope it's really good though.
Posted by: gomer at November 3, 2006 05:17 PM