I Hate Valentine’s Day is still shooting in Brooklyn, and this time they’ve outfitted an empty storefront on Prospect Park West to look like a tapas restaurant. They were doing some exterior scenes on Monday.
These two nice cops were assigned to the set. I don’t know how these assignments are divvied up, but movie and TV shoots always seem to get the nicest, funniest cops.
Earlier in the day there was a little kerfuffle when one of the businesses on the block complained because other businesses had been compensated by the production. Problem was, those other businesses had actually been used for the film. Eventually things were smoothed over.
Location manager Tim Stacker explained that his goal is for all of the businesses and residents impacted by a shoot to be happy. To say “Yes, they were here for a week, but it wasn’t that bad.” He told us that for a small production such as this one, a business used in a scene might get $500-$1,000 total for the whole shoot, even if the same locations are used for more than a week. Larger productions are able to compensate much more.
Here’s director (as well as writer and star) Nia Vardalos setting up a shot.
Filming In Brooklyn doesn’t get flustered too easily around actors, but the first time John Corbett walked by, well, we forgot why we had been standing around on a hot sidewalk and just stared, camera in pocket. But eventually we got our act together, and managed to take some great pictures.
Here’s John Corbet, getting lit.
Here he is, peeking outside, just before shooting starts.
Here’s Ms. Vardalos with actor Gary Wilmes. Is it just us, or is Mr. Wilmes looking a little McDreamy-ish from that angle?
More from the set tomorrow!
Originally posted on Filming in Brooklyn
I Hate Valentine’s Day Does A Tapas Fake Out In Windsor Terrace [Filming In Brooklyn]
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14 responses so far ↓
1 Nathan // Jul 8, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I don’t know how these assignments are divvied up, but movie and TV shoots always seem to get the nicest, funniest cops.
Well, that’s John on the right. The short story is that NYC is the only place in the world that has a Movie-TV Unit in the Police Dept. It’s a unit of about 25-30 cops who only work on movie sets. And the city doesn’t charge for this. The thinking is that in other cities, Producers pay for the cops and have an expectation of getting everything they ask the cops for. In NY, they’re still working for the city and don’t feel any compunctions about reigning in an out-of-control production if need be. It’s a pretty good system and I’ll probably post something longer on my blog when I’ve got the time to write.
2 7.8.08 Filming Locations : On Location Vacations // Jul 8, 2008 at 4:35 pm
[…] I Hate Valentine’s Day is filming on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn. Filming in Brooklyn has set pics from yesterday’s shoot at this same […]
3 Amy // Jul 8, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Thanks Nathan, I didn’t know that! Do cops fight do get into that unit, or do they see it as powder-puff duty?
4 kstanley // Jul 8, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I’m just disappointed to realize that we aren’t going to get a tapas restaurant. I knew it was supposed to be the liquor store on 16th moving to a new location, but when I saw the sign for a tapas restaurant, I got all excited. Oh well.
I walk by the film set multiple times a day, and everyone working on it has been super nice, so I can’t complain.
5 Amy // Jul 8, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Yeah, they’ve been great. And I’ve been bugging them a lot.
6 Nathan // Jul 8, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Amy,
It is considered a plum position and guys do play politics to get in. Having said that, there was a guy back in the early 90’s who was a real hard charger. He was going to be promoted, but he was 8 or 9 months short of time-in-uniform, so they had to wait. They stashed him in the Movie Unit so he’d be in a “safe” job until they could promote him. He’d listen to his radio all day and go charging off to respond to any “real” stuff wherever he was assigned for the day. Great guy, but I can’t tell you how many times we suddenly had no cops if he was there that day.
7 Amy // Jul 8, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Interesting! Now it’s going to be easier to talk to them. I wasn’t sure how to approach the subject before because I wasn’t sure if they were there because they wanted to be or if they were stuck there.
8 Nathan // Jul 8, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Clarification: Yeah it’s a plum, but two things have started happening lately.
One: A lot of guys who have been in the unit for years are retiring, so a lot of the guys I know are disappearing.
Two: A lot of the new guys coming in are apparently being drawn from Traffic. I’ve been told that they’re leaning toward the “keep the city moving” side rather than “let’s help them get the shot unless it screws things up to bad”.
This info is second hand, but it came from one of the guys in the unit I’ve known for 10 years, so I trust it.
9 Inside Look At Valentine’s Tapas // Jul 9, 2008 at 12:48 am
[…] posted on Filming In Brooklyn John Corbett Spotted In Windsor Terrace [Filming In Brooklyn] I Hate Valentine’s Day Does A Tapas Fake Out In Windsor Terrace […]
10 Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The NYPD’s Movie-TV Unit // Jul 11, 2008 at 10:44 am
[…] reader Nathan, a location manager for film productions. Not long ago he left a very informative comment about the cops who work on NYC location shoots, and he’s expanded on that comment on his own […]
11 wingspan // Jul 12, 2008 at 1:45 am
I’m sure these cops are great guys, but there is a good reason for their good humors. MTV is obviously a cake assignment. Put those same cops in the dirty, unairconditioned stairwells of the projects for a shift or two and they wouldn’t be quite so congenial. Now, back to my own star gazing. Nia is directing.
12 A Frustrating Night On The Fringe // Jul 12, 2008 at 4:23 am
[…] for so long that eventually key crew members start to like and trust us and give us access (as with I Hate Valentine’s Day). And sometimes we’re there for such a short amount of time, just part of the crowd, that it […]
13 Dumbo NYC, Brooklyn » Archive » I Hate Valentine’s Day Filming in Dumbo Tomorrow (DumboNYC.com) // Jul 17, 2008 at 2:36 pm
[…] Brooklyn has covered the filming of this movie, which was being filmed in Windsor Terrace Brooklyn earlier this month. I Hate Valentine’s Day stars John Corbett (Aidan from Sex and the City) and Nia Vardalos (of […]
14 Valentine’s Sure Is Getting Around! // Jul 17, 2008 at 4:25 pm
[…] I Need You All! [Filming In Brooklyn] Inside Look At Valentine’s Tapas [Filming In Brooklyn] John Corbett Spotted In Windsor Terrace [Filming In Brooklyn] Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers […]
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