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KEPT AWAKE AT NIGHT BY TOO MANY FILM SHOOTS?
We had FIVE large scale film/tv shoots in one week of April alone on our block...and we had approximately one film shoot every week of that month in addition.
There have been 141 FILM SHOOTS IN THE EAST VILLAGE AND THE L.E.S. FROM AUGUST 2004 TO APRIL 2005!
I absolutely love films, especially independent movies, but on the Lower East Side we are being treated like nothing more than a film set. Massive productions come here, take over our streets, use our "shabby exteriors" in their glitzy productions, give the local businesses a pittance (sometimes) and then get a free, 24 hour permit to do anything they want and make residents miserable. Check out this picture:
(In the photo, the room looks dark because I am facing the camera towards the lights.)(Ignore the crazy cactus in the picture!)
My entire apartment was lit up like the surface of the sun and even the curtains in my bedroom could do little to keep out the stadium-style floodlights. I have seen them do this over and over again to my neighbors. Again, this was the 5th film production within the space of about 7 days.
I met with John Battista of the Mayors Office of Film and Television (went right up there in a cab and popped in, since my phone calls were not being returned.) He explained to me the cold hard facts:
- Film productions get a free permit to film
-They can film for 24 hours straight
-There is NO moratorium on how many films can be made on a particular block - so, in other words, if everyone thinks the Lower East Side is the hot place to shoot a movie, then we are screwed.
When I had gone out that night to talk to the location people and beg for mercy, I was told that my only option was to have my windows covered with black material; this meant that I was to let a strange person into my apartment who would come up - need a ladder - and cover all my windows with a dense material that would not let in air. I asked them if I would then get a location fee, for having the inside of my apartment disturbed, and having to arrange to be there the next day (or at 4 a.m., on a weeknight?!) for someone to come and get them down. I was told: no way.
We have tons and tons of these film shoots - often, on a weekly basis. But - that is only part of the problem.
Donations From These Films
What you might not have heard, is that sometimes - we don't know how often- these huge film productions give a donation to the local community board or block association. A recent television production, called LOVE MONKEY, which claimed to be a "low budget" affair, gave $2500.
These donations do not have to be tracked, or accounted for to the community. And if a low budget production gave $2500, what do the BIG budget films give?
So, in all likelihood: YOU GOT KEPT UP TIL 3:30 A.M. - - SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT BE GETTING A CHECK.
Because we had been calling our Community Board about all of the film productions that happened that week, after much wrangling and much confusion, we were miraculously able to direct $500 of that money towards a community group that actually is in our neighborhood: ABC NO RIO, which has a long history of doing great work down here, and is in a struggle to save the building that has been their home since 1979.
While we are happy that fate let us intervene and get some of this film money directed towards a group we actually support in our own midst, We at L.O.C.O. have a problem with the donation thing on the whole - it doesn't seem right that this money coming in does not get accounted for and reported to the community (The Community Board got $1000 of this particular LOVE MONKEY donation) and it definitely doesn't seem fair that a few hundred people get disturbed and the trade-off for that is a small donation, even if to a worthy cause. THE RESIDENTS OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD ARE PEOPLE, NOT FILM PROPS, AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH. Until we can rectify that attitude from the film community, we are working for the following:
We at L.O.C.O. believe there has to be a standard procedure for these donations. We believe this is public money that must be accounted for. The community deserves a say in where these monies are directed.
Imagine what your child's after-school program would do with $1000?
Don't you think it is only fair that if you are the ones kept awake, you should be told about these donations and given a chance to vote where they go?
A protocol must be developed and put into place, because we have dozens and dozens of these film shoots, and potential donations, coming through.
We at L.O.C.O. also believe there has to be a humane moratorium on the number of films that can happen in a neighborhood. In the East Village and Lower East Side, there were 141 film productions just between August of 2004 and April of 2005!
We want to hear your stories - and how you feel about the film shoots on your block, how many you have had, and your experiences dealing with them. Email us at: info@theloco.org
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