Selfish Mom

“The Good Wife” filming today at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Jul 20, 2010 Around NYC

This morning while driving back from my kids’ summer camp I stumbled upon the unmistakable sight of dozens of large trucks lining the street, setting up for a movie or TV shoot near the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.  It turned out to be CBS’ The Good Wife, my new favorite show from last season.  The Good Wife has an amazing cast of powerhouse actors, including Julianna Margulies (ER), Chris Noth (Sex and the City, Law & Order), Josh Charles (Dead Poets’ Society and the completely underrated and overlooked Sports Night) Christine Baranski (Cybill, Mamma Mia, and sucky secret-keeping), and Alan Cumming (X-Men and the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret).  Plus a couple of fantastic cast members who were previously unknown to me, Matt Czuchry and Archi Panjabi, who TV Guide’s Matt Roush referred to as a “Super-Hero Mystery Sex Goddess.”  I went to a panel discussion a few months ago to hear several members of the cast discuss the show, and it was really fascinating.

Anyway, I wish I had time today to wander around the Botanic Gardens hoping to run into Julianna Margulies and gush about how amazing she is on the show, but I had to take my dying Saturn in to have the AC fixed.  And as huge a fan of the show as I am (and as much as I’ve been neglecting Filming In Brooklyn), broken AC during a heat wave trumps fawning fan-girl adventures every time.  This especially sucks because when I went to that panel discussion and had the chance to ask a question, I very self-servingly told the cast about Filming In Brooklyn and begged them to let me on-set should I ever show up while they were in my borough.  Matt Czuchry said OK, but I’d have to wear the same lime-green raincoat I wore to The Paley Center that night.  But at least I’m sitting comfortably on my couch right now instead of standing in the blazing sun in a bright coat trying to explain myself to a disinterested production assistant.

The “set” signs point to an entrance on Washington Avenue near Crown Street, and the trucks line several blocks of Washington Avenue as well as a couple of side streets.  I hope for the cast’s sake that they’re not stuck in coats today filming a Chicago winter scene.  There isn’t enough Kleenex in NYC to blot those foreheads fast enough.

“The Good Wife” at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens [Filming In Brooklyn]

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and Momtourage.

Tags: Filming In Brooklyn, Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

A “Nightmare” of a meal at Mojito

Feb 28, 2010 Around NYC

Back in May of 2009, Kitchen Nightmares – one of my favorite shows – filmed an episode in my neighborhood, at local Cuban restaurant Mojito.  It’s never a good sign for a restaurant to make it onto the show, and I felt glad that I had never eaten there before.  I’ve seen plenty of episodes with rotting food and bug-covered kitchens, and I’d told myself more than once that if I ever found out I’d eaten at one of the Kitchen Nightmares restaurants, I would promptly make myself throw up just for good measure, no matter how long ago the meal had been.  Seriously people, kitchens crawling with bugs; food older than my kids; staff members that act so cringe-worthy on camera I can’t even imagine how much worse they are off camera.

But my love for my websites was apparently greater than my fear of food poisoning, because I managed to snag a reservation one of the nights they were shooting and convinced The Ass to go with me.  I was hoping to write it all up for Filming In Brooklyn, but of course the production made me sign so many papers I decided in the end it wouldn’t be worth the headache and kept quiet (online, anyway) about our little adventure.  So, basically, we paid a babysitter to watch our kids while we paid to go eat in a restaurant that we knew to be so incredibly bad it had made it onto Kitchen Nightmares.  We did this willingly, enthusiastically even.

If you ever get a chance to eat during the filming of one of these shows, you want to do it on the last night – after Chef Gordon Ramsay has worked his magic and brought the restaurant around.  We were definitely not there after the make-over.  The food was pretty bad.  But of course, we weren’t there for the food.  We were there to see the show get produced, maybe hear a few expletives straight from Ramsay’s mouth, and perhaps even get on TV.

We were seated against the back wall of the restaurant, which gave me a good view of everything that was going on, and gave The Ass a great view of the back wall and the giant boom mic that would occasionally hover over my head.  I would know it was there because we’d be talking about something personal – the kids, gossip, it was a date after all! – and all of a sudden The Ass would ask me how my food was, out of nowhere.  That was the only way I knew we were on camera – the cameras were zooming in on us from across the room.

The cameras got close to us only when I sent something back.  Sending something back is something that I hardly ever do.  I mean, something has to be just downright awful, or simply the wrong order, for me to send it back.  I’m more likely to leave hungry and never ever return.  But we had been told on the way in that if we didn’t like something, we should let a producer know.  I let the producer know that my rice and beans were pretty gross (come on, how do you mess up rice and beans?), and I would absolutely not say that I was pushed to send them back, but I was encouraged.  Or rather, the producer looked so hopeful that I would send it back that I just couldn’t let her down.  So I sent it back, and got something new, and that was that.  The rest of the meal wasn’t great, but wasn’t worth sending back either.

The whole time we were there, we didn’t hear any shouting, didn’t see any drama, didn’t get to watch Chef Ramsay foam at the mouth.  No staff members fled in tears.  All in all, kind-of a let down.  Chef Ramsay did wander through the dining room a couple of times but never came to our table.  This was his night to observe, to see how the staff and owners do on their own before getting his help.  No fireworks.

The episode finally aired this week (you can watch the Mojito episode of Kitchen Nightmares here) and while we don’t appear in it for even a split second, it’s a good episode, you should watch.  It’s fun seeing how shows are made (and I really wish I could find a way to resurrect Filming in Brooklyn without giving up on sleep entirely), so if the show comes to your town you should try to get in.  But remember, if you actually want good food, try to get a reservation for the last day!

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.

Tags: Filming In Brooklyn, Gordon Ramsay, Kitchen Nightmares

Interview with Antoine Fuqua, director

Feb 23, 2010 Around NYC

Since the new Richard Gere/Ethan Hawke movie Brooklyn’s Finest, which filmed almost entirely in Brooklyn, is about to be released (March 5th), I’ve been republishing a series of posts I wrote for my other blog, Filming In Brooklyn.  This is the last in the series, and my favorite: an interview with the movie’s director, Antoine Fuqua.

This post first appeared on July 7th, 2008.

***

Director Antoine Fuqua didn’t grow up in Brooklyn. And he didn’t grow up in South Central L.A., where his other cop drama, Training Day, takes place. He grew up in Pittsburgh, and got his first taste of filming when a TV production moved into his neighborhood. According to Brooklyn’s Finest producer John Thompson, Mr. Fuqua went to the set every day, hanging around and figuring out what the different jobs were, and how things were done. He said to himself, I could do that.

Four teenagers from the Brownsville neighborhood where much of Brooklyn’s Finest is being shot are getting a similar chance to learn about filmmaking, but they’re not just hanging around the set: they’re actually being mentored by Mr. Fuqua. Mr. Fuqua chose four kids, based on their essays, to participate in the Fuqua Youth Film Program. They received high-tech camera equipment and instruction on how to use it, and were given assignments to complete. They got to meet with Ethan Hawke and Mr. Fuqua, and have been on the set learning how movies get made.

Below are three of the four participants in the Fuqua Youth Film Program. Shown L-R: Bryan Martin, Ethan Hawke, Lea-Sym Feyjoo, Antoine Fuqua, and Terrell Brown (not pictured: Marcus Underwood). [Photo credit: Phil Caruso]

Everyone Filming In Brooklyn spoke with was really excited about this program. They all wanted to give something back to the community that has embraced this production.

Mr. Fuqua was especially enthusiastic about giving back to the community, and about the importance of filming this movie in Brooklyn. Mr. Fuqua was able to take a few minutes during a break in shooting and speak with Filming In Brooklyn.

FIB: You could build a bodega set, and you could build a small apartment on a soundstage, and have complete control of the environment. Why was it so important for you to get into the actual spaces?

Antoine Fuqua: Well, it’s the details. You can’t build the details. You can try but you can’t really capture the details of the people, of the energy…It affects how I film, it affects the actors’ behavior, when you’re in the real environment, when you really can interact with the people who live here, it makes a big difference in what comes off emotionally on the screen.

FIB: And do you find that the crowds that gather to watch you, are they ever a distraction, or do they really just juice everybody up?

Antoine Fuqua: I mean they’re both, honestly, they’re both. They’re a good distraction. They’re always going to be a distraction because there’s some people who you’re getting in the way of their everyday life, and that’s to be expected. They’re just trying to go to work, or take care of their business. And we’re really in the way. But they juice everybody up because the majority of the people so far have been amazing. They’ve just been helpful and excited about it, you know, really cheering us on out here. And I’ve had a lot of guys come up to me and say, keep doing what you’re doing, thank you for shooting here, really appreciative. So, it’s been great.

FIB: The four teens that you gave the cameras to, are you going to follow that long-term? Are you going to see what they’re doing with those down the road?

Antoine Fuqua: Yeah, we’ll follow them long-term, absolutely. I mean, I did the same thing in the jungle, in South Central [L.A.] when I did Training Day. I took some guys with me and one of them went on and did the documentary Bastards of the Party, it was on HBO that I produced, and a few others been in a couple movies, so I always follow through with these guys. I like to stay in touch, see how they do. That’s part of the reason I’m here is to hopefully inspire other young people who don’t get to see it that often. Maybe they could find a love of filmmaking.

FIB: You’ve said about Training Day that L.A. was a character in the movie. Do you feel the same the way about Brooklyn?

Antoine Fuqua: One-hundred percent.

FIB: Could this have been done anywhere else?

Antoine Fuqua: No. Trust me, I’ve had financiers say, well, could you shoot it in Detroit? Or could you shoot it in Canada? I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t have done the movie. I would not have done the movie.

[At this point in the interview, Mr. Fuqua had to pause, because all sorts of commotion had broken out next to us, at the red light. A car was blaring hip-hop music, and as soon as the light turned green and that sound faded, it was replaced by an angry driver swearing and honking his horn repeatedly, trying to move along the drivers who had slowed down to see what all the people and lights and cameras were doing there under the El tracks.]

Antoine Fuqua: See? You can’t- You can’t get that in- This is Brooklyn. Brooklyn style.

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.

Tags: Antoine Fuqua, Ethan Hawke, Filming In Brooklyn

Conversations with “Brooklyn’s Finest”

Feb 18, 2010 Around NYC

This week I’ve been republishing some posts from my other blog, Filming In Brooklyn, about my set visit in 2008 to the soon-to-be-released movie Brooklyn’s Finest. The movie will be released on March 5th, and I couldn’t be more excited.  Antoine Fuqua, who directed Brooklyn’s Finest, also directed Training Day, one of my favorite movies.  And both movies star Ethan Hawke.  See why I’m excited?  To top it off, this movie was shot almost entirely in Brooklyn.  In a world where Vancouver shows up in just about every movie and TV show, I have a deep appreciation for directors and producers who understand that a good location can give a movie a soul.

This post first appeared on July 6th, 2008.

***

Last week, Filming In Brooklyn got the opportunity to spend a day on location in Brownsville with the cast and crew of Brooklyn’s Finest. This movie is being shot almost entirely in Brooklyn, and almost all of it is on location. We were lucky enough to be able to speak at length with several of the people responsible for getting this movie made, including director Antoine Fuqua, producer John Thompson, and screenwriter Michael C. Martin.

Filming In Brooklyn is very used to seeing jaded residents of neighborhoods like Carroll Gardens, Fort Greene, Williamsburg, and Dumbo complain about all of the negatives that accompany a film or TV shoot. Those parts of Brooklyn, with their beautiful rows of brownstones, picturesque bridge views, cute shops and restaurants, and Manhattan vistas, do get the bulk of the on-location shoots that occur in Brooklyn. It’s not unusual to see two or even three productions filming within blocks of each other, their trailers and trucks taking up blocks of valuable parking spots, their crews and equipment blocking the sidewalks. Those residents have largely gotten over the excitement of seeing stars in their midst.

Antoine Fuqua and Richard Gere under the tracks in Brownsville:

So, it was nice to see an entire neighborhood react with curiosity and excitement to a production moving in. People of all ages crowded around to see what was going on. A young man pointed across the street nonchalantly and said “Yeah, that’s Richard Gere over there.” An old man walked up to a production assistant and said “I’m ready for my close-up. Where do you want me?” And rather than keep residents far back and under control, Brooklyn’s Finest has gone out of its way to include the people of Brownsville in the process. Many of the extras live in the neighborhood. Several speaking roles went to locals. Many days, the crew sets up extra chairs and headphones so that neighborhood kids can listen in as scenes are being shot. And everyone we spoke to had great things to say about the reception that Brownsville has given the production.

Screenwriter Michael C. Martin (pictured above) told us that the neighborhood has been “incredibly cool” about hosting the production. Sitting in the shadow of the Van Dyke Houses, he related how he grew up ten blocks – two subway stops – from where they were shooting, and was excited to be there as part of the production, inspiring others in the neighborhood to follow their dreams.

Many local businesses have been used in scenes, and an apartment in the Van Dyke Houses was a key location. The Van Dyke Community Center was used repeatedly as the meal spot for the cast and crew. According to Nick Bernstein, the locations manager, donations were made to neighborhood organizations and parks, and the production will be installing grills at the Van Dyke Houses as a way of saying thank you.

Filming this production in Brooklyn was very important to all involved. Producer John Thompson mentioned that just a few years ago, economics would have prevented this movie from being made. However, he explained that New York State recently tripled its tax incentive for productions filming in New York State. Added to the tax incentive that the City of New York provides, filming in New York has become not only possible for many productions, but preferable. Previously, many TV shows and movies set in New York would do most of their filming on an L.A. soundstage, and then come to NY to shoot just a few days on location. But according to the L.A.Times, shows such as Life on Mars, Ugly Betty, Kings, and Fringe will be doing all of their filming in New York this season.

According to Thompson, the new tax incentives can represent the entire difference between a project making money or losing money. And in the case of an independent film company, which doesn’t have the finances of a huge studio to fall back on, the incentives can make a project like Brooklyn’s Finest possible. “Everybody would prefer to film an entire movie in New York City, not Toronto.”

Coming up next: Antoine Fuqua speaks with Filming In Brooklyn

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.

Tags: Antoine Fuqua, Brooklyn's Finest, Filming In Brooklyn

On location with “Brooklyn’s Finest,” bodega edition

Feb 17, 2010 Around NYC

In the summer of  ’08 I was lucky enough to spend a day on the set of a Richard Gere/Ethan Hawke movie, Brooklyn’s Finest,  for my other blog Filming In Brooklyn.   I’m reposting what came out of that visit in anticipation of the movie’s March 5th release.  You can see the first one here.

This was originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn on July 4th, 2008.  I’ll be posting another one each evening for the rest of the week.

***

Yesterday we posted pictures of a scene being shot for Brooklyn’s Finest, of Richard Gere’s cop hearing a gunshot and running into a bodega. After several takes of that shot, they then shot the scene from inside the bodega, looking out to where Mr. Gere’s character was drinking a bottle of water before the gunshot.

Here’s the bodega as they get ready to light it.

All of the equipment had to be relocated from across the street.

This is Mr. Gere’s stand-in, taking Mr. Gere’s place during the lengthy lighting process.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get inside during the shoot, because it was cramped in there and absolutely nobody was allowed in who didn’t need to be there. But here’s a peek inside during the set-up (that’s director Antoine Fuqua second from the right, in the baseball cap).

It was during this set-up that Mr. Fuqua took the time to answer some questions for Filming In Brooklyn. We’ll be posting that interview tomorrow.

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted.  Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.

Tags: Antoine Fuqua, Brooklyn's Finest, Filming In Brooklyn, Richard Gere

On Location with “Brooklyn’s Finest”

Feb 16, 2010 Around NYC

In the summer of 2008 I got to spend a day on the set of Brooklyn’s Finest for my other blog, Filming In Brooklyn, and it was quite a day.  It’s been a year-and-a-half, but I’m finally starting to see commercials for the movie.  It will be in theaters on March 5th, and since I got a handful of great posts out of my set visit, I thought I’d re-post them here for a new audience in anticipation of the movie’s release.

I’m really excited about this movie.  It’s directed by Antoine Fuqua, who got an absolutely amazing performance out of Ethan Hawke in Training Day.  I can’t wait to see what they do when reunited for Brooklyn’s Finest.

This was originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn on July 3rd, 2008.  I’ll be posting another one each evening for the rest of the week.

***

Filming In Brooklyn had exclusive access yesterday on the set of Brooklyn’s Finest, director Antoine Fuqua’s movie about NYPD cops, set in Brooklyn. The interweaving story lines (which have been described as “Crash meets Training Day“) center on characters played by a handful of big name, talented actors: Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Don Cheadle, Wesley Snipes, and Ellen Barkin.

When filming wraps up, the cast and crew will have shot 40 days on location in Brooklyn, with another two days in a Brooklyn studio and a small number of days outside of Brooklyn.

Filming In Brooklyn was able to speak at length with several of the talented people responsible for this film, and we’ll be posting our interviews soon. First, some pictures from the set.

Director Antoine Fuqua, discussing a scene with Richard Gere. Mr. Gere plays a cop near retirement.

During our time on the set, we saw a scene being shot from a couple of different viewpoints. Mr. Gere’s character, standing near his cruiser, hears a gunshot from inside a bodega and runs into the building.

Here’s the crew, kitty-corner from where the action is taking place.

Mr. Gere, waiting for shooting to start.

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted.  Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.

Tags: Antoine Fuqua, Brooklyn's Finest, Filming In Brooklyn, Richard Gere

Filming In Brooklyn in The NY Daily News

Nov 16, 2008 What's Going On

So the NY Daily News article that I’ve been mentioning has finally hit the paper and their website.  There’s also this, plus six of my favorite pictures from FIB’s short history (my God, Salma Hayek is hot).

The only small problem I have with the article is the very end:

“It’s a bit of an annoyance,” said Brooklyn Heights resident Cormac McEnery, 58. “I think it’s great that films are being filmed in New York, but it can be done with a little more consideration [for the community].”

Oztan wasn’t surprised by his sentiment.

“It’s one of those things: Either you love it or you don’t,” she said. “Either you don’t mind six blocks being taken away for a couple of days because you love seeing the excitement or you just think it’s a big nuisance and you don’t see any benefit whatsoever.”

Not only was my quote not in reaction to his quote, but I didn’t even see his quote until I read the article online.  Putting my quote after Mr. McEnery’s makes no sense, since he falls into neither category that I’m talking about.  I was referring to the people I generally encounter near film shoots, either gawking fans taking pictures or disgruntled residents yelling at PAs because they have to wait 30 seconds to cross the street.  I sent Mr. McEnery an email stating this because the article made it sound like I was dismissing his opinion.

But regardless, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, including the rather unflattering picture of me that takes up a half a page in the print version (I’ll scan it in later, I’m not getting up from the couch anytime soon).  But really that’s the best there was that day.  I had helmet hair, and we were getting rained on.  I doubt if there’s anyone reading the article saying “Hmmm, I’m interested in Filming In Brooklyn, and would have visited the site, except for that picture…” :-)

Originally posted on Selfish Mom

Tags: Filming In Brooklyn, NY Daily News