Title: Articles about the filming
Karen - January 6, 2007 10:56 PM (GMT)
Originally posted on 9/10/06 at 04:51 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:
latimes.com
Hangars Are Hollywood's Next Big Thing
The massive structures are a strong selling point as the region competes with other locales for production projects.
By Richard Verrier
Times Staff Writer
September 10, 2006
When movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer was searching for a place to shoot an ocean battle scene between two ships for the next installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean," he chose an unlikely location: the Mojave Desert.
Unable to find a soundstage big enough to accommodate the 120- and 140-foot-long ships, he used a former Boeing Co. hangar. The massive shell in Palmdale had previously housed a three-story airport terminal, built for Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal."
"It's all about size," Bruckheimer said. "We just needed a huge space."
Hollywood's quest for cavernous spaces to bring big-budget movies to life has turned a handful of former aircraft hangars in Playa Vista, Downey and Palmdale into thriving centers for movie production.
In the last decade, a growing number of feature films have been shot in hangars that once housed the Spruce Goose aircraft, Apollo rockets and B-1 bombers, underscoring just how far Los Angeles' economy has evolved from its dependence on the aerospace industry.
Over the last three decades, the aerospace sector has shuttered scores of manufacturing plants and put thousands of people out of work. Last month, Boeing announced plans to begin shutting down its C-17 assembly plant in Long Beach.
The number of full-time aerospace jobs in Los Angeles County plummeted 70% from 1990 to 2005, to 38,400, while entertainment employment in the county jumped 37% during the period, to 130,900 jobs.
Yet the wrenching retrenchment has left something valuable in its wake. Film promoters consider these aircraft hangars — as much as eight times the size of the largest Hollywood soundstages — as key selling points for Los Angeles at a time when the region has struggled to keep film productions from leaving for other states and countries such as Canada, the Czech Republic and Australia that offer generous tax incentives to filmmakers.
"These types of facilities are very helpful and offer an advantage to us because they provide a unique space that allows filmmakers to be creative," said Steve MacDonald, president of FilmL.A. Inc., which coordinates film permits in Los Angeles. "They keep projects here that might otherwise go elsewhere."
Los Angeles faces stiff competition even when it comes to monster production facilities. There are mammoth soundstages in such locales as Vancouver, Canada, and London, where filmmakers can reap tax breaks that aren't available in California.
But the steep decline in the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies has made filming abroad more expensive than two years ago, giving producers more incentive to consider locations closer to home.
At the same time, investors have poured millions into converting some former landmark aerospace centers into viable film production centers. Since buying Downey Studios in 2004, Los Angeles-based Industry Realty Group, a major owner of commercial property nationwide, has invested more than $20 million to transform the former NASA/Boeing testing and engineering facility into a sprawling filmmaking center.
Once the hub of America's space race, the 80-acre site southeast of Los Angeles boasts one of the largest soundstages in North America, with more than 300,000 square feet of shooting space, ceilings as high as 62 feet — even a water tank the size of a football field.
The massive complex has hosted nearly a dozen productions in recent years, including "Spider-Man," "The Island" and "Catch Me If You Can," where filmmakers built a giant FBI headquarters.
Although the first two "Santa Clause" movies were shot in Canada, "Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause," the Tim Allen comedy that premieres in November, was shot entirely in Downey. The facility was big enough to house all the sets, including an elf village, as well as classrooms and other support services to accommodate hundreds of child performers, said Bill Wilson, the film's executive producer.
"I don't think we could have afforded to do this in California if it wasn't for Downey Studios," Wilson said. "These facilities have what we need."
How much of a movie is shot on a soundstage versus on location is largely dictated by the requirements of the film and a director's preference. "Star Wars" director George Lucas, for example, is known for his heavy use of soundstages.
Large soundstages have grown more popular in recent years as filmmakers stretch the boundaries of visual effects and computer imagery. Former aircraft hangars — including Palmdale Regional Airport Site 9 in northern Los Angeles County and the historic blimp hangars at the former Marine Corps helicopter base in Tustin — are especially attractive to filmmakers because they offer wide-open spaces, with plenty of room to build all kinds of odd-shaped sets. They're often cheaper to rent than Hollywood soundstages, sometimes by as much as 30%, with rates ranging from 30 cents to $1.25 per square foot.
That's not to say there aren't drawbacks. Hangars often are near airports and aren't always soundproof. They typically lack the support services and amenities of a studio setting. And older buildings require more maintenance and may have environmental issues.
At Downey several workers on "The Island" complained of health problems, allegedly from exposure to mold and other toxic substances. Downey dismissed the claims as spurious, citing outside tests that gave the facility a clean bill of health. It sued the workers' union, alleging that it spread false information. The union has been negotiating to settle the case.
Bruckheimer used Downey to shoot some scenes for his movie "Deja Vu" but selected the Palmdale hangar for a pivotal nighttime storm scene in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." The hangar — one of two built in 1983 by Rockwell International Corp. to manufacture B-1 bombers — has a slight edge on height: The ceiling reaches a staggering 72 feet.
The extra height was needed to get the right camera angles to shoot a storm scene involving two ships pivoting on giant gimbals, Bruckheimer said. The second and third "Pirates" were shot together mostly on location in the Caribbean, where the cast and crew experienced numerous logistical setbacks, including a forced evacuation because of Hurricane Wilma last year.
No such weather problems have hampered production crews in arid Palmdale, where more than 100 carpenters, electricians and other crafts workers have been preparing the set since May for shooting that began this month.
For technicians accustomed to spending months at a time away from their families on out-of-state film shoots, being within an hour's drive from Los Angeles is another bonus.
"It's great for the crews," said Bruckheimer, whose first two "Pirates" movies have delivered huge profits for Walt Disney Co. "We much prefer to film here unless there are financial considerations that force us to leave. This is where the equipment is. This is where the talent is."
Said Bruce Hendricks, president of motion picture production at Walt Disney Pictures, "I'm glad we have these facilities. It's a good option."
Keeping entertainment jobs in Los Angeles is a key priority for the city, which owns the two hangars that are part of the Palmdale Regional Airport. Although they prefer a long-term aviation tenant, airport managers are happy about Hollywood's interest.
The "Pirates" production alone will generate more than $500,000 in rental income for the city, with a potentially bigger economic benefit to the local economy.
"It brings a lot of revenue to the hotel and the community as a whole. We love it," said Kimberly Zilobaf, director of sales at the Holiday Inn in Palmdale.
She said the hotel already had booked 50 rooms for six weeks to handle film crews from the "Pirates" sequel. The 149-room hotel was sold out for eight weeks during the filming of "The Terminal," for which many locals were hired as extras, including Zilobaf's twin 8-year-old boys.
Fittingly, another aerospace-turned-entertainment hub is the former headquarters of aerospace pioneer and movie mogul Howard Hughes in Playa Vista.
There, film producers are breathing new life into the former hangars where Hughes built the H-4 Hercules, nicknamed the Spruce Goose, the famous flying boat made during World War II.
The site once envisioned as the future headquarters of DreamWorks SKG is owned by developers of the surrounding Playa Vista residential and commercial community.
Helped by its proximity to Hollywood, more than a dozen films (though, notably, not the Howard Hughes biography "The Aviator") have been shot there, including "Titanic," "Van Helsing" and Oliver Stone's recent release "World Trade Center," where crews built a firehouse and a replica of the downed buildings. Currently the hangars are housing a village created for the alien movie "Transformers."
"The last couple of years have been back-to-back," said Steven Dettmann, vice president of Playa Vista, referring to the steady flow of film projects.
The presence of the eccentric billionaire, famous for his obsessive-compulsive behavior, can still be felt. On the stairwell to Hughes' former office is a white sign with red letters that admonishes visitors to "Wipe off your feet."
"The history of Howard Hughes is a wonderful story," said Playa Vista President Steve Soboroff. "It's being perpetuated by the movies that are being made here."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:
latimes.com
Hangars Are Hollywood's Next Big Thing
The massive structures are a strong selling point as the region competes with other locales for production projects.
By Richard Verrier
Times Staff Writer
September 10, 2006
When movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer was searching for a place to shoot an ocean battle scene between two ships for the next installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean," he chose an unlikely location: the Mojave Desert.
Unable to find a soundstage big enough to accommodate the 120- and 140-foot-long ships, he used a former Boeing Co. hangar. The massive shell in Palmdale had previously housed a three-story airport terminal, built for Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal."
"It's all about size," Bruckheimer said. "We just needed a huge space."
Hollywood's quest for cavernous spaces to bring big-budget movies to life has turned a handful of former aircraft hangars in Playa Vista, Downey and Palmdale into thriving centers for movie production.
In the last decade, a growing number of feature films have been shot in hangars that once housed the Spruce Goose aircraft, Apollo rockets and B-1 bombers, underscoring just how far Los Angeles' economy has evolved from its dependence on the aerospace industry.
Over the last three decades, the aerospace sector has shuttered scores of manufacturing plants and put thousands of people out of work. Last month, Boeing announced plans to begin shutting down its C-17 assembly plant in Long Beach.
The number of full-time aerospace jobs in Los Angeles County plummeted 70% from 1990 to 2005, to 38,400, while entertainment employment in the county jumped 37% during the period, to 130,900 jobs.
Yet the wrenching retrenchment has left something valuable in its wake. Film promoters consider these aircraft hangars — as much as eight times the size of the largest Hollywood soundstages — as key selling points for Los Angeles at a time when the region has struggled to keep film productions from leaving for other states and countries such as Canada, the Czech Republic and Australia that offer generous tax incentives to filmmakers.
"These types of facilities are very helpful and offer an advantage to us because they provide a unique space that allows filmmakers to be creative," said Steve MacDonald, president of FilmL.A. Inc., which coordinates film permits in Los Angeles. "They keep projects here that might otherwise go elsewhere."
Los Angeles faces stiff competition even when it comes to monster production facilities. There are mammoth soundstages in such locales as Vancouver, Canada, and London, where filmmakers can reap tax breaks that aren't available in California.
But the steep decline in the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies has made filming abroad more expensive than two years ago, giving producers more incentive to consider locations closer to home.
At the same time, investors have poured millions into converting some former landmark aerospace centers into viable film production centers. Since buying Downey Studios in 2004, Los Angeles-based Industry Realty Group, a major owner of commercial property nationwide, has invested more than $20 million to transform the former NASA/Boeing testing and engineering facility into a sprawling filmmaking center.
Once the hub of America's space race, the 80-acre site southeast of Los Angeles boasts one of the largest soundstages in North America, with more than 300,000 square feet of shooting space, ceilings as high as 62 feet — even a water tank the size of a football field.
The massive complex has hosted nearly a dozen productions in recent years, including "Spider-Man," "The Island" and "Catch Me If You Can," where filmmakers built a giant FBI headquarters.
Although the first two "Santa Clause" movies were shot in Canada, "Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause," the Tim Allen comedy that premieres in November, was shot entirely in Downey. The facility was big enough to house all the sets, including an elf village, as well as classrooms and other support services to accommodate hundreds of child performers, said Bill Wilson, the film's executive producer.
"I don't think we could have afforded to do this in California if it wasn't for Downey Studios," Wilson said. "These facilities have what we need."
How much of a movie is shot on a soundstage versus on location is largely dictated by the requirements of the film and a director's preference. "Star Wars" director George Lucas, for example, is known for his heavy use of soundstages.
Large soundstages have grown more popular in recent years as filmmakers stretch the boundaries of visual effects and computer imagery. Former aircraft hangars — including Palmdale Regional Airport Site 9 in northern Los Angeles County and the historic blimp hangars at the former Marine Corps helicopter base in Tustin — are especially attractive to filmmakers because they offer wide-open spaces, with plenty of room to build all kinds of odd-shaped sets. They're often cheaper to rent than Hollywood soundstages, sometimes by as much as 30%, with rates ranging from 30 cents to $1.25 per square foot.
That's not to say there aren't drawbacks. Hangars often are near airports and aren't always soundproof. They typically lack the support services and amenities of a studio setting. And older buildings require more maintenance and may have environmental issues.
At Downey several workers on "The Island" complained of health problems, allegedly from exposure to mold and other toxic substances. Downey dismissed the claims as spurious, citing outside tests that gave the facility a clean bill of health. It sued the workers' union, alleging that it spread false information. The union has been negotiating to settle the case.
Bruckheimer used Downey to shoot some scenes for his movie "Deja Vu" but selected the Palmdale hangar for a pivotal nighttime storm scene in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." The hangar — one of two built in 1983 by Rockwell International Corp. to manufacture B-1 bombers — has a slight edge on height: The ceiling reaches a staggering 72 feet.
The extra height was needed to get the right camera angles to shoot a storm scene involving two ships pivoting on giant gimbals, Bruckheimer said. The second and third "Pirates" were shot together mostly on location in the Caribbean, where the cast and crew experienced numerous logistical setbacks, including a forced evacuation because of Hurricane Wilma last year.
No such weather problems have hampered production crews in arid Palmdale, where more than 100 carpenters, electricians and other crafts workers have been preparing the set since May for shooting that began this month.
For technicians accustomed to spending months at a time away from their families on out-of-state film shoots, being within an hour's drive from Los Angeles is another bonus.
"It's great for the crews," said Bruckheimer, whose first two "Pirates" movies have delivered huge profits for Walt Disney Co. "We much prefer to film here unless there are financial considerations that force us to leave. This is where the equipment is. This is where the talent is."
Said Bruce Hendricks, president of motion picture production at Walt Disney Pictures, "I'm glad we have these facilities. It's a good option."
Keeping entertainment jobs in Los Angeles is a key priority for the city, which owns the two hangars that are part of the Palmdale Regional Airport. Although they prefer a long-term aviation tenant, airport managers are happy about Hollywood's interest.
The "Pirates" production alone will generate more than $500,000 in rental income for the city, with a potentially bigger economic benefit to the local economy.
"It brings a lot of revenue to the hotel and the community as a whole. We love it," said Kimberly Zilobaf, director of sales at the Holiday Inn in Palmdale.
She said the hotel already had booked 50 rooms for six weeks to handle film crews from the "Pirates" sequel. The 149-room hotel was sold out for eight weeks during the filming of "The Terminal," for which many locals were hired as extras, including Zilobaf's twin 8-year-old boys.
Fittingly, another aerospace-turned-entertainment hub is the former headquarters of aerospace pioneer and movie mogul Howard Hughes in Playa Vista.
There, film producers are breathing new life into the former hangars where Hughes built the H-4 Hercules, nicknamed the Spruce Goose, the famous flying boat made during World War II.
The site once envisioned as the future headquarters of DreamWorks SKG is owned by developers of the surrounding Playa Vista residential and commercial community.
Helped by its proximity to Hollywood, more than a dozen films (though, notably, not the Howard Hughes biography "The Aviator") have been shot there, including "Titanic," "Van Helsing" and Oliver Stone's recent release "World Trade Center," where crews built a firehouse and a replica of the downed buildings. Currently the hangars are housing a village created for the alien movie "Transformers."
"The last couple of years have been back-to-back," said Steven Dettmann, vice president of Playa Vista, referring to the steady flow of film projects.
The presence of the eccentric billionaire, famous for his obsessive-compulsive behavior, can still be felt. On the stairwell to Hughes' former office is a white sign with red letters that admonishes visitors to "Wipe off your feet."
"The history of Howard Hughes is a wonderful story," said Playa Vista President Steve Soboroff. "It's being perpetuated by the movies that are being made here."
Karen - January 7, 2007 12:00 AM (GMT)
Posted on 10/17/06 at 08:25 PM
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Major Motion Picture To Be Filmed At The Dunes
Click here
Major Motion Picture To Be Filmed At The Dunes
Make way for Hollywood! A major feature film is about to begin shooting locally, and it's going to happen at the Guadalupe Dunes Park. The area will be closed beginning Wednesday so that film crews can use the area.
KEY News has confirmed that portions of the third installment of "The Pirates of the Caribbean" will be shot at the dunes. No word whether or not featured actors Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightly or Orlando Bloom will be there. The Guadalupe Dunes Park will be closed from Wednesday through Sunday. If shooting finishes early, it's possible the dunes could re-open by Sunday.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Major Motion Picture To Be Filmed At The Dunes
Click here
Major Motion Picture To Be Filmed At The Dunes
Make way for Hollywood! A major feature film is about to begin shooting locally, and it's going to happen at the Guadalupe Dunes Park. The area will be closed beginning Wednesday so that film crews can use the area.
KEY News has confirmed that portions of the third installment of "The Pirates of the Caribbean" will be shot at the dunes. No word whether or not featured actors Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightly or Orlando Bloom will be there. The Guadalupe Dunes Park will be closed from Wednesday through Sunday. If shooting finishes early, it's possible the dunes could re-open by Sunday.
Karen - January 7, 2007 12:02 AM (GMT)
10/19/06 at 11:28 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:
Buffalo News
Hollywood sails to brink of falls
By SHARON LINSTEDT
News Staff Reporter
10/19/2006
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
At the Horseshoe Falls, a helicopter with a Los Angeles-based crew gets a close-up view to prepare locally filmed footage for "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which is scheduled for release in May.
While local and national news cameras have focused on Buffalo-area storm damage this week, a Hollywood film crew has its lenses trained on the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.
Walt Disney Studios is shooting falls-related scenes for use in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," the third installment in the wildly successful series of swashbuckling films, scheduled for release in May.
Stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are nowhere in sight; instead, the thundering water of the falls is playing the lead role.
The studio is keeping mum on exactly how the footage of the world-famous waterfall will be used, but there is speculation that moviegoers will see Captain Jack Sparrow and his shipmates facing oblivion courtesy of the giant cataract. As was the case with "Bruce Almighty," where studio-shot Jim Carrey scenes were superimposed on actual Horseshoe Falls footage, Disney will use shots of the treacherous waters as background for scenes filmed in Hollywood.
"They've been using a special crane they brought in from the West Coast and a specially equipped helicopter that came in from the New York City area," said Buffalo Niagara Film Commissioner Tim Clark.
A Los Angeles-based helicopter crew was flown in to tackle the tricky, and risky, aerial assignment.
Clark confirmed that filming began Monday at Terrapin Point in Niagara Falls State Park on the U.S. side of the falls, with additional work from Table Rock on the Canadian side. Disney first contacted the local film chief back in April, starting a process that included scouting trips and a laundry list of permits.
"You can't just fly a helicopter a few feet above the falls and the Niagara River," Clark said. "There was quite a bit of paperwork, on both sides of the border, to make this happen."
Among the agencies that needed to give permission for the risky airborne photography were: the Federal Aviation Administration; Transport Canada; the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; and the Ontario Parks Commission.
"Our office facilitated the permit process, acted as a liaison between the studio and the government agencies, arranged security and helped them connect with support crews," Clark said. "They brought in a Disney Studios second-unit crew of about 20 people and hired about a dozen local people."
In addition to production assistants and other film-based jobs, local Teamsters union members were hired as drivers and security staffers. The local economy is also getting a boost from the crew's hotel stays in Niagara Falls.
The Niagara Falls scenes are among several large-scale, high-tech segments of the next "Pirates of the Caribbean" film. In September, crews set up shop in a sprawling aircraft hangar in suburban Los Angeles to film a pivotal nighttime storm scene involving two full-size ships. Construction of the elaborate storm set began in May.
The bulk of the filming is done on location in the Caribbean.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:
Buffalo News
Hollywood sails to brink of falls
By SHARON LINSTEDT
News Staff Reporter
10/19/2006
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
At the Horseshoe Falls, a helicopter with a Los Angeles-based crew gets a close-up view to prepare locally filmed footage for "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which is scheduled for release in May.
While local and national news cameras have focused on Buffalo-area storm damage this week, a Hollywood film crew has its lenses trained on the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.
Walt Disney Studios is shooting falls-related scenes for use in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," the third installment in the wildly successful series of swashbuckling films, scheduled for release in May.
Stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are nowhere in sight; instead, the thundering water of the falls is playing the lead role.
The studio is keeping mum on exactly how the footage of the world-famous waterfall will be used, but there is speculation that moviegoers will see Captain Jack Sparrow and his shipmates facing oblivion courtesy of the giant cataract. As was the case with "Bruce Almighty," where studio-shot Jim Carrey scenes were superimposed on actual Horseshoe Falls footage, Disney will use shots of the treacherous waters as background for scenes filmed in Hollywood.
"They've been using a special crane they brought in from the West Coast and a specially equipped helicopter that came in from the New York City area," said Buffalo Niagara Film Commissioner Tim Clark.
A Los Angeles-based helicopter crew was flown in to tackle the tricky, and risky, aerial assignment.
Clark confirmed that filming began Monday at Terrapin Point in Niagara Falls State Park on the U.S. side of the falls, with additional work from Table Rock on the Canadian side. Disney first contacted the local film chief back in April, starting a process that included scouting trips and a laundry list of permits.
"You can't just fly a helicopter a few feet above the falls and the Niagara River," Clark said. "There was quite a bit of paperwork, on both sides of the border, to make this happen."
Among the agencies that needed to give permission for the risky airborne photography were: the Federal Aviation Administration; Transport Canada; the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; and the Ontario Parks Commission.
"Our office facilitated the permit process, acted as a liaison between the studio and the government agencies, arranged security and helped them connect with support crews," Clark said. "They brought in a Disney Studios second-unit crew of about 20 people and hired about a dozen local people."
In addition to production assistants and other film-based jobs, local Teamsters union members were hired as drivers and security staffers. The local economy is also getting a boost from the crew's hotel stays in Niagara Falls.
The Niagara Falls scenes are among several large-scale, high-tech segments of the next "Pirates of the Caribbean" film. In September, crews set up shop in a sprawling aircraft hangar in suburban Los Angeles to film a pivotal nighttime storm scene involving two full-size ships. Construction of the elaborate storm set began in May.
The bulk of the filming is done on location in the Caribbean.
Karen - January 7, 2007 12:04 AM (GMT)
10/19/06 at 05:25 AM
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Click here:‘Pirates' film takes over Guadalupe preserve
‘Pirates' film takes over Guadalupe preserve
By Emily Welly/Features Writer
The rumors have proved true. Guadalupe has been invaded by “Pirates.”
Parts of the third installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the blockbuster movie series based on the shenanigans of one Capt. Jack Sparrow, is being filmed at the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve.
With the Santa Barbara County Film Commission and Walt Disney Pictures keeping the shoot under tight wraps, and the preserve closed by county permit during the shoot, exactly what is being filmed at the dunes is anyone's guess.
And it is unknown whether the shooting will bring the film's stars - Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley - to the area.
According to the Guadalupe rumor mill, Depp and Bloom were spotted dining Tuesday night at the Far Western Tavern, but according to the restaurant, the two were not there. The rumors were widespread enough, however, to force Far Western staff to field several calls Wednesday morning on the supposed sighting.
Guadalupe Mayor Lupe Alvarez, who was also kept in the dark about the filming, drove out to the dunes Wednesday morning to see if he could get a peek at the action. He found the gates closed, but he did see a huge tent city, complete with mobile homes, big buses and other equipment, set up outside the gate. He said highway patrolmen and security guards were on duty.
“It's pretty exciting,” said Alvarez. “We've had big movies here in the past, but not to this magnitude.”
As for sighting stars in Guadalupe, that's not unheard of either, said Alvarez, adding that a few months ago he spotted actor Laurence Fishburne in town for a bite to eat with a few friends on motorcycles.
And the fact that cameras are rolling and a set has been erected on the Guadalupe Dunes holds promise that Guadalupe's sand and surf will play opposite the “Pirates” stars in one way or another.
“It's never definite until they actually come and begin shooting,” Martine White, Santa Barbara County Film Commissioner, said this summer when rumors first surfaced that the movie would film here.
White could not be reached by Wednesday afternoon for comment on the current filming.
It won't be the first time the dunes have been featured on the big screen. The area has been host to many films in the past, including Cecil B. DeMille's silent 1923 classic “The Ten Commandments;” the 1926 film “The Son of the Sheik,” which starred Rudolph Valentino, and its 1921 predecessor “The Sheik;” the 1930 film “Morocco,” starring Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich; and 1935's “The Last Outpost,” starring Cary Grant.
More recently, the Dunes provided dramatic sets for “Hidalgo” (2004) and “G.I. Jane” (1997). Guadalupe's downtown also acted as a backdrop for 1998's “Rocky and Bullwinkle” and the 2000 film “Cowboy Up.”
“Pirates of the Caribbean III: At World's End” is expected to be released in May 2007. Meanwhile, its filmmakers can live off the loot they garnered from “Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest,” which has raked in more than $421 million domestically since its June premiere.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here:‘Pirates' film takes over Guadalupe preserve
‘Pirates' film takes over Guadalupe preserve
By Emily Welly/Features Writer
The rumors have proved true. Guadalupe has been invaded by “Pirates.”
Parts of the third installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the blockbuster movie series based on the shenanigans of one Capt. Jack Sparrow, is being filmed at the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve.
With the Santa Barbara County Film Commission and Walt Disney Pictures keeping the shoot under tight wraps, and the preserve closed by county permit during the shoot, exactly what is being filmed at the dunes is anyone's guess.
And it is unknown whether the shooting will bring the film's stars - Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley - to the area.
According to the Guadalupe rumor mill, Depp and Bloom were spotted dining Tuesday night at the Far Western Tavern, but according to the restaurant, the two were not there. The rumors were widespread enough, however, to force Far Western staff to field several calls Wednesday morning on the supposed sighting.
Guadalupe Mayor Lupe Alvarez, who was also kept in the dark about the filming, drove out to the dunes Wednesday morning to see if he could get a peek at the action. He found the gates closed, but he did see a huge tent city, complete with mobile homes, big buses and other equipment, set up outside the gate. He said highway patrolmen and security guards were on duty.
“It's pretty exciting,” said Alvarez. “We've had big movies here in the past, but not to this magnitude.”
As for sighting stars in Guadalupe, that's not unheard of either, said Alvarez, adding that a few months ago he spotted actor Laurence Fishburne in town for a bite to eat with a few friends on motorcycles.
And the fact that cameras are rolling and a set has been erected on the Guadalupe Dunes holds promise that Guadalupe's sand and surf will play opposite the “Pirates” stars in one way or another.
“It's never definite until they actually come and begin shooting,” Martine White, Santa Barbara County Film Commissioner, said this summer when rumors first surfaced that the movie would film here.
White could not be reached by Wednesday afternoon for comment on the current filming.
It won't be the first time the dunes have been featured on the big screen. The area has been host to many films in the past, including Cecil B. DeMille's silent 1923 classic “The Ten Commandments;” the 1926 film “The Son of the Sheik,” which starred Rudolph Valentino, and its 1921 predecessor “The Sheik;” the 1930 film “Morocco,” starring Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich; and 1935's “The Last Outpost,” starring Cary Grant.
More recently, the Dunes provided dramatic sets for “Hidalgo” (2004) and “G.I. Jane” (1997). Guadalupe's downtown also acted as a backdrop for 1998's “Rocky and Bullwinkle” and the 2000 film “Cowboy Up.”
“Pirates of the Caribbean III: At World's End” is expected to be released in May 2007. Meanwhile, its filmmakers can live off the loot they garnered from “Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest,” which has raked in more than $421 million domestically since its June premiere.
Karen - January 7, 2007 12:06 AM (GMT)
Karen - January 7, 2007 12:08 AM (GMT)
Posted on 10/26/06 at 05:25 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local women meet the pirate himself
By Sally Connell
sconnell@thetribunenews.com
Arrr! It was a long wait for the South County group calling itself the Gypsy Pyrates, but after six hours of staking out the Guadalupe Dunes, it snared the treasure.
The treasure was the elusive Capt. Jack Sparrow — aka actor Johnny Depp — and other crew members of the Black Pearl, the fastest pirate ship in Disney movie fiction.
Because of an odd combination of dedication and their own wild pirate attire, the Gypsy Pyrates captured Depp’s attention last Thursday as he left the set of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End." It’s the third in a series of stories about Sparrow’s adventures.
Rasha Wyndsong, one of the Gypsy Pyrates, was joined in the adventure by "Kyo" Million and Rachel Rodriguez. The three Grover Beach women drove their Gypsy Pyrates bus down West Main Street to the dunes in hopes of sighting Depp and other stars.
When filming ended for the day, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, two other stars in the movie, left in a separate vehicle that didn’t stop for fans, Wyndsong said. But Depp saw the group and had his van pull over. He then met the women and signed his autograph on the outside of their bus.
Depp talked on a cell phone to the husband of one woman who also staked out the film set after driving up from San Diego, Wyndsong said. "Yes, I really am Johnny Depp," she recalled him telling the man.
Kevin McNally, who plays first mate Mr. Gibbs, and the actors who play the comedic pirate pair Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook) were also on hand for photographs and signatures.
The Gypsy Pyrates are in a guild known from their appearances at the Central Coast Renaissance Faire and the Ojai Pirate Fair.
Wyndsong said Depp asked about her group and their bus.
"He was just friendly and very humble and gracious with his time," said Wyndsong, sounding decidedly un-piratelike. "... He took the time to sign anything anybody put in front of him."
Wyndsong added that the actors were filming a shipwreck scene on the dunes. The cast finished shooting Friday, and the dunes reopened to the public Sunday.
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Local women meet the pirate himself
By Sally Connell
sconnell@thetribunenews.com
Arrr! It was a long wait for the South County group calling itself the Gypsy Pyrates, but after six hours of staking out the Guadalupe Dunes, it snared the treasure.
The treasure was the elusive Capt. Jack Sparrow — aka actor Johnny Depp — and other crew members of the Black Pearl, the fastest pirate ship in Disney movie fiction.
Because of an odd combination of dedication and their own wild pirate attire, the Gypsy Pyrates captured Depp’s attention last Thursday as he left the set of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End." It’s the third in a series of stories about Sparrow’s adventures.
Rasha Wyndsong, one of the Gypsy Pyrates, was joined in the adventure by "Kyo" Million and Rachel Rodriguez. The three Grover Beach women drove their Gypsy Pyrates bus down West Main Street to the dunes in hopes of sighting Depp and other stars.
When filming ended for the day, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, two other stars in the movie, left in a separate vehicle that didn’t stop for fans, Wyndsong said. But Depp saw the group and had his van pull over. He then met the women and signed his autograph on the outside of their bus.
Depp talked on a cell phone to the husband of one woman who also staked out the film set after driving up from San Diego, Wyndsong said. "Yes, I really am Johnny Depp," she recalled him telling the man.
Kevin McNally, who plays first mate Mr. Gibbs, and the actors who play the comedic pirate pair Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook) were also on hand for photographs and signatures.
The Gypsy Pyrates are in a guild known from their appearances at the Central Coast Renaissance Faire and the Ojai Pirate Fair.
Wyndsong said Depp asked about her group and their bus.
"He was just friendly and very humble and gracious with his time," said Wyndsong, sounding decidedly un-piratelike. "... He took the time to sign anything anybody put in front of him."
Wyndsong added that the actors were filming a shipwreck scene on the dunes. The cast finished shooting Friday, and the dunes reopened to the public Sunday.
Karen - January 7, 2007 12:56 AM (GMT)
Posted on 11/02/06 at 07:20 AM
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If you repost this, please credit and link back to JDR. I am amazed at where our info goes, believe me, I know.
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2006, 1:46 PM Pacific
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN -CHARACTER BOYS-EXTRA WORK
Feature Film
SAG
Casting Director: Sande Alessi
Start Date: 11/2/2006
Location: Los Angeles
Interviews: Fitting: November 2, 06
Shoot/Start Date: December
Pay Rate: 126/8 Non Union or SAG
[ BOYS ]
AGE 14-17 YEARS OLD All ethnicities, very character faces. Very skinny is great!
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If you repost this, please credit and link back to JDR. I am amazed at where our info goes, believe me, I know.
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2006, 1:46 PM Pacific
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN -CHARACTER BOYS-EXTRA WORK
Feature Film
SAG
Casting Director: Sande Alessi
Start Date: 11/2/2006
Location: Los Angeles
Interviews: Fitting: November 2, 06
Shoot/Start Date: December
Pay Rate: 126/8 Non Union or SAG
[ BOYS ]
AGE 14-17 YEARS OLD All ethnicities, very character faces. Very skinny is great!
Karen - January 7, 2007 12:57 AM (GMT)
Posted on 10/11/06 at 05:53 AM
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The casting website changed their info yesterday and now says this about filming dates:
Pirates Of The Caribbean III is currently shooting now through the end of the year.
It was scheduled to film through Nov.
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The casting website changed their info yesterday and now says this about filming dates:
Pirates Of The Caribbean III is currently shooting now through the end of the year.
It was scheduled to film through Nov.