Film Crew Ejected to Unsnarl Traffic

A crew filming a car commercial about traffic jams landed in a jam of its own Friday after it was blamed for causing a monumental traffic tie-up on the San Diego Freeway in Sherman Oaks.

Two state agencies ordered a halt to work on a Honda commercial on a hillside atop the Sepulveda Pass after filming next to the freeway prompted an eight-mile traffic jam.

Work on the 30-second commercial started Thursday afternoon when a 1987 Accord was photographed on a brightly lit platform on the freeway right of way about 50 feet from northbound traffic lanes.

Honda officials said they obtained filming permits from state and local officials after deciding that rush-hour traffic through the pass would provide a perfect backdrop for the commercial.

In the ad, viewers will be urged to buy “a nice car” if they must contend with urban traffic.

Distracted by Platform

But commuters said there was nothing nice about the traffic Thursday night when they were distracted by the platform and an unusual lighting canopy suspended above it by a 14 1/2-ton crane.

“It looked like a flying saucer. Everybody slowed down to stare at it,” motorist John Rasmussen of Woodland Hills said. “It took two hours to get from Culver City to the top of the hill.”

Said commuter Norton Rodman of Northridge: “If they were looking for a traffic jam, they got it.”

Traffic in both directions quickly began backing up again Friday afternoon when the film crew returned to finish the commercial.

But, before the cameras could roll, the California Highway Patrol and California Film Office stopped the work.

“Our phones have been ringing off the hook with complaints,” CHP Sgt. Albert Lorenzen said. “It’s too large a disruption,” said Lisa Rawlings, director of the California Film Office. “We’re advocates of filming . . . but not at the expense of the community.”

Jim LaRocca, production manager for Rick Levine Productions, said his film crew may have photographed enough of the traffic Thursday to get by without Friday’s rush-hour scene.

“We saw the dailies and it looked real good,” agreed Eric Conn, Honda’s director of automotive advertising.

As to the commuters who found themselves unwitting extras in the commercial, Conn said: “We hope we were entertaining. We hope to see you on TV soon.

“Not to be sarcastic, but we did not cause the traffic jam. It was already there. We went to where the problem is.”