VALLEY WEEKEND : Star-Struck? Grab Yourself a ‘Shoot Sheet’ and Hit the Streets : Want to see your favorite actor in the spotlight with cameras rolling? A list of filming spots can steer you to the action.
Did you notice the hooplah this month when the Planet Hollywood restaurant and museum opened--with lots of stars attending? It’s another indication that Angelenos young and old, despite their continued proximity to our local movie factories, are as movie-struck as anybody else.
Familiarity has not bred contempt--except perhaps among a few San Fernando Valley residents who live in neighborhoods where movie crews are always filming exteriors and parking mobile dressing rooms all over the street. But for the rest of us, a chance to get a glimpse of a movie or TV star actually filming a location scene is still a thrill.
The Valley is a favorite location for exterior filming of all kinds--movies, TV, commercials and fashion ads. But until recently if you wanted to pack your kids in the car and treat them to a glimpse of a star in broad daylight, or just a look behind the scenes of Tinseltown, you had to know somebody in the biz who could tip you off about the dates and times involved.
Well, for the past several months, without any fanfare, there’s been a Shoot Sheet available on a daily basis. The sheet, giving out about 50 sites for film and television shoots, is free to anyone who is interested in checking out movie location activity in the Valley or elsewhere in Los Angeles.
If you go in person to the office of the County and City of Los Angeles’ Entertainment Industry Development Corp. on a weekday between 8 a.m. and noon you may be able to pick up one of the 60 copies printed daily. And, according to Donna Washington, a senior permit coordinator, “there’s quite a bit of weekend filming work listed in the Friday sheet.”
But whatever day you choose to go, get your copy early. As Washington succinctly put it, “Every day the copies go early. When they are gone, they are gone.”
The corporation she works for is a joint public-private organization under contract to the city and county to manage the permitting process, which allows media companies to film in the local outdoors.
“Only studios are zoned for filming so if there’s filming outside the zoned buildings they need a variance,” Washington said by way of explaining how she and the rest of us can know each morning that there will be a movie crew on, say, Balboa Boulevard or Northridge Road.
The daily Shoot Sheet lists addresses only, so you’ll need a Thomas Bros. map unless you already know that, for instance, 4662 E. Ave. F is in Lancaster. The name of the production company is listed as is the name of the show involved--but not the stars who will be working on any particular day.
Sometimes, when the show is named after the star, as is the case with John Laroquette, your family’s chances of a star sighting are improved.
Otherwise, you have to take your chances with the information provided. For instance, on a recent sheet, Teen Dream Productions was listed doing episodes of “Sweet Valley High” simultaneously at two addresses on Whitsett Avenue and La Tuna Canyon Road. Most self-respecting kids these days know exactly who is in what. Perhaps you should leave it up to them to decide which shoot to visit.
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DETAILS
* FYI: A free copy of the Shoot Sheet, printed daily, listing locations of filming activity at exterior sites around the city of Los Angeles, including the Valley, can be picked up at 6922 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 602, between 8 a.m. and noon.