FILMING NEXT TO FREEWAY DRIVES MOTORISTS BATTY.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer ENCINO - Moms cheered. Dads hollered. And movie cameras rolled Thursday to capture a bleachersful of T-ball frenzy - the latest in a would-be blockbuster about dog doo. But to morning rush-hour motorists mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. by looky-loos of DreamWorks' latest comedy set just off the northbound Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. on Thursday, it was a foul location for a film shoot - authorized by a $450 local permit. ``Frustrating,'' said Max Chong, owner of Rubin's Red Hot, who was snarled snarl 1 v. snarled, snarl·ing, snarls v.intr. 1. To growl viciously while baring the teeth. 2. To speak angrily or threateningly. v.tr. in traffic on the way to his Sherman Oaks hot dog stand A hot dog stand is a food business stand that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter on a public thoroughfare such as a road, street, mall or food court. . ``I was anxious because I had to open the shop on time. I didn't know they were filming.'' Drivers slowed to a crawl at 7 a.m. as noted Hollywood director Barry Levinson started the action for ``Envy'' from a chair within a car's width of commuter traffic Noun 1. commuter traffic - traffic created by people going to or returning from work traffic - the aggregation of things (pedestrians or vehicles) coming and going in a particular locality during a specified period of time . The set only added to a Los Angeles freeway logjam log·jam n. 1. An immovable mass of floating logs crowded together. 2. A deadlock, as in negotiations; an impasse. Noun 1. attributed to 70 Caltrans signs flashing ``Child Abduction'' during the state's first America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response alert ordered to help catch the kidnapper of two Antelope Valley teenagers. The girls later were rescued and the abductor ab·duc·tor n. A muscle that draws a body part, such as a finger, arm, or toe, away from the midline of the body or of an extremity. abductor that which abducts. was killed. ``I was on the freeway and it slowed. I said, What the hell is going on here,'' said Officer Scott Ellison, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol Southern Division in Glendale. ``People were slowing to read the signs.'' For commuters on the 101, the small set of bleachers filled with fans of an imaginary T-ball game only added to the morning commute. ``Look at the T, right on the T - Swing! Ooohhh, get 'em next time,'' shouts a father actor with a camcorder from the riser's back row. During the shoot, Levinson slouched before a video console 20 feet above Hjelte Sports Center, where baseball diamonds shared space with a flotilla of movie big rigs, fifth-wheel trailers and catering trucks just south of the Encino-Balboa golf courses. The movie features two buddies from the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . One friend (played by Jack Black), invents a ``Vay-pooh-riser'' to spray on dog doo and make it disappear. The other, (played by Ben Stiller), has pooh-poohed the idea from the beginning. ``It's a fun comedy about two best friends living in the Valley, in a cul-de-sac,'' said Levinson, the producer-director-writer-actor who directed such hits as ``Bandits,'' ``Wag the Dog,'' ``Rain Man'' and ``Good Morning Vietnam.'' Only one ``does come up with the invention and makes a billion dollars and builds a big mansion,'' he said. The naysayer nay·say tr.v. nay·said , nay·say·ing, nay·says To oppose, deny, or take a pessimistic or negative view of: They will naysay any policy that raises taxes. ends up with his homely house next door. Hence the movie's title: ``Envy.'' The movie's budget, which a DreamWorks spokeswoman declined to discuss, is ``upwards of $75 million,'' said Morrie Goldman of the city-county Entertainment Industry Development Corp., which issues permits to movie-makers to film on city streets. DreamWorks, which paid $450 for a permit to film alongside Highway 101 and other locations, began shooting Wednesday within the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area. Filming will proceed through October, Goldman said. Levinson predicted a summer 2003 release. ``Obviously, it's jobs for L.A.,'' Goldman said of the freeway film shoot. ``While we regret the inconvenience it caused people, these are the kinds of projects we want to keep in L.A.'' But CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan Officer Ray Abranian of the West Valley station said next time it might behoove be·hoove v. be·hooved, be·hoov·ing, be·hooves v.tr. To be necessary or proper for: It behooves you at least to try. v.intr. To be necessary or proper. filmmakers to alert the traffic police before their next shoot. ``I heard cars were slowing for the film shoot, it was peculiar,'' he said. ``This area was not notified ... We do have a concern when traffic gets affected.'' The film crew, however, seemed oblivious to the parade of cars slowing before the bleachers to roll down their windows and honk their horns. ``Great job,'' barks an assistant director to his cast, breaking for lunch. ``We're on the move.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Traffic slows along the Ventura Freeway in Encino on Thursday during the filming of ``Envy,'' a production featuring two buddies from the San Fernando Valley. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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