Starring My Street

A notice of filming was stuck to our door. There was nothing unusual about that since the house behind us, which was the murder house in HOOKING FOR TROUBLE, seems to be rented out for filming every month or so. It really has little effect on us, so when someone from the production company has come to the door to basically get our okay, I’ve said yes.

But when I looked at the latest notice, I saw that it wasn’t the house behind us at all, but instead a mega house that was just completed across the street and a few houses down from us. The house hasn’t even been put up for sale yet. The houses on our street are mostly single story and around 3000 square feet. This new is two stories and takes up almost the whole lot and is probably 6000 square feet at least.

There was another disturbing thing I saw on the notice. Of the two days they were supposed to film, one included an all night shoot and that part of it was going to be in the street.

Someone from the production company finally came to the door a day or so later and I expressed my concern about the night shoot and wrote something to that effect on the form he tried to get me to sign giving my okay. Needless to say I didn’t sign it and the guy said someone would call me about my concerns.

To jump ahead - after calls to the production company - they never called us- we found out that this filming was going to go on until August. Not just two days this week. And the schedule now had multiple all nighters.

Then two police officers came to my door. They were from the film unit in the police department. Who knew there was a film unit? Me, the mystery writer got curious and asked a lot of questions. I also mentioned that I wrote a series about the area and even said I’d "killed" somebody in the house behind us. It got a laugh from both officers. It turns out the cops are the ones who give out permits to film. The officer I spoke was perfect for his job. He was friendly and appeared to want to be helpful. He ended by giving me his card so I could call him with any problems we encounter with this shoot. I did learn something useful which actually gave me a motive for murder. It seems that people, like the people in the house behind us, rent out their place to be able to afford the house.

The trucks and all their stuff started arriving yesterday. It is clearly some big budget deal. No beat up rented trucks and they’re ferrying their people in a pair of spiffy looking Sprinters. There are nice dressing rooms and something called a picture truck which is a car on the back of a truck, so they can film people in it appearing to be driving the car. In the past when there was filming, I felt powerless as though suddenly our street belonged to them and I just had to live with it.

Not this time. Yesterday when they started parking trucks in front of my house and on the other side of our driveway which made it difficult to pull out, I went out there and said we’d been told they wouldn’t park in front of our house. And just like that, the vehicles were moved.

And if there are more problems, I will call that police officer. Now and in the future as I’m afraid what’s going on with the house behind us may happen with the house down the street. And a plot for a book is forming in my head. Nothing is ever wasted.