Loud noise coming from Downtown???

[margdar]

The folks at Red Dawn have not alerted or made any efforts to alert the residents of the downtown area of potential disturbances caused by massive explosions, machine gun fire, sidewalk blockages, parking lot closures and bright-as-day lights shining into resident homes at all hours of the night.

When confronted about the excessive noise, street impediments and bright lights late at night shining into apartments, Eric, [[who I understand was the liaison who arranged for several business on Washington Blvd. to be compensated for inconvenience caused by the film blocking off the sidewalk) assured me and other residents of Capital Park that we would recieve word from him and be "taken care of." No one has heard anything since that conversation several weeks ago.

In my experience, when a movie sets up shop in any neighborhood, the businesses and residents of the area are alerted of closures and other activities by signage posted a week in advance. Most people love being surrounded by the excitement and are very accomodating of the project. That is, if they don't, with no warning get woken up at 3 A.M. by machine gun fire or all of a sudden cannot park in the lot next to their homes. Those for whom the activity is a significant inconvenience or disturbance should receieve compensation of some sort.

In a move that I thought was rather audacious, a neighbor of mine was told that he may not be allowed to enter or exit our building for a period of time. What?! Please believe that if you expect me to be governed by your rules as to when I am able to come and go out of my own home, you had better be prepared to compensate me accordingly.

It's wonderful that the industry has taken a liking to Detroit and I hope to see this kind of activity continue and grow. But Detroiters, like residents of any other city, would appreciate the courtesy of prior notification and when appropriate, a slice of the $40 million budget.

[Gsgeorge]

The folks at Red Dawn have not alerted or made any efforts to alert the residents of the downtown area of potential disturbances caused by massive explosions, machine gun fire, sidewalk blockages, parking lot closures and bright-as-day lights shining into resident homes at all hours of the night.

When confronted about the excessive noise, street impediments and bright lights late at night shining into apartments, Eric, [[who I understand was the liaison who arranged for several business on Washington Blvd. to be compensated for inconvenience caused by the film blocking off the sidewalk) assured me and other residents of Capital Park that we would recieve word from him and be "taken care of." No one has heard anything since that conversation several weeks ago.

In my experience, when a movie sets up shop in any neighborhood, the businesses and residents of the area are alerted of closures and other activities by signage posted a week in advance. Most people love being surrounded by the excitement and are very accomodating of the project. That is, if they don't, with no warning get woken up at 3 A.M. by machine gun fire or all of a sudden cannot park in the lot next to their homes. Those for whom the activity is a significant inconvenience or disturbance should receieve compensation of some sort.

In a move that I thought was rather audacious, a neighbor of mine was told that he may not be allowed to enter or exit our building for a period of time. What?! Please believe that if you expect me to be governed by your rules as to when I am able to come and go out of my own home, you had better be prepared to compensate me accordingly.

It's wonderful that the industry has taken a liking to Detroit and I hope to see this kind of activity continue and grow. But Detroiters, like residents of any other city, would appreciate the courtesy of prior notification and when appropriate, a slice of the $40 million budget.

'

Margdar, this has been Larry Mongo of Cafe D'Mongo's main complaint as well, though he welcomes the new industry in town and thinks it is good for the region. But he wished Detroit would get the same treatment as the suburbs or Grosse Pointe--if they shoot a film there, neighbors are well compensated for the inconvenience. Because this is downtown Detroit, filmmakers feel they have free reign. I have experienced this firsthand. The overall abandonment and lack of attention to the area has the affect of making filmmakers think it is their playground, and that they can stretch the rules or get away with more than what was negotiated.

Overall, though, it should be noted that it is common practice to notify and compensate all businesses and residents immediately affected by a big-budget film production such as this--however, on a shoot as immense as Red Dawn, you cannot notify EVERYONE. It would be impossible. Inevitably some people outside of the immediate film area will be aroused by gunfire and explosions, but residents of Washington Square Apartments should not necessarily be compensated for filming that is taking place blocks away, even if they can hear it and it causes traffic problems in the neighborhood. The impact on our downtown & neighborhood streets is part of the payoff for welcoming these big-budget ventures into our State. I can guarantee Detroit has seen significant returns from a film as grand as Red Dawn -- think of all the extras and crew members and cast members downtown, eating out, using our banks, restaurants--all the vendors involved from hotels to car rental to equipment rental. There are a lot of locals on the Red Dawn crew and I can guarantee that none of them have complaints about their paycheck. And location fees are covering months worth of rent in buildings that are otherwise vacant or abandoned. And films like Red Dawn, after all, with their big explosions and incredible action sequences, could not be shot any other way. Sure, you could CGI the crap out of it, but who wants to see computer explosions on city streets when real ones are so much cooler?

What I'm trying to say is -- sorry you were inconvenienced. As someone who works in the film industry, I like to see everyone affected or involved taken care of. But because of the nature of on-location filmmaking, you cannot and will not make everyone happy, no matter how large the budget or how good the film.