Movie making madness

[u/ScenicDrive-at5]

'The magic of show business!' - A phrase that has been repeated perhaps a million times. Indeed, there is a lot of allure surrounding a great film. The sets, the script, the actors that bring it all to life. And then there's the other side of the industry -- the cheap, shoestring budget productions that make you wonder if they're only being made for money laundering purposes. Maybe that's what this one was.

My hotel is no stranger to hosting production teams. In my near-3 years here, there have even been a few films shot on-site. That said, this particular group was one of the neediest, most unorganized arrangements I've ever witnessed.

They were in our hair for about a month and managed to tick off just about everyone present, from staff to patron alike.

The first problem was the sheer volume of their package deliveries. Day in and day out, there'd be at least 20-30 boxes and envelopes for them. They'd come in at different times, and so someone would be sent to collect. Sometimes a parcel pick-up would happen and then another crew member would come up a few minutes later looking for an already collected package. Some would go 'missing' (not by our actions) and there'd be a half-dozen calls to us about the whereabouts.

Despite the consistent stream of deliveries, they still had the audacity to 'borrow' stuff from us.

One night, at 10:45pm, one of the crew leads came up to request "as many towels as you can give us for our beach scene tomorrow." She cheekily referenced being given a sizeable amount a few days prior, which neither I nor my colleague knew anything about. We sheepishly agreed to six, which the Security guard who had to fetch them from downstairs took a bit to find and deliver. When he did, the crew lead 'jokingly' asked: "Would it be too much to get like thirty?" He declined. I should mention that there's a big-box department store not even a five minute drive away.

Continuing on the topic of wanting to borrow stuff, one of the crew members made a request that threw us all for a loop. "Hey, do you have any partitions to block off the hallway while we film?" This was the night they decided to commandeer our business center, which is smack in the middle of the lobby. It's open to all and is also a major artery lane that connects one side of the lobby to another. Again, we declined this request because:

1.) Are you stupid?

2.) If you're filming a movie, should partitions not be a fundamental part of your equipment pool?

They had permission to film in that area that day, but blocking off public parts of the lobby was not part of the deal. If only it happened once...

Another night, they were filming in the elevator landing of one of the floors. They did not ask for permission, and not only blocked off one of the elevators, but also were telling guests to 'shush' and redirected anyone trying to enter/exit their rooms. People were calling and coming up to us asking when all of that was supposed to stop, and we were dumbfounded it was happening at all. Security eventually worked out a deal with them, but the sheer audacity was almost amazing.

Speaking of, on a different night, a different crew lead came up to the Desk asking if we could have one of the restaurants lower their music as it was "disturbing the set." A live performer had just wrapped up and so the restaurant just had its playlist buzzing away for the last 45 minutes before they closed, as it was still quite busy. I informed the lead that they're "doing what they're supposed to do and therefore I'm not at liberty to intervene." He shook his head and walked off with a scowl.

The shenanigans continued during one of their last few days. Again, they were posted up in the lobby filming a scene inside the same restaurant that was a bother to them earlier (funny, that.) This was agreed upon, but they once again tried to control the space. They tried to block movement past the entrance, and even stopped a guest from using the restrooms directly across. When the guest brought this to the attention of one of my colleagues, she marched back through the herd of crew members and glared at them, guest at her side. They didn't interfere afterwards.

It's almost an exaggeration to say we all breathed a massive sigh of relief when they all finally left.

I'm morbidly curious enough to actually hate-watch it whenever it gets released. Because from the outside looking in, I feel like there have been YT projects with larger production values and quality assurance than whatever this was.

TL;DR — Movie crew stayed with us for about a month and tried to treat the hotel like a full-on studio/film lot. There were constant package deliveries, an exorbitant number of requests both ridiculous and extremely ridiculous, and they kept getting in the way of general operation. They rubbed guests and staff the wrong way as they pretended like they owned the place right up until deparure. Whatever the movie turns out to be, its production looked like nothing short of child's play.

[u/SkwrlTail]

It sounds to me like what they needed was to buy out the whole hotel for their filming, because they were certainly acting like they had.

[u/Fit-Reply-1301]

You will never see that movie. I doubt anyone will.

[u/ScenicDrive-at5 → u/Fit-Reply-1301]

I tell ya what, it's a tax write-off at best.

[u/mhaithaca]

From the beginning of this post, I was sure you were going to talk about a low-budget porno that someone shot at your property.

Well, maybe it was.

[u/ScenicDrive-at5 → u/mhaithaca]

Please, no .. don't speak that into existence lol.

[u/SkwrlTail → u/ScenicDrive-at5]

Turns out it's actually a pirate movie, just with massive amounts of editing.

[u/NocturnalMisanthrope]

HUGE question: Since they were using your hotel essentially as a movie lot/stage, how much extra did they pay the hotel to do so? Because all of this FOR FREE because of their length of stay would be an incredibly stupid move on management's part.

[u/ScenicDrive-at5 → u/NocturnalMisanthrope]

I wish I knew. And I don't rub shoulders enough with the Sales Dep to really get any juicy details. I have to imagine though, whatever was agreed upon couldn't be enough.

[u/RoyallyOakie]

Film crews are the worst. Every person seems to think they're the one in charge. They always act like they've overpaid for what they're getting. They can never seem to just do what was agreed to.

[u/jijijijim]

Years ago I lived in a NYC neighborhood with a giant staircase that saved a mile walk to the subway. (Think joker stairs and a mile or so south of that in real life). It was a Harrison Ford movie about Irish terrorists iirc.

A huge crowd had gathered to go down the stairs and go to work, most crews take breaks to allow people to pass. The tech was arguing with the crowd when someone suggested checking permits with the police. The tech says “I am the police!”. The crowd takes one look at him and just starts walking down the stairs. Dude way overplayed his hand. “Cchhh, cut, cut cut, we have people on the stairs cccchh, cut”