Special orange signs were hung up and down Chase Street last week.
There were lots of strange-looking things scattered around! These big cables led to large super-silent generators that were mounted on trailers. They powered some really big lights—on the order of 1,000 watts each.
All kinds of interesting things were on the street. They came in by the tractor-trailer load.
Talk about Tinker Toys! There were lots and lots of these!
These boxes are called “apple crates” in the ‘biz. Useful for making things and people higher.
Shooting took place across the street. The big green scissor lift had a huge light mounted on it, shining through a window.
Television production takes lots of light!
Have I mentioned what was going on? HBO’s “VEEP“, a television series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which is now in its second season, was shooting in our part of the neighborhood. They needed a place to feed their extras and crew, so they asked us to help. Of course, we said yes, and it worked out perfectly!
Guess who! All of the cast members had a trailer, which some of them shared. This trailer was the largest, with pop-out bay windows and only a single occupant.
On the set! That’s Reid Scott on the left, playing Dan Egan, and Matt Walsh next to him, playing Mike McLintock. The “members of the press” that you see on the right are actually actors. You can just see the light from one of those big movie lights behind Reid and Matt.
Now we’re getting to our part! There are an unbelievable number of people involved in television production, and they have to eat somewhere! Chase Court provided the dining space for all of the crew and extras–and as it turned out, the cast. More on that later.
Marios‘ people travel around the country with film companies. The food that comes out of these trucks is outstanding, on a par with any from our Approved Caterers. It’s really amazing.
Yes, it was whipped cream, and we couldn’t say no when he offered us a taste!
Those are massive flank steaks on the grill!
It’s possible to eat lightly on a television production shoot, but it isn’t easy!
Fancy gives way to expediency in film industry signage!
Lots of salad toppings were laid out in the Chase Court ballroom.
Luscious fruit, and there was a whole ice cream station, with sundaes and smoothies.
I had the pleasure of being invited to dinner, so I can tell you that this baked potato (I cheated the diet and added sour cream!), broccoli, bed of brown rice and greens and especially the salmon were all delicious!
Serious salad!
Apple pie ala mode, with a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie!
It looks a little different from a wedding, doesn’t it? Four long rows of tables seat up to 175 in the ballroom in a cafeteria-style arrangement.
The Teamsters eat first, which is the way of the film industry, then the crew and the extras come in. To my surprise, nearly the whole cast came for supper, including Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Jonah Ryan, and…Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
The hours are long, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s great to have the film industry back working in Baltimore! —David
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