Following a community meeting, city officials granted production executives for the romantic comedy, “What’s Your Number?” a permit to film from 7:00 am through 2:00 am on Wednesday, May 26th and Thursday, May 27th. There will also be two days of setup starting Monday, May 24th and a clean-up day on Friday, May 27th. The City of Boston’s filming department had already given a permit to film until 11:00 pm, but organized a community meeting on Wednesday, May 19th to get feedback on the 2:00 am request.
“You can’t get these shots on a set,” explained Executive Producer Nan Morales, while pointing out the spectacular North End nighttime panoramic and street views shown on poster boards at the meeting. Because of extensive night scenes in the movie, the producers asked for a 2:00 am end time because they do not believe they can finish the filming in two nights from just 8pm to 11pm. Patty Papa from the City’s Film Bureau noted that “2:00 am requires community outreach. That’s why we called the meeting.” The city made the decision after meeting with executives on Thursday morning.
Residents asked plenty of questions at the meeting, mostly surrounding the late night situation and the impact to sleeping conditions in the nearby residential buildings. Attendees were appreciative of the opportunity to opine on the permit request, although said it was too short notice to ask the production to make significant changes with only a week before the filming dates.
Morales explained, “I am not going to lie. There is some noise in filming. Our job is to keep it down. We won’t be the reason why filming is banned from the North End.” Mark Fitzgerald, Location Manager, added “it will be bright, but not very loud.” The film will offer to seal up impacted windows with black felt to minimize the light into apartments.
Executives emphasized that unlike “The Town,” there are no car chases or shootout scenes. Most of the filming is “walking and talking.” During the actual filming, there will be minimal noise. Between shots is the concern when equipment needs to be moved around the streets. At 2:00 am, the movie will not evacuate their equipiment from the streets to minimize disruption. Instead, they will wait until morning. Security will be on site to guard the equipment overnight.
There is a “hotline” number direct to the set: 310-310-9810, to report any issues during production. Staff will be available to handle inconveniences that come up during filming. While the streets will be closed to traffic, pedestrians will not be blocked for more than a few minutes. Access to buildings will not be impacted other than those directly being filmed. Questions can also be directed to Patty Papa at the City’s Film Bureau at 617-635-3911 or filmbureau@cityofboston.gov.
Most of the late night, 10pm-2am impacts will be on Salem St. & Prince St. with parking and traffic changes expected on Cross, Cooper, N. Margin, Parmenter and Bartlett Place.
Parking vouchers will be available to make up for lost street parking during production. Signs will be posted on the impacted streets. Residents can also call the hotline number above or stop by the set to get a voucher.
During the May 26th and May 27th filming, the Public Works Department will do earlier trash pick-ups than usual to clear the streets for filming. During the filming when streets are closed, the movie will clean up and drop off trash at a pre-determined location on Cross Street. A resident requested that the plastering of paper flyers be stopped because they end up in the gutters. Unfortunately, the city requires the flyer notifications.
“What’s Your Number?” will be starring Anna Faris (“House Bunny”, “Scary Movie”), Chris Evans (“Not Another Teen Movie”), Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live), Joel McHale, Dave Annable and Zachary Quinto (Spock from the new “Star Trek”). Mark Mylod, from “HBO’s Entourage”, is directing the film. Chris Evans is about to become more well-known as “Captain America” opening this summer. The film is based on Karyn Bosnak’s book “20 Times a Lady
Anna Faris’ character, Ally, will “live” at 14 Cooper St. which has already been renovated for filming. The location was chosen for the views from the roof deck. There also will be filming from the roof deck above Dino’s Sub Shop.
The movie production has signed 30 compensation deals with impacted businesses, mostly regarding signage. One scene includes an Italian wedding party coming out of the Corner Café on Prince Street. Another street scene takes place by Bova’s Bakery as the characters walk out of the bakery onto the street.
A rough schedule of the production schedule is as follows:
Monday, May 24 and Tuesday, May 25 – (9am – 5 pm) A 100 foot crane will be moved through the North End to Cooper Street to load equipment on the roof. Trucks will also come in to unload various stuff. Condors, lifts and small trucks will be brought in. There is an agreement with the Knights of Columbus to use their parking lot.
Wednesday, May 26 and Thursday, May 27 – Filming Days, 7am through 2am
There will be extensive street closings all day and night on Salem St., Prince St., N. Margin St., Cooper St., Margaret St., Wiget St. and Parmenter St.
Friday, May 28 – The big crane and trucks return to take out the equipment.
Charitable donations have been made to the following North End organizations by the movie production: NEMPAC (North End Music & Performing Arts Center), the Eliot School, ABCD Head Start, North end Athletic Association, North End Against Drugs and the Nazzaro Community Center.
Residents interested in “extra” paid work should contact Heather at 617-499-0967. The movie is looking for people 18 and older to act and sing a tarantella in Italian for a wedding scene to be filmed on Wednesday, May 26th.
