Hey, there! Log in / Register
Citizen complaint of the day: Stupid film crews
By adamg on Tue, 04/29/2014 - 7:16pm
A peeved citizen complains:
Bike attached to street sign was removed due to filming location on Charles St. Completely unacceptable for someone's property and only mode of transportation to be taken when there was absolutely ZERO signs warning bicyclists that their bikes would be towed. Very disappointed that the city is bowing to stupid film scouts demands that directly impede citizens daily life.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Can't wait
To see the response to this...
Hells Angels
can't hold a candle to Boston bike jihadists. Those Cecil B DeMille wanna bees best look out.
Popcorn?
Popcorn?
Unless the city moved the bike
There is a term for what happened: theft.
Either that, or malicious destruction of property.
If the city did move the bike, they have the same sort of explaining to do as when other sorts of private vehicles legally located on public property are moved without appropriate warning (e.g. if they suddenly showed up, without any signage, and towed a bunch of cars for a film crew).
Stop!
With the extrapolations. Moving a bike off a sidewalk for a film shoot is *nothing* like moving "bunch of cars."
Sorry. It isn't. And it isn't necesarrily theft nor destrutction of property. You suppose a lot. i merely suppose that the film crew or police took care of removed bike and neither stole nor damaged it.
Give it a rest.
Yes, Desruction
Assuming the bike was locked up someone had to cut (destroy) the lock and/or bike to move it. If signs were posted saying "No parking, Film Permit X..." then I would fault the cyclist. But it dosen't sound like there was any indication the area would be blocked.
When cars get towed no damage happens to the car.
Please explain
Why do you think cars have special magical powers that make them special and magical when it comes to them having special, magical rights as private property stored on a public street. Special, magical rights that other legally stored private vehicles lack.
Use logic and reason.
Should get that response in 4
Should get that response in 4-6 weeks, thats the turnaround on most of the citizen connect issues.
It's legal to attach a bike
It's legal to attach a bike to a street sign?
I checked cityofboston.gov.
I checked cityofboston.gov. the only info that references parking; pertains to requesting a bike rack.
I asked a seasoned biker, and was told that as long as the bike does not block pedestrian traffic, it's legit. I do not know for sure though!
Maintaining the pedestrian
Maintaining the pedestrian right of way is the key. If the bike were hanging out perpendicular to the curb on a narrow sidewalk it would either be moved or removed because it is blocking the sidewalk. Often street signs are the only thing we can lock our bike to because they city has still not provided us with official parking spots in any parts of the city, or the one rack that is there already has 3 bikes on it. You can get two bikes maybe three on one sign poll (check the bottom bolt to make sure it is not loose or removed) as long as the bikes are parallel to the curb. However, in Cambridge they passed an ordinance in consultation with the disability commission and bike committee that makes it illegal to park your bike at a disabled parking sign. There are little plaques that say this on each of the signs as well. They will "tow" your bike if it is parked at one of these signs. That said folks would be up in arms if a private car were removed from the public right of way without warning/reason etc. why can't cycling folks be up in arms if a private bicycle were removed from the public right of way?
I was agreeing with you till the end....
Cars get towed every day in the city and I have yet to see armed angry mobs, with or without pitchforks, marching down the city streets.
So, I am not sure what you are inferring with your last sentence in regards to a "public right of way?" Most cars are removed (towed) because they are parked where they should not be, either intentionally or not.
When you get a city permit to
When you get a city permit to film a movie, you "own" the entire area covered by the permit. So, at the time the permit went into effect, the bike was chained to property which someone else had exclusive rights to.
It's hard to fault the bicycle owner, but it's bad luck for them.
Signage is required
Signage is required in those contracts. You can't go around destroying, stealing, or "relocating" people's legally stored property just because you have a movie to make.
Sounds like they failed to communicate properly.
Annoying film crews
In this case I I have to agree with the complainer. These film crews can be extremely snooty to locals. A few years ago they were filming some movie in Harvard Square during peak hours, and I saw some utterly obnoxious woman bellowing at the passers by, people who live and work there, "move it, move it people. We're filming a MOVIE here", as if it was the most important thing on Earth. What an entitled joke she was.
It's important to her
She's trying to do her job and get something done. It is the most important thing for her.
So?
Either close the area or deal with that fact you chose to film in a high traffic area. The "just doing my job" argument doesn't garner much sympathy.
Why yes, a fellow named Himmler and some colleagues
..made comparable claims during trials in the 1940s at a city called Nuremberg.
Himmler had the good sense to chow cyanide before all that but the Party Line was
."Ve Vas Just Doink Our Chobs."
http://youtu.be/CIRAUXxLfKQ courtesy of Fratenity of Man.
Yah, a bit of a stretch, don't ya think...
to compare the woman to Himmler and his "colleagues"?
The sad part is you probably do not.
I was more interested in the excuse fail.
Jobs widely vary but that is one of the all time lame excuses for making a hash of something or worse.
A job is not some sacrosanct thing and never should be.
One works to live.
So the excuse maker just needs more work like..
"The world is desperate for another pitch to the well heeled Ally McBeal demographic and so the valiant ABC Disney conglomerate heroically wades into the fray with a breathtaking gamble."
"The location manager, flushed with a sense of urgency not seen since D Day, simply had to gum up a busy and hazardous intersection at peak morning rush hour in dismal weather that this astonishing and bold leap of studio imagination shall come to its proper fruition."
Huh?
You do know there's more than one "film crew" don't you?
Thanks for the heads up.
The simulacra monster will be loping down Hampshire st in Inman between 7am and 6pm according to the things they've stuck on parking meter poles.
Bicyclists who regularly use that route, beware.
Cambridge is kind of militant so it could get interesting.
Thanks, Chris
Thanks for the warning. Supposed to rain tomorrow and Thursday, though.
Was The Bike Actually Towed?
Towed? As in, being transported by a private company for an exorbitant charge, and held hostage for additional fees at the city impound lot?
I'm on the bikers side though. I hope it was not a hassle to retrieve the bike, and that they were reimbursed if the lock was broken by the "towing company".
That whole Beacon Hill neighborhood is horrible! The sidewalks are ridiculously narrow, and there are very few places where anyone can park a bike.
Where does a bike go?
When it's towed? How much ransom do you have to pay to get it back?
I don't know about Boston, but ...
I believe that bikes removed by Cambridge or Somerville get taken to their cities' respective DPWs. This usually happens only to seriously abandoned bikes.
Occasionally Somerville will put a temporary No Bike Parking sign on a street sign or bike rack if parking the bike there would impede some event (such as the recent Independent Film Festival of Boston at the Somerville Theatre)
Also on city of Boston is a
Also on city of Boston is a link to register bikes and bike serial numbers, in case of theft. Hilarious pics of how NOT to lock up bikes as well.
On location, in Boston
Settle down, everyone. I've worked on location all over Mass for the past 8 years. Film crews from legit productions basically have rights to run over your 'hood like construction companies do. your neighbors and/or your elected officials gave them these rights.
On the other hand, they have a vested interest in trying to make most people happy *while* getting the shot. they want to shoot everywhere and it's usually a good experience.
As for the bike, I'd find the production company. Chances are they'll make you whole. If they dont's talk to your local rep or the film bureau. Seriously If it's a legit shoot they'll fix you. If it isn;t a legit shoot you're just dealing w/scumbags, not the film industry.
As for the gal in Harvard Sq. channeling Ratzo Rizzo? I've seen quiet explanations to passerby help a scene go by. and I've seen barked orders to extras involved in the film as well.
I've never seen passerby yelled at in a hostile manner.
Please cite the when and where this occurred? I'm extremely dubious it ever happened.
Settle down?
Get over yourself. Whatever rights you think you have by getting a film permit doesn't make it right to take someone's property without notice before or after. The bike owner shouldn't have to chase down anyone to get their property. Go ahead and be as dubious as you like though, makes you seem so much better than the rest of us, Hollywood.
If some construction guy
If some construction guy moved the bike to pour a concrete sidewalk you would not care. Sooooo Boston.
Yet, if they towed your car
If they towed your car to pave the street, without warning, you would be the first to light up the region with an apoplectic entitled tantrum.
What a crock
If a construction crew showed up and either:
- cut the lock off a bike attached to an unmarked sign, or
- towed a car parked in a legal and unmarked space,
...you bet your ass people would care.
Well, not cynical, self-loathing haters, obviously.
It absolutely happened
"I've never seen passerby yelled at in a hostile manner.
Please cite the when and where this occurred? I'm extremely dubious it ever happened."
It ABSOLUTELY happened. I was there. I only wish I could think of what movie was being made. It was somewhere in the last 6-7 years I would think. The crew had all of Dunster Street blocked off in Harvard Square, but not Mass. Ave., and people were trying to get along Mass. Ave. in the Holyoke Center area . The woman, I can still see her in my mind, short hair and tinted glasses, was bellowing in a very self-important way, "move it people, we're making a movie here". I even said to a total stranger "who does she think she is?", but the stranger just sort of half-shrugged.
What planet
Do you live on where film crews behave properly?
Forgot the great Boston locations apocryphal story
I love this story and heard it from old-timers but can only hope it's true.
The Brink's Job movie was shooting in the North End. In 1978 making it look like 1950. They were shooting down an alley and there was one window AC being anachronistic. Location guys gave the AC owner 50 bucks to pull it out for the shot.
Crew went back the next night to finish up shots at that location and there were dozens of window AC's and even just boxes in all the windows.
And everyone wanted 50 bucks.
Such a Boston story to me, I hope it's true.
Stupid Film Crews
Couple of points.
You, after quoting the typically indignant bicyclist (all rights, no responsibilities), you quote a Charles Street resident who got notice.
I do not know the details except as you have reported, however,
It is entirely possible there was incompetence on the part of the film crew, BUT the film crews work through the city and it is the city's duty to have the place ready for filming, which includes EVERYTHING in the shot.
My gut feel is that you are quoting an all together too common bicyclist who expects to do anything and everything that the bicyclist feels like doing, and everybody who expects responsible behavior gets an offensive gesture.
Industry Shilling Aside..
.Yup it is totally obnoxious and disruptive.
A veritable bonfire of amped up self importance, there, outside my window.
And since when is some dick bag media corporation's stupid gamble on another worthless film idea supposed to matter to anyone in the invasion zone?
They showed up an hour early so we have a bit of chiseling there.
There is a stupid amount of cumbersome bullshit these things need and they take many more liberties than construction crews.
The simulacra industry can fuck itself with a splintered 2x4.
This is a very congested and constricted intersection.
I wonder what idiot at city hall green lighted this?
How's life going?
Overreaction much? If the film crew's presence is the worst thing that happens to you today or this week, you might want to re-evaluate your life, what is important to you, and what really matters. That's a pretty hateful rant and has its own bit of self-importance, hate to see what happens when someone does something that actually affects you.
Says the suburbanite
Who has never had to repeatedly put up with this bullshit.
I know.
It is right in front of my building and gloriously witless.
But they are packing up now cause of rain fail or something.
Maybe they got their shot.
I'm always happy to yield to public good for some worthy thing.
But stupid uber right wing ABC/Disney clogging the place up for a crap speculation play to manipulate the emotions of the Ally McBeal cohort really doesn't clear that bar.
And it looks to be a regular potlatch of conspicuous waste.
But hey, some teamster guys got to sleep in a truck for whatever an hour, another bunch got some munneze to push carts of tech crap around, there was lots of detail overtime and the importance ran high.
Worthless Film
My understanding is that the filming is for a cable series in its second season.
By way of perhaps necessary self characterization, I have been defending the environment for many years, including the Charles River.
Several years ago, the then governor considered me responsible for the forced veto of bicycle legislation which hurt bicycles and which passed both houses of the legislature without negative comment, although I had made no public comments on the matter. A week after its legislative passage, and after a lot of negative comment (not by me), the sponsor asked that it be killed by the governor.
I am a professional actor with performances on many movies and I would love to participate in this cable series.
which one of you?
Which one of you would that be?
What does "No Parking" mean?
Such signs are posted prior to construction or special events.
Do they not also apply to other vehicles like bicycles? Aren't we told that bicycles are real vehicles that have the same right to the road as motor vehicles ("Same road, same rules"). So, guess what, no parking means you too! Perhaps we just need lots of no bike parking signs then.
Film crews have to pull lots of permits and pay up, so, the one bicycle owner here can probably get his bike back for free and get them to pay for a brand new lock, hey, probably even cab fare to make up for not having his bike that day.
I suspect, not just bikes were cleared. Streets are often filled with window boxes, planters, merchant signs, benches, bike racks, and dog poop that may not fit the vision of the director and get moved too. When everything is put back, its likely cleaner and better than before.
What is your basis....
... for assuming "no parking" signs were posted in a timely fashion. The original poster indicated that there were ZERO warning signs. Were you there, do you have any evidence at all? Or are you just uninformedly spouting off?
Or are you just uninformedly
Oh, perish the thought!
Rabid Racoons
They got you, too.
In NYC, where there's a *lot*
In NYC, where there's a *lot* of movie and TV filming, they typically tow cars...to other nearby legal spots. So the only cost to the car owner is the inconvenience of having to search for your car.
Maybe they could do this for bikes as well -- unbolt the street sign, and move the bike to another sign just outside the filming area, without cutting the lock.