Currently, the top box office draw is Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. And while the film shot scenes in a number of countries and cities, Angelenos who see the film should recognize many scenes that were filmed on-location in L.A.
FilmL.A.’s Production Planning Team was instrumental in providing the Inception filmmakers with early assurance that logistically challenging shoots could be accomplished in Los Angeles — thereby helping to keep production local and L.A. workers employed.
During the initial stages of the filming, production company and studio representatives approached FilmL.A. with some challenging requests. They wanted to utilize Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles for a pivotal sequence involving car chases, gunfire and a locomotive train. Accommodating the activity required a temporary six-block shut-down of traffic along Spring. Moreover, all of the action was to be shot during a torrential downpour — a request that involved the placement of rain towers on building rooftops along four Downtown blocks.
Questions about closing the street for two weekends, procuring the water, finding a mechanism to pump it to significant heights and ensuring its debris-free runoff into storm drains all had to be answered and signed off on by City officials and agencies, and FilmL.A. was involved at every step in the process.
“We knew the scenes involving the rain towers and train would be uniquely challenging,” said location manager J.J. Hook. “FilmL.A.’s Production Planning Team and coordinators were amazing. We could not have gotten these shots without them.”
Inception is now playing at theaters throughout the region.