FEATURE.
SHOOTING IN CALIFORNIA
The Firestone Ranch at Agua Dulce Movie Ranch after a fire. The area is now offered to productions by S.O.S. FilmWorks as a scorched-earth location
“We specialize in open space and represent a variety of fields, roads, rock formations, cliffs, mine tunnels and much more,” Fix says. “We also represent a number of homes, arenas, and even recreation centers. We think people are most surprised by the variety we can offer, and the history of some properties such as the house on Firestone Ranch built by William Mulholland.” The most visible set at S.O.S is a L10-11, full-size, jet fuselage. The interior is vintage 1974, complete with ashtrays. Another set is The Sierra Inn, best-known as the biker bar where Pee Wee Herman sang Tequila on a table. It was also used for the opening of Terminator 2 where the Terminator crashes a ladies night out. Iconic residences have featured heavily in California shoots in recent years. Fans of Amazon series Bosch will be familiar with the cliff-hugging residence that acts as the central character’s home. Meanwhile, in the hit movie A Star is Born, filmed entirely in California, Bradley Cooper’s character’s house was located in Calabasas, an upmarket community west of L.A. Built in 1973, the dwelling was designed by Malibu architect Douglas Rucker — who, coincidentally, also designed a house for Kris Kristofferson, star of the 1976 version of A Star is Born. Arguably, the movie house of the year is the Monrovia property that featured as a safe house in Netflix’s Bird Box — although in the end, it proved not to be that safe. Nestled beneath a large evergreen tree, the Craftsman-style home on the corner of North Canyon Boulevard and East Greystone Avenue has quickly attracted a cult following and is the subject of thousands of fan selfies. Property hunting has also played a big part in Greg Alpert’s recent work. After his pursuit of the iconic residence that acts as the focal point of Sharp Objects, season two of Big Little Lies saw him house hunting in the Monterey area once again. “Because it was the second season, a lot of the job involved going back to the same locations as before,” he says. “But you’re always trying to find new places to freshen
CALL OF THE WILD IS A STORY ABOUT A DOG FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL IN ALASKA AND THE YUKON, YET IT WAS PRODUCED ENTIRELY IN CALIFORNIA
up the production. So we spent a lot of time looking around the Greater Carmel area, which is about five miles from Monterey on the other side of a coastal headland.” Alpert was already familiar with the Carmel area, having found a spectacular house there for Nicole Kidman’s character, Celeste, in season one of Big Little Lies. For season two, he has found another amazing property — although he was reluctant to discuss details until after the new series had aired. “Carmel has some very distinctive and cinematic properties close to where classic movies like Play Misty for Me and Basic Instinct were shot,” he adds. “For season two of Big Little Lies I think the house we found is one of the most beautiful ROBIN CITRON properties you’ll ever see on TV.” While most people would associate California’s coastline with surf culture or affluent Big Little Lies-style communities, the emergence of ex-Naval base Mare Island as a filming hub is a reminder that the state also has a long military history. Mare Island offers some potential backdrops for productions with a military angle, but there is also a strong historic connection between filmmaking and the US armed forces much further south, around the city of San Diego. The last few years have seen TNT’s popular TV series, The Last Ship, film in and around Naval Base San Diego — although perhaps more famous is the fact that Tom Cruise shot sections of the 1986 movie Top Gun on the base. Summer 2018 saw him return to the same location to film a sequel. Cruise alerted fans to this fact in May, when he tweeted a photo
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