Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 24 OctOber 2018
Anywhere but Washington: Why DC stories rarely film in DC

By ASHRAF KHALIL land, but regularly came
Associated Press into Washington to work in
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's his father's diner.
a hobby among District of Pelecanos recalls many in-
Columbia locals: Picking accuracies in Washington-
apart glaring geographic based movies and shows,
and architectural inaccu- but he has a particular
racies in movies and televi- peeve about fire escapes.
sion shows set in Washing- It bothers him when movies
ton. purportedly set in the dis-
One of the most famous is trict show apartment build-
the 1987 film "No Way Out," ings with New York-style zig-
where Kevin Costner es- zag escapes.
capes pursuers by taking "Baltimore or New York can
a subway from George- look like D.C. to anybody
town. No subway station but Washingtonians," said
has ever existed in the tony Kyle David Crosby of Pic-
neighborhood. The open- tureshow Productions, who
ing credits of the new Ama- worked on "DC Noir."
zon show "Jack Ryan" show Still, competing against film
the title character biking to hotspots like Georgia, Loui-
work via a route that makes siana and New Mexico is
no geographic sense. hard. Washington's fund-
The reason for this discon- ing package is relatively
nect is simple: Few TV shows modest--about $5 million
or movies actually film in This image provided by Erin Aulov shows a scene on Wisconsin Avenue in the Georgetown section per year.
Washington. That's some- of Washington on July 1, 2018, during the filming of the new Wonder Woman movie. Vans Stevenson, senior vice
thing district officials are try- Associated Press president for state govern-
ing to change. They scored ment affairs for the Mo-
one success last summer in Brooklyn and "Lincoln" ing point. That's when May- Pelecanos' support has tion Picture Association of
with the filming of the Won- was filmed in Richmond, or Muriel Bowser reinstituted also helped. His popular- America, said Washington's
der Woman sequel in the Virginia — the capital of Washington's dormant tax ity is surging due to his work rebate funding is dwarfed
district. And they have a the Confederacy. rebate program. A produc- as a writer on "The Wire." by most of its rivals.
high-profile ally in author But Angela Gates, director tion spending more than Now he's the executive "They've put some money
George Pelecanos, who of Washington's Office of $250,000 filming in the dis- producer of the HBO show in it, but it's still not competi-
has set all 20 of his crime Cable Television, Film, Mu- trict can apply for a rebate "The Deuce." He recently tive," he said.
novels in the Washington sic and Entertainment, feels of up to 35% of taxable ex- completed an indepen- Still Stevenson said Wash-
area and is on a personal like the district is on a roll penditures, with further in- dent film, "DC Noir," based ington has "a wonderful
mission to turn the nation's after the "Wonder Woman" centives for hiring local resi- on his stories, and made a track record" and enjoys
capital into a film hub. shooting. dents. Her office also helps point of filming in all eight "a good reputation of be-
But they have difficulties "That says a lot about how secure permissions from of Washington's wards. ing able to accommodate
overcome. Other cities far we've come," Gates law enforcement. "The city's beautiful, and it productions."
offer more generous tax said. "When you do a proj- "We have a seat at the hasn't really been exploited Crosby said the difficulties
incentives. Filmmakers say ect well, word of mouth table now," Gates said. yet," said Pelecanos, who of filming in Washington are
Washington can be a dif- starts to get around." "These are game-changing grew up just outside the dis- often exaggerated. It can
ficult place for them —the Gates said 2016 was a turn- times for us." trict in Silver Spring, Mary- sometimes take a little lon-
entire district is a no-fly zone ger to secure permission,
for helicopters and drones. but generally the process
Those seeking film permits works. However certain
must sometimes contend sites like the Vietnam Me-
with several overlapping morial are off-limits and,
police forces: the district's "You're not putting a cam-
Metropolitan Police, Na- era crew on the steps of
tional Parks Service police, the Capitol ever. You're just
the United States Capitol not," he said.
Police and the Secret Ser- Crosby said local filming
vice. increased after the tax re-
So Washington-centric se- bates were reinstituted,
ries like "House of Cards" or with movies like "Jackie"
"Veep" typically come to and "Spider-Man: Home-
the District just to shoot what coming" filming there. But
locals call the "postcard he describes a chicken-
shots" of the monuments and-egg problem: there's
or the White House, then a shortage of specialized
do their principal filming equipment because there
elsewhere. "The Americans" aren't enough productions
was set in Washington, but to justify keeping them in
filmed in Brooklyn; "NCIS" Washington. "For now if
has been set in Washington you're going to do a major
for 16 seasons, but fakes This image provided by Bill Gray via DC Noir, LLC., shows writer George Pelecanos on the set of his project here, you're bring-
the district in southern Cali- upcoming film DC NOIR in Washington. ing most of your trucks from
fornia. "The Post" was filmed Associated Press outside," he said.q