UPDATE: Permits and schedules have been completed, and Sergeant Stephanie Egnezzo tells Baristanet that traffic may only be slowed intermittently for a few minutes at a time. Filming will take place along Church Street in the morning hours, ending around noon; after that, street meter parking will once again be available in that area. Shooting then shifts to the Bloomfield Avenue/Glenridge Avenue location, ending around 4:00; again, meter parking in that area will then open up. No full road closures are anticipated.
We’re used to film crews in Montclair, but some folks are not thrilled about a scheduled shoot tomorrow.
Late on Wednesday afternoon, businesses and residents in the affected downtown business area received flyers from a California production company, informing them that tomorrow, a Ford car commercial will be shooting between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. In accordance with township ordinances, production vehicles cannot arrive before 7 a.m. and must be gone by 9 p.m.
One tipster tells Baristanet that rolling road closures will adversely affect businesses along Bloomfield Avenue from South Park to Glenridge Avenue, others along Glenridge from Forest Avenue to Bloomfield, and those along Church Street from Bloomfield to South Park, and on South Park from Church to Bloomfield. They’re worried that on street parking will not be allowed on those blocks until shooting is done.
But according to Montclair Police Department’s Sergeant Stephanie Egnezzo, who coordinates officers to handle traffic for film shoots, “It’s not definite yet that there’s going to be complete road closures, and Bloomfield Avenue is definitely not going to be closed.” She adds that her office is still waiting for the township manager’s office to finalize and approve the production company’s permits, and advises business owners that all of the affected streets (which also include Orange and Valley Roads near Bloomfield Avenue) will not be closed all day, nor will they all be closed at the same time. The shoot will proceed from one location to another, she said, often only closing a particular road for about 15 minutes at a time. She did not have information yet about parking issues.
The Wellmont has a show scheduled for Friday night with doors opening at 7 p.m., and the area typically sees a major uptick in car and foot traffic in the early evening hours on a warm weekend night, so business owners’ concerns are easily understood.
We’ve contacted the Montclair clerk’s office, which is coordinating permits and other film production details, for more information, and will update. Meanwhile, here’s the flyer:
Top photo: Flickr
I’ve heard a rumor that the commercial is for Ford, and that Angelina Jolie is in some fashion involved. Not confirmed. Anyone else hear anything about this?
I’ve heard the same thing – have tried to confirm Angelina Jolie’s presence but no one will say anything definite.
Don’t know about parking, but Angelina Jolie will stop traffic.
Drove thru there while it was going on. Much ado about nada.