At last night's ANC meeting, a representative from the Mayor's office filled us in on some of the details:
- Filming could begin within weeks, with a wrap by Thanksgiving.
- Half of the film crew will be local.
- Half of the 12 parking spaces reserved for construction of the home will come back during production for neighborhood parking.
- The location cannot be revealed, so you should not assume it's at 2000 S Street, NW.
- MPD will be involved at keeping neighborhood order.
The MPD issue is one that I raised last night. Though MPD's Special Operations division normally works on movie and TV filming projects, the Second District's office should have been looped in much sooner. When I spoke with Acting Lt. John McDonald on Monday and invited him to the ANC meeting to talk about this issue, he had no knowledge of anything. And when I asked about MPD meetings with the Mayor's office and production company, the Mayor's office reponded affirmatively, until I corrected him, with Lt. McDonald's input. The Second District needs to be wrapped in to all of these discussions as this will undoubtely have a major impact on the neighborhood.
Commissioner Will Stephens asked another very good question about the permitting process. In particular, almost all other permits need to go through the ANC so that we can provide "great weight" before they are issued. This permit did not, and in fact the ANC was not briefed until the day that everything was made "official". For something this disruptive, the neighborhood should be involved to the maximum extent possible.
Finally, it's not all doom and gloom. This is a great opportunity to showcase our neighborhood and the diversity of our community. I'm so thrilled to have MTV coming here, and the economic benefits that will follow will help us all in a time where it's difficult for so many people to make ends meet.
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