{"id":34571,"date":"2023-01-27T14:11:27","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T22:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/?p=34571"},"modified":"2023-08-10T10:55:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T17:55:02","slug":"the-tried-and-true-locations-of-amsterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/es\/the-tried-and-true-locations-of-amsterdam\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tried and True Locations of Amsterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Foiled by COVID, a period story set in New York
\nand scouted in Boston, lands in Los Angeles
\nand into the hands of LM Robert Foulkes\u2026<\/b><\/h4>\n
by Jared Cowan<\/b><\/h5>\n
All photos courtesy Robert Foulkes\/LMGI unless otherwise noted\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n
\n

\u201cI got into location managing for the creative aspect of it,\u201d says L.A.-based LM Robert Foulkes\/LMGI. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about logistics; it\u2019s about diving into the world. I love that we are among the first people hired; it\u2019s just us and a designer and a director. That was the ultimate goal: how rewarding it is to be the one that gets to help decide what the movie looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the case of Foulkes\u2019 latest credit on director David O. Russell\u2019s newest film, the WWI and Depression era-set Amsterdam<\/i>, what the movie would look like depended very much on his ability to match period locations for a story already slated to film in and around Boston playing for New York with those in Los Angeles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey had a lot of locations lined up in Massachusetts, which, honestly, a lot of them would have been really authentic, beautiful East Coast locations of the period,\u201d explains Foulkes. Russell\u2019s previous films\u2014The Fighter, American Hustle<\/i> and Joy <\/i>\u2014had all been filmed in the area.<\/p>\n

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Palace Theatre, DTLA<\/p><\/div>\n

Supervising art director Alexander Wei says, \u201cI think from that familiarity came an understanding that there\u2019s a lot of architecture, a lot of buildings, a lot of locations that haven\u2019t been touched in a very long time.\u201d Wei estimates they were about seven weeks out from principal photography when COVID hit. Over the summer of 2020, \u201cWe had to retool and figure out what the other options were,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the behest of the cast, the shoot relocated to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Production designer Judy Becker says, \u201cMy first thought was \u2018Oh, no,\u2019 because I think the exterior light is a dead giveaway that it\u2019s Los Angeles and not the East Coast. I think most people who work in a visual field can see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Becker immediately reached out to her go-to L.A. location professional, Robert Foulkes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all knew there was a finite number of period neighborhoods or buildings that would work,\u201d shares Foulkes about L.A.\u2019s limited inventory. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t constantly like, find more, find more,<\/i> which happens on some movies and it\u2019s fine if you have the time. This was just getting the decisions made on which ones we wanted to go with,\u201d says Foulkes.<\/p>\n

A Passion for Cinema<\/b><\/p>\n

In talking with Foulkes, you quickly learn that he is a fortuitous combination of location professional and cinephile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foulkes first started falling in love with movies of the 1970\u2019s\u2014he says he\u2019s more of a Close Encounters<\/i> guy than a Star Wars <\/i>guy\u2014but it was the mid-1980\u2019s when locations made a formidable impression on the L.A. native who was raised in a showbiz family. Foulkes first felt the palpable use of locations with Wim Wenders\u2019 Palme d\u2019Or-winning 1984 road movie Paris, Texas<\/i>, his favorite film of all time.<\/p>\n

Foulkes says, \u201cIt\u2019s one of the greatest location movies ever\u2014using locations to tell your story.\u201d The film brought out the locations fan in the cinephile. Fifteen years ago, he went on his own journey tracking down the movie\u2019s L.A. locations.<\/p>\n

Throughout his career, a few of his own locations have made indelible impressions on audiences. He\u2019s perhaps most often asked about closing down a major freeway interchange to film the vibrant opening musical number of La La Land<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foulkes thinks his passion for film is key for directors and designers that keep hiring him. He\u2019s reteamed with directors like Karyn Kusama, Martin McDonagh, Miguel Arteta and Ryan Murphy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get that great feeling when you\u2019re in a car with Martin McDonagh and you reference some movie and he says, \u2018Oh, yeah!\u2019 and we can have a conversation,\u201d says Foulkes. \u201cBeing able to chat about movies is not a requirement for the job, but it makes it great when you can have those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foulkes has worked two times with the Oscar-winning husband-and-wife team of production designer David Wasco and set decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (Seven Psychopaths, La La Land<\/i>). His multiple collaborations with the Oscar-nominated Becker (Feud, Ratched<\/i>) are fueled by a love of cinema.<\/p>\n

Wei says Foulkes and Becker will often reference movies, even the most obscure, as a way to communicate the creative needs of a particular show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The S.S. Lane Victory, San Pedro<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just sort of always talking in what, to some people, might seem like a code. Judy will say, \u2018Oh, halfway through on this movie, the camera goes down and we see the ceiling. We need a ceiling like that,\u2019 and Robert will know exactly what she needs,\u201d says Wei, laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes people like Judy\u2014and he also has a great relationship with director Karyn Kusama\u2014to understand the power of having a guy like Robert who is a real filmmaker,\u201d says KALM Alyjoe D. Valdez\/LMGI.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll photograph a location like a director. He\u2019ll put a lens to it and visualize what a shot might be,\u201d says Wei.<\/p>\n

Foulkes finds joy in scouring real estate sites or news articles to find something out of the ordinary he can show a production designer or director. He has an immense, personal computer database of locations he\u2019s photographed over three decades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of location managers who just show me the usual places, which we\u2019ve all seen a million times. So, I\u2019m having to educate them about architecture, and forget about cinema because that\u2019s not even on the plate,\u201d says Becker, who, along with Wasco, successfully sponsored Foulkes\u2019 invitation into the Designers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2020. \u201cRobert cares about movies and has a knowledge of cinema and a knowledge of architecture. Obviously, he knows L.A. really well, but he cares, he really<\/i> cares.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(L-R): John David Washington as Harold, Margot Robbie as Valerie, Matthias Schoenaerts as Detective Lem Getweiler, and Alessandro Nivola as Detective Hiltz. Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace. \u00a9 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.<\/p><\/div>\n

A Closely Guarded Script<\/b><\/p>\n

Russell\u2019s conspiracy-fraught murder mystery, loosely based on real-life historical intrigue, shot in L.A. from mid-January through mid-March of 2021. It opened in theaters on October 7, 2022. It is now available to stream on multiple platforms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With friendships forged on the French front lines of WWI, in a Belgian infirmary and during heady post-war bohemian-fueled months in Amsterdam, the three main characters meet up again in 1933 New York and discover the truth behind a disturbing, dark money plot to install a fascist dictator in the White House. Christian Bale, John David Washington and Margot Robbie\u2014with a brief appearance by Taylor Swift\u2014are among the star-studded cast.<\/p>\n

The script was kept under tight wraps. At first, even Foulkes wasn\u2019t given a copy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was slipped a script early on from Judy. I was like, \u2018I\u2019ve got to read the thing.\u2019 And she realized, \u2018Of course you have to read the thing.\u2019 That\u2019s what you would normally do as a location manager!\u201d says Foulkes, laughing at the absurdity.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest challenges for Foulkes was sifting through the scout photos from Massachusetts while considering the limitations of period, film-friendly locations in L.A.\u2014while also having to deal with the strict COVID protocols that were now in place.<\/p>\n

Wei recalls, \u201cWhen we started shooting in January of 2021, that\u2019s when COVID was really spiking in L.A. SAG was urging all productions to shut down. We were one of the few, if not the only one, that just stayed the course. There\u2019s one location that we prepped, and we were ready to shoot, but it would have put the whole company out on a street in downtown, in the Arts District, which was just too much exposure for the neighborhood and the crew.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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First Baptist Church of Pasadena<\/p><\/div>\n

Those concerns put constraints on production throughout the filming. Though Foulkes says that it\u2019s unfortunate the movie couldn\u2019t have featured more exteriors, he doesn\u2019t think it handicapped the film. The self-contained tone is actually somewhat reconcilable within the context of the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe movie wanted to be kind of interior,\u201d says Foulkes. \u201cIt\u2019s about the faces and the characters and the dialog. It had a very controlled vibe to it. This was almost like a play. As you were watching it, it felt like you couldn\u2019t turn the camera anywhere. It was very specific on what you were looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ready for Their Close-Ups<\/b><\/p>\n

Amsterdam<\/i> largely unfolds in New York City\u2014the home of Broadway\u2014and the setting of the film\u2019s climax is an old, vaudeville theater. A downtown Los Angeles venue, a Pasadena mansion, neighborhoods frozen in time, and recognizable maritime locales like the Queen Mary<\/i> (doubling as the interior of New York\u2019s famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel) and the S.S. Lane Victor<\/i>y in San Pedro would provide grand backdrops for the film\u2019s settings\u00ad\u2014and final send-off.<\/p>\n

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Period vehicles, Pasadena<\/p><\/div>\n

Even the most trained eye is likely to be delighted and surprised by the employment of these and the handful of other oft-shot period locations that make up the visual character of Amsterdam<\/i>. \u201cWe have to do something to amend them somehow,\u201d says Wei, \u201cor shoot them in such a way that it feels fresh, which is a very daunting task.\u201d<\/p>\n

Limited as they may be, Los Angeles\u2019 period gems are, and always have been, ready for their close-ups. And doubling locations for other places is a Hollywood staple. Except for an office build and Paramount\u2019s backlot providing exteriors for New York\u2019s Park Avenue and a careening car chase on city streets, Foulkes and his team assembled the film\u2019s world with practical L.A. locations.<\/p>\n

The Team<\/b><\/p>\n

Though his assistants were never privy to the script, they managed to stay on top of their game. Except for ALM closer Victor Soriano, Foulkes had previously worked with all the members of his Location Department. \u201cWe had already bonded together as a team, so I was happy to have them back on board for this shoot, which actually turned out to be quite ambitious,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That team included his longtime KALM, Tristan Daoussis\/LMGI. With Amsterdam<\/i> under their belts, Foulkes and Daoussis have, by IMDb\u2019s account, worked together on 13 shows. The two have become not only colleagues, but also great friends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got the personality for the job. He\u2019s really good at scouting,\u201d Foulkes says of Daoussis, who handled the Pasadena mansion location, among others, for this project. \u201cHe\u2019s an incredible people person. He really gets to know people and care about them. He\u2019ll accumulate friends. He\u2019s still friends with people in Sylva, North Carolina, from Three Billboards<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daoussis says that Foulkes always encourages creativity. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t just settle for what some others would,\u201d says Daoussis. \u201cWith Robert, we\u2019re not just people that go out and scout. He\u2019s super open for us as a team to come up with an idea. I think that\u2019s what kind of keeps us going, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

KALM Kevin Danchisko\/LMGI wrangled the Paramount lot and the filming at the Queen Mary<\/i>, and KALM Danny Finn\/LMGI was the office coordinator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both KALM\u2019s, Valdez and Maria De La Rosa\/LMGI, had worked at the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. (EIDC) before it became FilmLA. Valdez is an expert in permitting and De La Rosa has a background in community outreach. Valdez started with Foulkes as KALM on Ratched<\/i>; De La Rosa\u2019s first gig with Foulkes was on Ford v Ferrari<\/i> (2019) as a coordinator.<\/p>\n

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The general\u2019s house exterior, Angelino Heights<\/p><\/div>\n

Batman & a Clever KALM Charm Angelino Heights<\/b><\/p>\n

Toward the end of Ford v Ferrari<\/i>, Foulkes told De La Rosa that he wanted to make her a key on his next show. She had no prior key experience and assumed that her career path was going to be location coordinating.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just had a feeling that her instincts would be great in the field,\u201d says Foulkes. He assigned her to prep locations in Angelino Heights, the historic neighborhood near downtown L.A. known for its picturesque Victorian homes\u2014and the challenges presented to the intrepid filmmakers who dare to venture there.<\/p>\n

Film tourism\u2014or film vandalism\u2014has brought heated ire to Angelino Heights. The blockbuster franchise The Fast & the Furious<\/i> has set up shop in the neighborhood over multiple sequels. As a result, there have been reports of speeding cars blazing through the narrow, hilly streets and burning \u201cdonuts\u201d\u2014visible on Google satellite view\u2014into the scorched pavement<\/p>\n

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Voze Residence, Exterior Pasadena Mansion<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThat area really does read well for the Northeast,\u201d says Becker, who had never shot there before, but was quick to see that the neighborhood had the perfect look for the film.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually avoided Angelino Heights at first because it\u2019s well known to be tricky. The rules are hard,\u201d says De La Rosa. Adds Foulkes, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot to keep track of, people to keep happy and you have to know where you can and can\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n

De La Rosa admits, \u201cI honestly looked to Robert like, \u2018How do we do it?\u201d\u2019<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Familiar with her prior experience working in field services at the film office and, for a time, gathering signature surveys with Pacific Production Services (PPS), Foulkes knew she would be perfectly suited for the task. She also had a secret weapon that would prove just as valuable: From 2003 to 2007, De La Rosa had actually lived in the neighborhood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She says, \u201cIt gave me an instant respect for everybody. Anytime I spoke to anyone, I said, \u2018Hey, so this is what\u2019s happening, and actually, I used to live here.\u2019\u201d Foulkes\u2019 faith in her abilities would pay off.<\/p>\n

The production was able to close down the intersection of Kensington Road at Douglas Street, a main thoroughfare connecting Sunset Boulevard to the north with Bellevue Avenue to the south. \u201cNo one\u2019s ever been able to do that before or since,\u201d says Valdez.<\/p>\n

An apartment interior was set inside an 1888 Victorian on Kensington Road, a particularly sensitive street. The home of the general played by Robert De Niro, a highly decorated Marine who is unknowingly at the center of a Nazi coup attempt, was split into two homes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The exterior was a corner-situated Victorian that Foulkes had used as Annette Bening\u2019s house in Running with Scissors<\/i>. It had the terrain where it would be easy to film a character rolling down a hill\u2014a detail important to the director\u2019s vision for a scene that barely made the final cut. It would also provide a wide shot of the neighborhood in a rare daytime exterior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wei says the Running with Scissors<\/i> house lacked an interior staircase for the natural progression of the characters walking in and up a flight of stairs. So, production moved over to the neighborhood\u2019s noted centerpiece, Carroll Avenue, and the interior of the famous red house from the fan-favorite WB series, Charmed<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Wow, is this the first time that the Charmed<\/i> house is being used and you don\u2019t even know it\u2019s the Charmed<\/i> house?\u2019\u201d says De La Rosa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Between contract negotiations, prep, shoot and strike, De La Rosa spent almost every day for about a month in Angelino Heights. During that time, she became friendly with an out-of-work single mother whose driveway she had rented for truck parking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Maria De La Rosa at the \u201cCharmed house,\u201d Angelino Heights<\/p><\/div>\n

One day, the woman and her 8-year-old son were watching the filming from across the street. De La Rosa happily pointed out the actors on set\u2014Bale amongst them. The woman told her son, \u2018That\u2019s Batman.\u2019 Just then, a producer approached De La Rosa and requested that she ask the woman and the boy to move along. De La Rosa informed the producer that it was a public street and because they weren\u2019t interfering, they could stay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

De La Rosa diplomatically suggested that they simply relocate to the other side of the street, and then move again when the crew moved. \u201cJust keep playing that game,\u201d De La Rosa told her. \u201cBut don\u2019t go home. It\u2019s your neighborhood. COVID\u2019s the only thing we have to worry about.\u201d De La Rosa then excused herself to check on one of the other houses that production was using.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, the woman told De La Rosa that after she had left them, her son had insisted on going home to change into his Batman pajamas. They returned to set, taking up their spot to watch the filming when Bale started walking toward them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe figures he\u2019s walking to a hair and makeup person or something. The next think you know, Christian Bale is standing in front of them, introducing himself and asking their names. Then, he kneels down and has a 10-minute conversation with her son!\u201d says De La Rosa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the best memories about doing this<\/i> neighborhood on this<\/i> movie. They were told to go away, and Christian Bale noticed, and Christian Bale made it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valdez enthusiastically concurs, \u201cIt\u2019s these moments where people are like, \u2018That was priceless. Come shoot in my neighborhood anytime!\u2019\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

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Voze residence, interior Guasti Villa at the Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens, LA. Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mansions and Troublesome Topiary<\/b><\/p>\n

Two historic homes were merged to create an old money mansion for a tycoon businessman and his conniving wife\u2014both Nazi sympathizers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The magnificent wood-paneled interior of the Voze residence was that of the Guasti Villa at the Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. The mansion was built between 1910-1914 for an Italian winemaker. In 1937, revered film director and choreographer Busby Berkeley purchased the Italian Renaissance-style mansion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The exterior location of the mansion, however, was jeopardized when unexpected set dressing was proposed.<\/p>\n

The Tudor-style brick mansion built in 1928 on affluent S. San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena is one of the most filmed houses in the L.A. area. It\u2019s appeared in movies like Stand by Me, Dead Again, Rush Hour, Bowfinger<\/i> and Bridesmaids<\/i>\u2014along with scores of \u201970s and \u201980s television shows. It\u2019s arguably most famous as the exterior of Wayne Manor from the wonderfully campy 1960\u2019s Batman<\/i> TV series.<\/p>\n

Dea Brawley, an L.A.-based location agent who represents the house, says she doesn\u2019t show the San Rafael property that often. She goes off instinct, depending on the people involved and whether the nature of the project is a good fit for the owner. In this case, Brawley says that Foulkes was key. \u201cHe\u2019s just lovely to work with. I trust him. To help him, I\u2019d bend over backward,\u201d says Brawley. \u201cHe\u2019s smart, he\u2019s kind and he\u2019s thoughtful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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On set still from 20th Century Studios’ AMSTERDAM. Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace. \u00a9 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.<\/p><\/div>\n

The house had already been secured for filming when the idea sprouted to install a topiary swastika in the middle of the home\u2019s circular driveway. Brawley says, \u201cWhen they asked me, my stomach sank to the floor. I didn\u2019t quite know how to make this happen for them. So, I took a long pause, maybe for 12 hours or so, before I even broached the question to the property owner in the most thoughtful manner I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wei says, \u201cRobert and I spoke about that swastika for weeks on end. It was always evolving. Robert really had to work his magic to get approval for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a lot of back-and-forth emails,\u201d says Foulkes. \u201cI have emails in which the owner wrote back saying, \u2018I do not want this.\u2019\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big thing, and I don\u2019t know how they convinced the owner,\u201d says Becker. \u201cThis is basically a story about the American Nazi movement and bringing that to light and informing people about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely made it clear the story is completely antifascist and not celebrating this,\u201d says Foulkes. Brawley explained to the property owner the era in which the film took place, saying,\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey need to do it because they need to establish the emotional, impactful drama of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The homeowner eventually agreed, but there was a limited window in which the offensive shrubbery was allowed on the property, and it had to be covered when the camera wasn\u2019t rolling.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a complicated greens thing to do. It was live brush, but we built it on a plywood base, so we didn\u2019t have to dig into the grass,\u201d says Wei. \u201cThere was a short window of time between cutting the brush, assembling it and still having it last for the shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result is a haunting, high angle shot void of people with the world\u2019s most reviled hate symbol situated in front of a long-established filming location that is instantly transformed into something a far cry from Wayne Manor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was huge,\u201d recalls Daoussis about the shrubbery drama and the sensitive Pasadena neighborhood as a whole. But he is proud of what they were able to accomplish. \u201cLooking back,\u201d he says, \u201cI\u2019m happy that we did it. It\u2019s kind of like La La Land<\/i>. At the time you\u2019re going, \u2018What have we gotten ourselves into?<\/i> What are we doing?\u2019 Then, years later, people go, \u2018Ohhh, that freeway scene\u2026!\u2019 So, in the end, it\u2019s all worth it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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WW1 French front line,\u00a0RSI-Lanterman, Pomona. Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallac.e<\/p><\/div>\n

Finding Europe<\/b><\/p>\n

To film 1918 Europe, production moved to the San Gabriel Valley. RSI\u2014Lanterman, in Pomona, the site of a former state-run developmental disability center that closed in 2014 after 87 years in operation, is a today a sprawling, 800-plus acre, film-friendly campus just an hour out of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The facility opened in 1927 as an asylum meant to segregate the \u201cfeeble-minded,\u201d a term the state defined as those who were mentally deficient or couldn\u2019t care for themselves. Perhaps most disturbing about the facility\u2019s early history is its dealings in eugenics and sterilization, a subject that is broached in Amsterdam<\/i> during a scene filmed at the location. In the 1960\u2019s, it reorganized into the Lanterman Developmental Center and refocused its efforts into the research, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration into society of the developmentally disabled.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome buildings had been renovated to some degree over time and some buildings had just clearly been abandoned,\u201d says Wei. \u201cYou can definitely find buildings that have never been touched and are pretty accurate to their original time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like you\u2019re on a studio lot, but there\u2019s nobody there to bother you,\u201d says Daoussis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty creepy,\u201d adds Becker. \u201cThere\u2019s these little old playgrounds and a little swimming pool and everything\u2019s deserted.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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L-R: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington at Amsterdam Apartment, First Baptist Church of Pasadena. Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace.<\/p><\/div>\n

In some cases, Foulkes says there\u2019s the potential of sacrificing aesthetic at a one-stop shop, but Amsterdam<\/i> was able to successfully get six solid looks at Lanterman. They include the French front lines\u2014ilmed during a rare rainy day in Southern California\u2014an office interior, and a few settings that didn\u2019t make it into the film.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Back in Pasadena, the filmmakers were able to transform rooms and corridors at the First Baptist Church of Pasadena into a Belgian hospital and Valerie\u2019s Amsterdam apartment, built in place on the top floor.<\/p>\n

The Romanesque-style church was built in 1925. Foulkes says, \u201cThat was definitely an example of, you\u2019re looking for a period aesthetic and you\u2019re not going to hospitals for this. You\u2019re creating it somewhere with the correct type of corridors, the correct type of hardware on the doors, and the size of the room and the way the light comes in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we\u2019d just find a room that would work for one shot and turn it into something entirely different,\u201d says Wei, referencing a quick shot of a deceased general played by Ed Begley Jr. lying in a pine coffin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was probably my favorite of all the locations,\u201d says Becker. \u201cIt had so much we could do there!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Interior of New York\u2019s famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Queen Mary, Long Beach
Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace.<\/p><\/div>\n

Rallying for the Grand Finale<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The film\u2019s dramatic finale, where the evil plot to co-opt a modest veterans\u2019 gala is exposed, is loosely inspired by two dissimilar events both held inside the third iteration of New York\u2019s Madison Square Garden: a 1937 \u201cBoycott Nazi Germany\u201d rally and a 1939 Nazi rally billed as pro-American.<\/p>\n

Becker says, \u201cIt was envisioned as more of a huge hall, more like a Nazi-looking assembly place, very brutalist, very Albert Speer.\u201d Her East Coast location manager, David Velasco, had already presented the perfect location in the Worcester Memorial Auditorium in Massachusetts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the move to L.A., it was now up to Foulkes to match the venue\u2014and meet the expectation. He was given the time to scout what he says were incredible auditoriums throughout California. \u201cThe theater was sort of the anchor,\u201d he says. \u201cThe idea was if we could find an auditorium that made everyone go \u2018Wow, we have to use this one,\u2019 then you could definitely find period houses.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But nothing ever stuck. L.A.\u2019s Shrine Expo Hall and Variety Arts Center were favorites for a while, says Foulkes, but COVID meant limiting extras. The idea of a large, cavernous space gave way to finding something less massive in downtown L.A.\u2019s historic movie houses. The decision was finally made to use the 1911 Palace Theatre.<\/p>\n

Valdez, who managed the Palace with Daoussis, says the max amount of background permitted was about 120. \u201cLooking at those scenes, they did look pretty full of people. I think the Palace gave David flexibility because once you\u2019re in the thing, and the way they had it set up, you could almost do a 360 and you\u2019re still in New York in the \u201930s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becker says, \u201cThere was less to cover up at the Palace. It looked more period; it didn\u2019t have anything egregious. By egregious, I mean for the story. All of the theaters are beautiful, but the Palace is not so fancy that it feels weird for the scene. It feels a little bit more down to earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little more intimate,\u201d says Daoussis. \u201cIt does have an older Broadway feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

A staircase off the stage right wing that leads into the rafters provided a dynamic, multilevel setting for a climactic chase sequence.<\/p>\n

Scenes shot at the Palace featured not only the three leads, but also the remaining star-studded cast, including De Niro, Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Zoe Salda\u00f1a and Timothy Olyphant. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was probably the biggest base camp that I\u2019ve had to deal with,\u201d says Daoussis. Without one central parking lot that could handle the infrastructure, and COVID dictating social distancing, Daoussis had six or seven parking lots being utilized at all times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The amount of talent and producers on set meant major coordination in the narrow alley behind the Palace, where Escalades were on constant rotation dropping off and picking up at the backstage door. Valdez says that garbage trucks, disgruntled businessowners and the homeless\u2014all who require or desire access to the alley\u2014are standard items to address at a location like the Palace. \u201cBut when you have 20 Escalades,\u201d says Valdez, \u201cit just multiplies. Most shoots you\u2019ve got four or five Escalades to deal with. One day on Amsterdam,<\/i> I counted 25.\u201d<\/p>\n

It Is All Worth It<\/b><\/p>\n

Amsterdam<\/i> has been honored with a California On Location Award (COLA) nomination for De La Rosa as \u201cKey Assistant Location Manager of the Year in a Feature Film.\u201d Win or lose, it\u2019s an acknowledgment of her tireless work in Angelino Heights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was hoping that would happen for her because Angelino Heights was her baby,\u201d says Foulkes.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the greater reward came when De La Rosa learned that the single, out-of-work mom whose son had met Batman in Angelino Heights had, soon after the filming wrapped, started working with a friend who happened to be in locations. The woman eventually earned admission into the union\u2014Teamsters Local 399\u2014and is now working as an ALM.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018That\u2019s cool!\u2019\u201d<\/i> exclaims De La Rosa. Presented with the idea that she may have changed this woman\u2019s life, she responds modestly, \u201cI didn\u2019t even think of it that way. Hopefully,\u00a0 <\/span>we will get to work together!\u201d<\/p>\n

The location team on Amsterdam<\/i> was essential to the creative reimagining of where the story could be told. The success of the filming in Los Angeles is a testament to the resourcefulness of production, steadily moving forward in spite of the pandemic and a major location switch. Having to work within the constraints of a finite list of period 1920\u2019s and 1930\u2019s locations in many sensitive areas, and also managing the logistics required to accommodate the large cast, Valdez and Daoussis admit that Amsterdam<\/i> was one of the toughest shoots they\u2019ve ever worked on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foulkes agrees, \u201cIt\u2019s funny, on paper it doesn\u2019t look like this would have been the challenge it was because there are a lot of interiors. But this was a challenging movie. I will look back on it proud of what we pulled off because it was a lot to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"

L to R: AJ Valdez\/LMGI, Robert Foulkes\/LMGI,
Kevin Danchisko\/LMGI, Maria De La Rosa\/LMGI.
Photo courtesy of Maria De La Rosa.<\/p><\/div>\n

AMSTERDAM LOCATION DEPARTMENT:<\/b><\/p>\n

Robert Foulkes\/LMGI<\/b> – <\/b>LM<\/p>\n

Maria De La Rosa\/LMGI<\/b> – <\/b>KALM\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tristan Daoussis\/LMGI<\/b> – <\/b>KALM<\/p>\n

Alyjoe D. Valdez\/LMGI<\/b> – <\/b>KALM<\/p>\n

Danny Finn\/LMGI<\/b> – <\/b>KALM<\/p>\n

Kevin Danchisko\/LMGI<\/b> – <\/b>KALM<\/p>\n

Victor Soriano<\/b> – ALM<\/p>\n

Selso Ladera<\/b> – Security Coordinator<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LM Robert Foulkes\/LMGI got into location managing for the creative aspect of it. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about logistics; it\u2019s about diving into the world.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":34572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured"},"yoast_head":"\nThe Tried and True Locations of Amsterdam - Location Managers Guild International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/es\/the-tried-and-true-locations-of-amsterdam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Tried and True Locations of Amsterdam - Location Managers Guild International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LM Robert Foulkes\/LMGI got into location managing for the creative aspect of it. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about logistics; 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