‘Ira Finkelstein’s Christmas’ crew back in West Seattle today

(Photo added 10:39 am)
A note from David about “lots of activity on Beach Drive” this morning reminded us that Beach Drive Blog mentioned this on Thursday – the movie “Ira Finkelstein’s Christmas” is back in West Seattle today. Same movie we reported on last weekend, with the palm trees placed temporarily so Alki could stand in for Florida; BDB says a house near Me-Kwa-Mooks is doing the same thing. (And we believe the palm tree in BDB’s photo has long been growing there.)

ADDED 12:45 PM: Beach Drive Blog is all over it – including photos of the stars. Here’s the latest BDB update.

George April 29, 2011 (8:55 am)

This is the stupidest thing I have seen in a long time. I want to watch this movie and look for the snow covered Olympics in the background of this Florida beach.

Rhonda Porter April 29, 2011 (9:02 am)

Those beautiful palm trees are the homeowners. They really baby them every winter…swaddled in blankets. :)

Laurie April 29, 2011 (9:40 am)

George, consider that these filmmakers are out there being creative and doing their best with limited funds. I think that’s pretty cool.

West Seattle Steve April 29, 2011 (11:12 am)

George,

There are lots of films shot in BC that stand in for Seattle, Chicago, LA, etc. It’s pretty standard practice.

MercyMoi April 29, 2011 (11:21 am)

By the way, lifelong West Seattleite, Angela DiMarco is playing Ira’s mom, Rosie Finkelstein!

WSB April 29, 2011 (11:29 am)

Thanks, Mercy!

bebecat April 29, 2011 (11:36 am)

Can’t the digitally remove the snow covered mountains with todays technology?

I. Ponder April 29, 2011 (11:46 am)

The Chinese Windmill Palm, Trachycarpus fortunei is perfectly happy here in Seattle. Needs no babying against low temps. Likes regular water and can be damaged by wind. Has been grown here for over 100 years. Some old specimens are very tall. They are not tropical palms. Very hardy. Plant more. Some people accidentally buy Washingtonia palms at HD. They aren’t hardy enough for our recent cold spells.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachycarpus_fortunei

Rhonda Porter April 29, 2011 (2:23 pm)

I was invited inside the home during filming and between the home’s large wood blinds and all of the additional plants that have been added to the set, I’d be surprised if the Olympics will be visible with the finished movie… have to wait until November to see!

RG April 29, 2011 (2:52 pm)

I was walking by there this morning and asked two gents what was going on there at that house and they were really rude. They also snubbed an older gentleman who was also simply curious. As someone whose family is in the film community of New York and LA, I have this to offer those two gents; 1) not everyone is star-struck, impressed, or cares what your job is, 2) working on scene is mostly boring, tedious, and unglamorous so why not just be nice to the locals, 3) be careful who you snub, you never know who they are, or who they know, 4) in case that older gentleman was waiting for the bus or something you should have offered him the bench so he could sit down (I hope you did, at least after I left).

Tony April 29, 2011 (4:06 pm)

They also parked one of their RVs really close to the Jacobsen intersection. This basically made it VERY difficult to make a left turn from Jacobsen to southbound Beach Drive (it’s hard enough when nothing is parked there). When this problem was pointed out to them with a suggestion that they move it their fine security staff made it quite plain that this was not something they were interested in.

cher stefano April 29, 2011 (4:45 pm)

I was there this afternoon and saw Elliot Gould and thought all the people there were exceptionally nice. They were very patient with passers by and one of the gals stepped aside to tell me all about the house the movie and the Palm trees and the fact that they chose that setting because it is suppose to be Florida. She made me feel welcome on my nosy venture. I also had no problem navigating Beach Drive or any of the intersections. They set their cones and trailers up very discreetly. If I wasn’t such a nosy Gladys Kravitz type I would have just continued driving by with my dog after his walk on the beach. Kudos to the folks on the film crew for their pleasant behavior today. Made my day a little more interesting.

crow April 30, 2011 (12:27 pm)

i am a west seattle resident, and a member of the movies art depatment. all scenes were strategically framed to appear realistic, (as best as our low budget will allow). the locations department did an amazing job finding this location in west seattle. our crew are polite & considerate as possible, but do have a large footprint, and does impact the nieghborhood. there are quite a few west seattlites employed in this production and we all enjoyed the commute & working near home! thanks weat seattle…

Sorry, comment time is over.