Drive by shooting

"You just can't replace New York City when it comes to movies."

As we inch closer to the Oscar celebration, our station continues to produce previews of events taking place all around the city related to the movie world. The preview pieces, all 2:30 in length are being shot in order to engage NYC TV viewers to get as excited as we are for the March 7th Oscar night, which takes place at the Kodak Center in Los Angeles, California.

It was this past week, that most of our previews were shot. These pieces include one called "Meet the Oscars," which showcases an event, here in NYC, where Oscar fans can go to the Time Warner Center and hold an Oscar. Fans can also see other Oscars that will be given out in LA next week. Another event our station covered was a bus tour--but not just any NYC bus tour. This tour takes movie fans around the city and points out locations all around the city where many movies have been shot. I was lucky enough to be invited to tag along. It was a fantastic opportunity to go on a drive by shooting...

The bus tour, which began at a diner in midtown, took us through Times Square, past Columbus Circle, along 59th street, down 5th Ave, through Washington Square, and in and out of roads on the Lower East side, before our crew hopped off to get the footage into the edit room. Overall, the tour is three hours long, but we saw only the first 40 minutes of it, which was movie overload info enough! We visited sites where Men in Black was shot and where Peter Parker lives in Spiderman. We also made stops by Benny's Pizza where many scenes in Sex and the City (the TV show) take place, the Plaza hotel, Tiffany's, the Hearst Building, and Astor Place.

The amount of movies shot in New York City is incredible. As I have mentioned in previous posts, everyday I can stop by a film or tv set to look on! The tour, itself, was beyond a fantastic experience for myself because it introduced me to a number of spots in NYC that I hadn't yet seen--for instance the arch in Washington Square Park. It's almost like your stuck in a movie all the time with much filming goes on in NYC--the filming, the premieres, and the excitement over all the visiting stars.

Of course, seeing the town wasn't my responsibility, more like a perk, as I helped our on air host and producer take notes, get interviews, and stay organized.

With the Oscars just under two weeks away when we went out on the tour, it is safe to say that the drive by shooting was enough to re-amplify my excitement for the Oscars.

To check out the 2:30 minute piece on the bus tour, check out this link:

http://nyc.gov/html/nycmg/nyctvod/html/home/tsny_oscarbustour.html