"Movie filming" or surveillance? - You decide.

D Rusak

D Rusak

Jedi Council Member
I received this notice from work this week:

Dear Residents and Business Owners,
Ring of Fire Productions is scheduled to film scenes for their upcoming feature
film in your neighborhood on the following date:
Saturday, October 11th, 2008
On this day we will be filming scenes on the rooftop of a building in the area of
16th & Market Streets. To accomplish these scenes we will require filming from,
and of, helicopters. There will be two helicopters flying and hovering in the
vicinity of 16th & Market Streets for the duration of the day, beginning at 5:00am.
These helicopters will be marked with FBI insignia and outfitted with film
cameras.
It is our hope, that by informing you and your neighbors that we will alleviate
any confusion as to that nature of the helicopters presence. We are working with
the Philadelphia Film Office, Managing Directors Office and the Philadelphia
Police Department to insure that our presence does not inadvertently create a
concern for any of the area residents and businesses.
In this effort, we are working very hard to inform everyone who may be affected
by the filming. To assist us in this effort we kindly ask that you help us by
alerting your tenants and neighbors and to help spread that word of the activity.
We look forward to filming in your neighborhood, and will try to do whatever
we can to minimize the impact on the neighborhood. If you have any questions
or special concerns, please contact the Location Department at 312-213-8278c.
Thank You,
Edward J. Eberwine III
Locations Department
Ring of Fire Productions
312-213-8278c
215-825-7082o
Greater Philadelphia Film Office
Erin Jackson
(215) 686-2668
Click to expand...

Now it so happens that here in Philadelphia there are four Obama rallies today. The helicopters have been hovering outside my office, which is located right across from city hall, all day. My coworker and I felt there was something fishy. We googled "Ring of Fire Productions" and couldn't find evidence of a real filming company by this name.
There is a website that lists "Ring of Fire Productions" as a non-profit. Some info affiliated with this:
RING OF FIRE PRODUCTIONS INC
394 GRAHAM AVE STE A
BROOKLYN, NY 11211-2424
Contact: BRADFORD L BROWN
Employee Identification Number: 061550337
Ruling Date: May 2000
Deductions: Contributions are deductible
Foundation Type: Private non-operating foundation.
Organization Type: Corporation
Latest Return Filed: June 2001
Filing Requirement: 990 - Not required to file. 990 - PF return.
Fiscal Year End Date: June
Asset Amount: $12,285
Income Amount: $34,466
Form 990 Revenue Amount: $12,821
Organization Type: Theater
_http://www.charity-charities.org/charityinfo.php?ID=279703&page=93

There is a Bradford L. Brown who has military flight associations. See _http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=26349
I do not know, of course, if it's the same guy.

Also, at the same address (394 GRAHAM AVE BROOKLYN, NY), there just *happens* to be a security company- Greenpoint Security Services.

We also haven't seen any actual sets or ground crews in the vicinity, although a lot of streets have been closed, then opened, then closed again (at least since 8 this morning. It's almost 11 now.)

Will keep y'all posted......
 
The helicopter went away for a while starting at 11 noon, but it came back at noon for 10 minutes, hovering above an office building on the 1600 block of Market. The sidewalk is roped off, still no ground crews to be seen. There's a police car at the corner of 16th/Market- behind it is a police taped-off area, a dumpster-looking thing with I can't really tell what in it- a bunch of bags or something, and a guy spraying the road and sidewalk with a hose. Market St has been opened up for traffic again.
 
This is really weird- I just checked google again for "ring of fire productions". All of these new links came up that I swear weren't there a few hours ago. I wish I had a screen shot. Can anyone verify this? There were only two pages of hits this morning, that had almost identical information.
 
Well, searching for "ring of fire productions" turned up a nonprofit listing, and that looked a bit weird.

Another search popped up this: RING OF FIRE PRODUCTIONS INC in the Theatrical Producers (Except Motion Picture) and Miscellaneous Theatrical Services industry in BROOKLYN, NY. This company currently has approximately 5 to 10 employees and annual sales of $500,000 to $999,999.

Industry: Theatrical Producers (Except Motion Picture) and Miscellaneous Theatrical Services
Year Founded: 1999
Sales Range: $500,000 to $999,999
Employees: 5 to 10

People at this Company
Name Title
BRADFORD BROWN OWNER

Location Information

613 E 3RD ST
BROOKLYN, NY 11218
Phone: (***) ***-**** (edit mine)
Location Type: Stand Alone

Source: http://start.cortera.com/company/dispatcher/searchCustomer

If you do another search on "ring of fire studios", there is one located in Los Angeles and they are a headquarters, and they do film.

Not sure how either one works out, but if they spent their money on the helicopters and cops, they may not need a ground crew if all they are doing is footage.

fwiw
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Trending content

Back
Top Bottom