Is LA Burning?

Our client was Citgo Petroleum. They sponsored a team of “Baja” desert off-road

racing trucks, and we were in Los Angeles filming a commercial using them as an

endorsement for Citgo motor oil.

The previous day’s shooting had been action shots of the trucks in the desert.

This morning we were at a Ford Motors test track and facility in Long Beach.

Shooting things like the truck screeching to a halt in front of the camera, and

the driver saying a line.  Also, some gleaming-engine under the hood shots

and such--you know, “B-roll.”

It was early. It had been a 6 am call. Still, we kept having busted takes because

of sound.  Sirens, helicopters, etc. seemed to pop up every time the director called

Action. Of course, no one had watched the news before dragging out of the hotel

and their houses (crew) for a 6 am call.

Suddenly a fleet of cop cars burst through the gates of the closed facility and screeched

up to our camera position.  Cops wearing helmets and riot gear streamed out and

ran up yelling, “What the hell are you doing.” (This was all pre-cell phones.)

“Uh, shootin’ TV, mumble, mumble. ‘Portant bidness.  Tight schedule.”

A disgusted cop pointed to a huge pall of smoke just a couple of blocks away, “You see

that?  That’s a Safeway, and that’s a store, and THAT’s a store, and all of those.

Didn’t you hear the sirens?”

“Well, yes, we did, we lost a lot of takes to them.”

The cop sighed and explained that the Rodney King verdicts had come in, and that

the city, particularly this part of the city, was under full riot.  He said, “Throw this shit

in the truck, and get your white asses out of here. Go South. NOT North. NOW!”

By now a grip had tuned in a car radio, and was sitting white-faced in his Toyota.

We began to understand.

We loaded the grip truck and the camera van and headed out.  Making for Anaheim

as fast as we could.

We all got out safe. Then found out, that A) we could not get back to La Cienega

Blvd. to return the Camera gear, and that the rental company would give us no slack,

but would start charging for extra days. And, B) Our production insurance carrier l

aughed his ass off at the call.  He said, “You are the 15th call this morning. Production

is shut down all over the city, and the policies do not cover ‘Acts of war, Civil Unrest,

and Insurrection.’ Good luck.”

End of that part of the story:  We ended up cutting the spot together from what shots

we did get, with some Foley work and overdubbing for the lines--after all, we HAD

the exciting trucks-racing-across-the-desert shots.

HOWEVER, the personal part of the story begins.  I had a lot of frequent flier miles,

and we had friends in LA.  Our daughter was 6, and we thought a trip to Disneyland

was called for.  SO, she and her mother were flying from Dallas that morning to meet

me. By the time we figured out what was happening, they were on the plane, and

unreachable.  All I could do was check in to the La Quinta we had reserved for the

weekend in Anaheim, and hope for the best.

The first Deborah knew something was really wrong was as the plane turned for final

approach over Compton, and she could see the city ablaze.  They landed at LAX, she

got to the Hertz building, which already had bullet holes in the window, and picked up

the car. They gave her instructions on how to QUICKLY get on the freeway South, avoiding

all surface streets until near our hotel. She called me from the rent car counter, and

I was fit to be tied until she and our daughter got to the room door 45 minutes later.

We were all safe. We went to Disneyland the next morning, and, for most of her young

life, our daughter thought you could go to Disneyland and not stand in any lines--there

were FEW people there that day.