Motion Picture SALT to be partially shot in Albany

[Skaggs]

A "scoop" for all the AlbanyHDTV forum members:

As part of my full time job, I have been involved in the preparations for a major motion picture named Salt to be shot in Albany.

We are still making the final preparations for the scenes to be shot in Albany, but filming will begin in April 2009. The film stars Angelina Jolie as an operative/spy who is being chased by the CIA. While the movie is set in Washington DC, the highway chase scenes will be shot here. Obviously, it is a little easier to close highways here for filming than in the nation's capital. Also, the NYS Governor's Office for Motion Picture Development is providing huge tax incentives to draw movie production to NYS.

Here's two links to the few stories I could find on the internet concerning this film:

Angelina Jolie To Take Over For Tom Cruise In Action Film

Jolie the Next ‘Edward A. Salt’

[the block]

cool.. you'll have to keep us informed of when mrs. jolie will be entering the capital district

what do you do for work (generally) if you don't mind my asking?

[ebo]

For a highway chase scene she might not be here at all. Any scenes that show her in the car would probably be shot on a set elsewhere. These days they could even put her face on the stunt driver (a trick first used in Jurassic Park, IIRC).

[Skaggs]

She is not actually driving in the scenes, but being chased on foot. She jumps on top of vehicles to flee the CIA....and yes, she will be here in the Capital District for the filming.

As for my job, you can probably figure it out for yourself using engineering judgement. I don't work in the film industry.

[Skaggs]

Here's your chance to be in a movie....

Casting calls have been announced for EXTRAS in the movie SALT starring Angelina Jolie. Read the casting call announcement for more info.

[Skaggs]

I just found out from the publicist that there was an article in the Times Union last week. Here it is:

Jolie movie to shoot in Albany
By DANIELLE FURFARO, Albany Times Union Staff writer
First published: Saturday, March 28, 2009

This spring, a different kind of salt might hit Albany roads.

Columbia Pictures has filed permit applications with the city as well as the state to use interstate roads to film car chase scenes for an action-thriller called "Salt," which will star Angelina Jolie.

Film crews will be here from April 24 through 26 and May 1 through 4, said Bob Van Amburgh, Albany's mayoral executive assistant. He said he was unsure exactly where the filming will take place, but believes it might be on I-787 at the interchange of I-90. State Department of Transportation officials declined to comment.

"Any time you mention that Hollywood is coming to town, it tends to conjure a degree of curiosity and of putting your city on the map," said Van Amburgh. "It also comes with some inconveniences, and hopefully those will be at a minimum."

Most details of the film, which is set for a 2010 release, have not yet been revealed. But according to IMDb.com, Jolie plays a Russian sleeper spy on the run from capture by U.S. agents. It will also star Liev Schreiber.

Columbia Pictures spokeswoman Julie Kuehndorf declined to say whether Jolie will be in town for the shoot. If she does, wives might want to hold onto their husbands.

The Capital Region has been a hot spot for movie production in the past couple of years. Last summer, "Taking Woodstock," based on a book about an activist who scrambled to find a home for the legendary 1969 concert, was filmed in and around Columbia County. "Winter of Frozen Dreams," a murder drama filmed in Schenectady in 2007, is set for imminent release. And "Frozen River," which was written and directed by East Chatham resident Courtney Hurt, was nominated for two Academy Awards earlier this year.

All of this action harkens back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, when several major movies were filmed in this area, including "Scent of A Woman," "Ironweed" and "The Age of Innocence."

Despite all of that celluloid activity, this is the first time in recent memory that area roads were set to be shut down so car chases would be filmed. Will there be crashes? Explosions? That all remains to be seen.

"It's amazing how they can make a roadway in Albany, New York, look like something in the middle of California," said Van Amburgh. "You wonder why they do it. There must be some method to their madness."

[Skaggs]

Article in today's Times Union: tinyurl.com/dhqjvj

Angelina will be helicoptering in on Sunday.

[Skaggs]

Angelina was here today. She flew in (on a helicopter) this morning and out this afternoon. Did anyone catch a glimpse?

[xzi]

I have two friends that are extras, they said she shot 2 scenes and was out pretty quickly. They did see her, though, and he claims he got a "wave".

[Skaggs]

She'll be back on Saturday.

[Skaggs]

I've been on set nearly every day and when I was eating lunch on Thursday, I noticed two of the extras dressed in blue, button down DirecTV shirts while waiting in line in the catering tent.

Later in the day, while watching one of the scenes being filmed on Water Street, I noticed a white DirecTV van in the traffic, right next to the box truck Angelina was riding on top of.

I was standing with the Location Manager from Columbia Pictures, so I asked him if DirecTV had paid for product placement. He confirmed it was exactly that.

[adam]

Was Angelina here today or is your credibility totally shot? ;D

[xzi]

May 2, 2009 21:00:49 GMT -5 adam said:

Was Angelina here today or is your credibility totally shot? ;D

She definitely was, I have a few friends on set today and one of them actually got her lunch from Koto and got to meet her it sounds like.

[the block]

We were going down 787 south today and we saw them filming a scene on the side road where it was either jolie or her stunt double was on top of a tanker truck.. didn't look like they were going fast, but they were moving. Also I saw a couple direct tv trucks and had a chuckle to myself

[Skaggs]

Angelina was here Saturday morning and stayed the night. She left this afternoon (Sunday)around 7PM.

Tomorrow (Monday) is their last day of shooting in Albany.