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ALIAS EXPLOSIONS RANKLE SUBURBIA
15 APRIL 2004. SOURCE: L.A. DAILY NEWS

The Hummer nosed through the fog, a CIA agent glued to its roof, squinting down the barrel of a high-powered assault rifle.

But the biggest bang Tuesday wasn't the muffled sound of mock gunfire and explosions on the shoot of the ABC drama ALIAS on location behind Woodley Avenue Park.

It was the sound of a few neighbours steamed up over 17 hours of potential pyrotechnics planned for the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area. While filmmakers come under pressure to keep their productions in Southern California, some residents are complaining they don't want the shoots in their backyards.

"I just heard it explode," exclaimed Ellen Bagelman, president of the Lake Balboa Neighorhood Association, who lives less than a mile north of the film location.

"I see a puff of white smoke in the basin, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if people call 911 because they were not notified."

Bagelman and other homeowners near the Sepulveda Basin took issue with the potential for noise, hampered traffic and short - if any - notice prior to the shoot. Some maintain they want a say about what's filmed at the sprawling San Fernando Valley flood basin.

"If you're going to have flybys and explosions that affect a large area, you've got to have broader notice for people," said Gerry Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino. "With some shoots, it sounds as if World War III has started."

Touchstone Television, the ABC production company for ALIAS, had received a permit to film between 5am and 10pm for the show, now in its third season.

According to a letter sent to neighbours, the shoot would include precision driving, brandished weapons, fog, vehicle explosions, burning wreckage and "spark and squib hits on actors."

It also would involve stuntmen dangling from a helicopter.

While a visit to the filming of the Emmy Award-winning spy drama found star Jennifer Garner and other actors scurrying about in camouflage fatigues during a staged CIA rescue, there was little noise.

"So far so good," said Los Angeles police Sgt. Mike Zaboski, who audited the shoot. "Everything appears to be in compliance."

As a crew fired up fog machines, actor Greg Grunberg, who portrays the character Weiss, clutched his assault rifle and did take after take of a Hummer advance.

"Nice!" shouted a female director after an especially convincing run. "We had it perfect."

The loudest noise came from aeroplanes en route to nearby Van Nuys Airport. Until the 2.30pm explosion, Bagelman said, she hadn't heard a peep.

"We've got a pretty good track record," said ALIAS producer Bob Williams. "We've been doing this for three years now. There's going to be gunfire, with auto[matic] weapons all day long, but the good news is that we're done when the sun goes down.

"We all just want to get along."

A record number of TV series and pilots shot around Los Angeles drove a 21.7 percent surge in location production during March, according to the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., which issues film permits in Los Angeles.

Television projects - such as ALIAS - reached an all-time high of 2,466 days last month, a whopping 46.6 percent increase from the old record of 1,682 days in March last year.

Lisa Rawlins, chairwoman of the EIDC, did not return calls.

If such shows as ALIAS were booted by homeowners, crew members asked, would they be forced to leave greater Hollywood to follow runaway film sets abroad?

"I'm concerned about runaway production," said Mike Haro, an ALIAS location manager.

"What I see here is a couple hundred people actively employed in Southern California and supporting the economy of the city and state." BACK TO THE TOP