By Dana Williams
Both streets were chosen as production locations for 20th Century Fox Television's new CBS television pilot "Babylon Fields."
The new show, which stars actor Ray Stevenson - of the acclaimed HBO series "Rome" - is a dark comedy about the dead coming back to life in an attempt to resume their former lives, a spokesperson for 20th Century Fox Television said in a statement. The pilot for the series is being filmed around Long Island, and is produced and directed by Long Island native and resident Michael Cuesta, who is best known for his work on HBO's "Six Feet Under" and Showtime's "Dexter."
Actors, producers and production crew involved with filming the first episode of the series turned Lancaster Avenue - which is two blocks away from St. Christopher's School on Merrick Road - into a Hollywood production scene on March 29. Production crew scattered across the lawn of a gray and white home, setting up cameras and brainstorming ideas on where they should put the fake, muddy zombie footprints.
One of the owners of the Lancaster Avenue home, who asked to be identified only as Hallie, said that producers of the show contacted her more than once, asking to use her home.
"At first, my husband and I didn't take the letters that producers sent very seriously, because they didn't seem authentic," she explained. "When we realized it was actually a legitimate thing, we said 'yes' because this is not something that comes around everyday."
Cuesta sat in the director's chair, which was directly behind two camera monitors, while members of the crew yelled, "rolling" to begin taping the pilot moments later. The scene that was filmed at the Baldwin home included Stevenson arriving home from work only to find out from two teenagers that there is a zombie in his house.
"I'm playing this chief detective of the Babylon Police Department and on this one day I see people come out of their graves and try to go home," Stevenson told the Herald. "My character doesn't know whether to kill them or protect them because they haven't done anything wrong. They are innocents like us but they are just the living dead."
Stevenson revealed that his character discovers that the zombie who ran into the house turns out to be his dead wife.
One reason the actor said he was enjoying the shoot was because it gave him a chance to visit New York and Long Island. "Here I am in Baldwin and in sunny downtown Long Island," he said. "I like it here because it's got this kind of closeness to it."
Watching Stevenson and the production crew film the one-hour pilot was live entertainment for some area residents, who were able to catch a sneak preview. "I came out here to take pictures for my 14 grandchildren" said Agnes Walker, a Lancaster Avenue resident.
"I think watching them film this television show is just exciting," said Mary Dowd, a resident from a nearby block. "The producers also used my bathroom for one of the scenes and there was an actor being made into a zombie in my bathroom, so it was great." At the end of this phase of the shoot, seven zombies dressed in ragged, formal attire - and with fake blood on their faces - marched towards the home to film their scene.
Cuesta, the actors and production crew quickly moved to Grand Avenue to begin phase two of the Baldwin shoot shortly after. The zombies and production scene caused some traffic jams during the afternoon rush on the thoroughfare, with drivers observing the production as they drove by.
The production team created a fake accident scene on Grand Avenue just across the street from the bowling alley near Merrick Road.
As "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" star Jamey Sheridan - who plays a zombie - sat next to a smoking Nissan Altima, people gathered in numbers across the street, many taking pictures and watching attentively. The show's production team also created fake establishments along the Grand Avenue strip that included a flower shop, appliance store and funeral home.
"Producers from the show came ahead of time and cleared everything with my bosses, so they could use the front of the office," said Dorane Malcolm, a legal secretary at Daniel Realty Group Inc. on Grand Avenue, which was transformed into Castoro and Son's Funeral Home for the shoot. "I stood on the side and watched them film the show with the zombies and it was cool."
As a resident of Long Island, Cuesta plans to film future episodes of the series in the area, the spokesperson for 20th Century Fox Television added in the statement. "Babylon Fields" is scheduled to premiere on CBS later this year.
Photos by Dana Williams/Herald
Comments about this story? DWilliams@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
