Saratoga News

Louise Webb

SARATOGA'S BIG BASIN WAY IS GOING HOLLYWOOD FOR KOREAN TV

You might have seen downtown Saratoga looking like a Hollywood movie set on Jan. 30, with all the trucks and equipment, and people running around with clipboards, earphones and microphones.

The shooting was for a mini-series to be aired in Korea. It is temporarily called The Project. The show is a 16-hour television series, produced by a company called Gun For Hire.

Filming started early Tuesday morning at Cecile and David Critchfield's Bit O' Country store. David was fascinated with the crew's efficiency. He said he was amazed to see about 75 people involved with the film for just a few scenes.

Soo Chun Lee, whose father, Howard Lee, owns the Saratoga Dry Cleaners, was surprised when he saw two well-known Korean television stars in downtown Saratoga. He called his wife and told her. She didn't believe him at first, then told him to get their autographs. Howard also recognized the stars and and dashed out to watch the filming.

International Coffee Exchange owner Victor Amezcua didn't have time to see the acting at his shop. He was busy telling customers to eat on the upper terrace so they wouldn't be in the way.

The crew left to shoot scenes at Villa Montalvo. Kristen Schulz, who arranged the Montalvo location rental, said Montalvo was supposed to be the home of the lead actor in the film. Many action scenes were shot there. The movie is based on a computer-chip theft ring and includes a mixture of Americans and Koreans.

Crew members told me the people in Saratoga were very receptive and nice to work with.

Several television shows and movies have had scenes shot in Saratoga, including the Rookie, starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen; Kiss Shot, with Whoopi Goldberg; The Lies Boys Tell, with Kirk Douglas and Craig T. Nelson; Babies, with Lindsay Wagner; and Visions of Murder, starring Barbara Eden.

Former resident Bill Lorton shot a short movie called Anyone for Bridge? using some local Saratoga scenes.

Lynn Redgrave appeared in a television film several years ago that included scenes shot on Big Basin Way.