Written by on May 9, 2014. Posted in Production News

Japanese firm Wasa Be films at Grand Central Terminal in New York for Toshiba

Japanese production company Wasa Be filmed at the iconic Grand Central Terminal (GCT) in New York City for a new spot promoting Toshiba’s LED lights. Toshiba installed the station’s LEDs late last year and has a special relationship with the GCT authority.

Grand Central Terminal’s film liaison Kyle McCarthy helped clarify what the production could do in the station, together with the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and Metro North Railroad (MNR).

The production team paid a usage fee to cover the image copyright of Grand Central Terminal itself, and then there were additional costs for the support of the MTA police and associated station personnel. Filming specific shops in the station, as well as event areas and neighbouring buildings, carried separate fees. Overhead shots were arranged from the station’s Apple store.

“The location has rush hour restrictions on the weekdays in the mornings and the evenings,” explains Eric Brown of servicing company Fixer: “However, on the weekends, it’s possible to shoot at anytime. We chose to shoot on a Saturday night into Sunday morning so that we could maximise our shooting time.

“Working around the public was not really an issue as we had over ten Production Assistants and three Assistant Directors to handle our background, as well as kindly deal with the general public.

“We did our wide shots at the busiest times so that we could use the general public as extras. Once our shoot moved to the floor of the main hall, we surrounded our principle actors with background extras so that they could conceal the general public.

“The Terminal closes down from 1:30am to 5am for cleaning and maintenance so this was the only time we really had the place to ourselves. It is not possible to close down Grand Central Terminal.”

Brown describes filming in Grand Central Terminal as “very easy”, provided that “communication is straightforward” between the production team and the authorities.

“In general, Grand Central and other MNR stations are extremely popular locations because they are an essential part of the fabric of New York,” he concludes.

Credits:
Client: Toshiba
Agency: ADK
Creative Directors: Satoshi Ishii and Kazuyuki Seki
Production Company: Wasa Be
Producer: Gento Tamura
Production Service Company: Fixer
Producer: Eric Brown
Location Manager: Michael Sibley
Director/DoP: Makoto Hirano