After weeks of uncertainty, with movie location scouts checking out places in town and sightings of director Greta Gerwig having lunch at the General Store, it’s actually happening: Harvard has made the cut, and Columbia Pictures, part of Sony Pictures, has paid $500 for an application to film scenes for the upcoming movie “Little Women” in the town center. On Monday, September 17, construction crews started preparing Harvard for its role: Concord, Massachusetts, during the Civil War. The first signs of the “movie people” at work were rather unglamorous: a line of porta potties, a gray trailer, and a Caterpillar on the town land between the General Store and the Congregational Church.
At the Select Board’s September 18 meeting, Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the board that the town and Columbia have not yet signed a license agreement because things keep changing: “Last week alone, things changed seven times from what they had originally said.” Although filming can occur for 12 hours a day, the times of those hours depend on lighting, camera angles, and obstructions. Bragan said once times and road closures are set, he, Marie Sobalvarro, assistant town administrator, and Doug Dresser, location manager for the movie, will sit down and work out the details—fee schedules, “aggravation costs” and other items that the two administrators and Select Board member Stu Sklar had worked out as negotiation points. When that is done, Bragan said, he will host a meeting for all neighbors directly affected by the filming dates, and Dresser will be on hand to answer residents’ questions and concerns.
But some things are in place, most importantly the three dates on which the scenes will be filmed, as discussed by Bragan and Sobalvarro at a Select Board meeting Sept. 13. Those dates are Friday, Oct. 26, Friday, Nov. 2, and Monday, Nov. 5. Sobalvarro added that the two November dates will include a preparation time of up to a week before the shoot and a week of cleanup afterward. (Weekends are excluded.) The October preparation, which started Monday, will last about two months.
Harvard as movie set
The October shoot requires a set to be built using part of the General Store and the land between it and the Congregational Church. This will be a series of store facades, with an interior room to one of them. The crew will put up an equipment tent in the cemetery on the pavement leading in from Still River Road. A compensation has been paid to the Cemetery Commission, Bragan said. The nonresident fee for rental of that land, under Parks and Recreation Commission jurisdiction, had already been set at $80 a day, an amount geared toward local uses, the town never imagining any commercial entity would want to rent that piece of land. However, the length of time for construction means a considerable amount of rental payment.
Construction of store facades begins between the General Store and the Congregational Church.
(Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
During the build, the seven parking spaces bordering the land in front of the cemetery will be restricted to those connected with the movie set. They can also park on the short road between the General Store and Fairbank Street, and along Mass. Ave. after the bike shop. Right before the filming on Oct. 26, slated to start well before dawn, dirt will be brought in to cover the pavement in front of the General Store and the temporary set.
On Friday, Nov. 2, the location will move to the area around Town Hall, which will be transformed into the Concord Theater. Current signs will need to be removed and new ones put up. Some fire trucks will be moved to the Still River Station, and activities at Hildreth House will be curtailed. All of these changes necessitated by the filming will be included in the “aggravation costs” of the contract. Sobalvarro, who has spent hours researching other towns online to find model license agreements, comparable fee schedules, and other information, expressed concern about the disruption for seniors who count on meals at Hildreth House and on Friday shopping trips. “Folks expect these things,” she said.
The Common will be the setting for filming on Monday, Nov. 5. “Snow” may be an added cost to the $100 daily rental fee for the Common. The area around Town Hall, as well as the set on Still River Road, may be involved on that day as well. Of course this plan could all be changed around, said Bragan, depending on weather and other factors.
Daunting and complicated
While many in town will be excited about the filming and look forward to the hubbub (150 to 250 people in cast and crews) and later seeing scenes of Harvard in a movie theater, there is no doubt the disruptions will be “logistically daunting and very complicated,” as Bragan said earlier in the process. Street closures, limited parking in the center, interrupted access to the General Store and some town buildings will cause inconvenience, not just on filming days but during preparation and cleanup periods. “But there will be a good net effect for the town,” said Sklar.
Scott Hayward, owner of the General Store, said the store will remain open as much as possible around the three days of filming. In a contract with Columbia, he has agreed to confidentiality, but Hayward did say he thinks the fact that the town was chosen for filming is a great thing to happen to Harvard. “We should feel proud,” he said. On Sept. 14 there was a large bus that delivered about 50 people—the director, Greta Gerwig; Dresser, the location manager; cinematographers; gaffers; construction crew members; cameramen—to the area in front of the store. Hayward remarked that they were all pleasant and easy to work with.
Although parking in the center will be a challenge on some days, Hayward hopes people will persevere, because he thinks the movie crews will make people feel they are part of the whole production. “I think the store will be filled with movie people,” said Hayward, eating lunch or, because the store now has a pouring license, having a beer at the end of work.
Halloween is sacred
Bragan has made it clear that certain things in town are “sacred”—Halloween, for example. And there can be no interruption of school. Things need to be worked out so buses can always get through to deliver and pick up kids. “Some things are just impossible,” Bragan had said at an earlier discussion.
It appears other media also see Harvard as a great place for filming. Netflix, using New England Studio in Devens as a base, is filming a 10-part series, as yet unnamed, and using private property for some scenes. Film crews were in the Mass. Ave., Slough, and Stow roads area this past week and, according to Bragan, they’ll be here off and on between now and December. Bragan said he had to shut them down two weeks ago, telling them they needed to fill out an application because the town needed time to give residents a heads-up. One application may have multiple dates, but any new date requires a new application. The $500 fee compensates the town for the logistical help from Bragan and Sobalvarro. Bragan explained the rise of interest in Harvard as due to the proximity of the Devens studio, and also the state tax incentives for movie production companies.
Bragan said a few weeks ago Columbia scouts kept telling him how much they love Harvard. He had responded in an email, “How much love can one town take!” Apparently, a lot.
