By Tinashe Chingarande,
Special to the AFRO,
tchingarande@afro.com
Baltimore Police are still investigating
The production crew of a star-studded television miniseries set in Baltimore has agreed to resume work after a brief halt due to alleged threats, according to a statement from the Baltimore Police Department (BPD).
Police say they responded on Aug. 26 to a call that came in around 4:45 p.m. When they arrived, police say they spoke with a victim, a location manager for tv series, in the 200 Block of Park Ave.
According to the BPD release, detectives “Determined that a local street vendor was upset that he had not been compensated by the production for lost business since he could not operate his clothing business while the crew was filming at that location.”
The location manager said that “individuals demanded that he pay $50,000 US Currency to film at the location (200 Park Avenue) and that they pulled a gun and brandished it at one of the workers,” according to the official police report.
But the details are unclear.
A female supervisor working security for the film crew told police “That group of people wanted $4,000 for the film crew to be able to film in the area and then changed the amount to $50,000.” Police were told that “the group threatened to shoot in the air unless they received the money.”
The incident victim said the event occurred around 6 a.m., then later changed his statement, stating the incident happened within an hour of the call to police. The location manager first said he saw a gun, then police say he retracted that statement and said someone else saw a gun.
Regardless of whether a gun or extortion was involved, BPD announced that “43-year-old Keith L. Brown of Pikesville, Md., was arrested on Aug. 29 on narcotics charges.”
According to info released by BPD, “Brown informed detectives that he had talked with a crew member and a security manager and was awaiting paperwork to receive compensation for lost business on Aug. 26.”
Despite the incident, production will resume at a date that has not been disclosed yet.
“The safety and security of our crew, cast, vendors, and production partners are of paramount importance. Production will resume with increased security procedures going forward,” said Alma Har’el, the show’s creator and director, in a Twitter post on Aug. 29.
Baltimore residents, however, are skeptical.
“I think if it was indeed a serious threat and not just talk by onlookers, they were right to pause. And, with more security they should be fine,” said Jae Hendricks, 30. Hendricks is a tattoo artist in Randallstown.
“Lady in the Lake” is a limited television series on Apple TV+ based on the book by former Baltimore Sun reporter Laura Lippman. The book is set in 1960s Baltimore and follows a middle-aged housewife-turned-reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman.
The story is inspired in part by two real-life deaths– one of which, the story of Shirley Parker, was covered extensively by the AFRO in the 1960s.
Filming for the series began in April and is expected to end in October. The series will star top Hollywood actors including Academy award-winning Natalie Portman and Y’Lan Noel from HBO’s hit series “Insecure.”
“This type of series generates a positive impact through job creation and revenue for the local businesses that provide goods and services to film and television productions,” said Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in a statement released in April.
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