Coen Brothers set to film Monday in Riverhead
The latest movie from Academy Award-winning directors the Coen Brothers, “Inside Llewyn Davis,” will be filming in Riverhead this Monday.
The film is about a folk singer set mostly in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village in the 1960s, and features big-name Hollywood talent such as John Goodman of the “Big Lebowski” and Justin Timberlake of “The Social Network.”
The movie will shoot at two Riverhead locations made to look like gas stations, at the Riverhead Water District property on Northville Turnpike and Route 105, and at another set just up the road. Nearby roads will be closed by police until the end of the shoot Monday evening.
Film construction crews have been working on the sets since Monday, said the movie’s key construction grip, Steven Fratianni, who added that John Goodman would be filming in Riverhead Monday, along with another actor.
The movie also stars Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac as the titular character.
“[The character] is going cross country,” said Mr. Fratianni, a 15-year veteran of the movie business. “He’s going to stop at these stations.”
The film has also shot on location in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Yonkers, and at Pace University, he said. “Inside Llewyn Davis,” which is reportedly scheduled for 2013 release, is based in part on the late folk singer Dave Van Ronk’s 2002 memoir, entitled “The Mayor of MacDougall Street.”
The Town Board authorized a lease with Fantastic Voyage LLC on March 6 for them to film scenes at the locations for $10,000. The contract with the town also includes access to 24 hours of water district personnel and up to 14 hours of police security.
Directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s previous movies include “Fargo,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Raising Arizona,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “No Country for Old Men,” which won a best picture Oscar in 2007.
Riverhead has been the scene of several movie and television shoots in recent years. The HBO crime drama “Boardwalk Empire” shot scenes at a Calverton farm last year for their season finale, and HBO’s “The Sopranos” filmed in Riverhead twice several years ago, including a time when they put a “For Sale” sign on Riverhead Raceway for a scene, sending local race fans into a panic.
