Melbourne’s LA makeover for US drama La Brea

Melbourne streets are being transformed into LA hot spots for the filming of a US TV drama. But there’s one California classic we can’t replicate.

Hollywood producers are set to recreate LA hot spots in Melbourne for a big budget US network drama — but our glum weather will be replaced by blue sky special effects.

David Appelbaum, creator of La Brea, an NBC-TV drama set in Los Angeles, said filming had already started in Melbourne, with Bay St, Port Melbourne, replicating Wiltshire Boulevard in mid-town LA, and Kew’s Yarra Boulevard cast as a match for the Hollywood Hills.

On Monday, at an announcement event at Docklands Studios, Victorian Creative Industries Minister Danny Pearson said the project will inject $60 million into the Victorian economy, and create work for 295 local businesses, and jobs for 290 cast and crew.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Melbourne to shine on the global stage,” Mr Pearson said.

“I’m so pleased and delighted that downtown Melbourne will be seen as downtown LA.”

Mr Appelbaum said Melbourne is the perfect location to make film and television shows while the US still deals with the COVID-19 crisis.

An LA traffic jam re-created at Docklands. Picture: David Caird

La Brea stars Ione Skye (Arrested Development), Nicholas Gonzalez (The Good Doctor) and Eoin Macken (The Night Shift). Picture: Ratnayake/Getty Images

“Melbourne is offering things we couldn’t do, potentially, back home,” he said. “We are very COVID safe here on set, but knowing it’s not as big an issue takes the burden off.”

Federal Arts Minister Paul Fletcher, who was also at the launch event, said: “Around the world, we’re seen as a place where COVID has been managed well, and therefore we’re an attractive place for global productions to come.”

La Brea centres around a massive sinkhole that opens up in the heart of LA, swallowing dozens of people, including a family, and transports them back to prehistoric times.

Mr Appelbaum said: “On one hand, it’s an epic story with grand scale and scope about this time in 10,000BC, but … it’s (also) an intimate family drama and an emotional journey of people trying to get back together.”

“The show does take place in modern LA, and (Melbourne) offers a lot of opportunities that can match that.”

He said filming had begun in Bay St, “for the opening sequence in Wiltshire Boulevard,” and Yarra Boulevard for homes “that can approximate” houses in the Hollywood Hills.

Filming will also take place in Clayton and Mount Macedon.

For the past week, a car park at Docklands has been transformed into a set of traffic gridlock in downtown LA.

A giant green screen will help production crews turn the Docklands set and Melbourne skyline into LA. Picture: David Caird

The crew will turn Bay St, Port Melbourne into Wiltshire Boulevard and South Yarra as a match for the Hollywood Hills. Picture: David Caird

However, with overcast skies and a slight chance of rain on Monday, the Herald Sun asked Mr Appelbaum how the show would replicate California weather.

“Visual effects,” he said, laughing. “We started to shoot last week and the skies were actually different; they were brighter. This is something we’ll have to do with … ‘sky replacement’ to make them match.”

La Brea stars Ione Skye (Arrested Development), Nicholas Gonzalez (The Good Doctor), Eoin Macken (The Night Shift), Natalie Zea (The Shield), Jon Seda (Chicago PD) and Victorian actor Rohan Mirchandaney (Hotel Mumbai).

The 10-part TV series will shoot in Victoria until September.

Post production will also be done in Melbourne.

Mr Appelbaum’s producer credits include The Mentalist and NCIS: New Orleans.

While La Brea is early days, Mr Appelbaum was impressed by the work of local crews.

“All the days are packed with lots of scenes and material to do, but they’re incredibly efficient and calm,” he said. “Sometimes on sets you see people get anxious and frustrated, but I haven’t really noticed that here.

“People put their head down, go about their job and get it done really well.”