Reader Marc W. informed us this week that Nike will be shooting a commercial along Balboa next Monday, June 22.
Parking along Balboa from 18th Avenue up to 31st Avenue will be unavailable until 10pm that day. The actual commercial shoot is scheduled to take place from 6pm until 10pm.
The SF Film Commission office told Marc that the commercial will reenact “the end of a marathon”, and about 350 extras will be on hand for the shoot.
Just do it.
UPDATE: The flyer that was dropped off for neighbors includes the following information: “All merchants and residents will have access into and out of the area…and during the hours of 6pm to 10pm Balboa and all intersecting streets EXCEPT 25th ave will be closed to all non-local through traffic.” The contact information on the flier: FILM SF 415.554.6241, film@sfgov.org. On-Site Contact Chris Friedman 415.717.0631 and SFPD non-emergency 415.553.7942
Sarah B.
In general I’m supportive of filming in S.F., but this seems a bit egregious – taking away all that parking for people coming home from work, on a week night. (And how exactly are they shooting so late – I have a feeling residents on Balboa will be seeing a lot of bright lights that whole time.)
I like it even for the disruption. Gives me pride for putting up with the fog.
Is it just me but, anyone notice how relentless the fog was May and June were in our hood?
My concern is 25th Ave, it’s a main strip for traffic esp. at that time. Are they planning on completely blocking 25th/Balboa Ave and have a detour on Cabrillo going north and Anza going south? That will be a nightmare.
The flier that has been making the rounds says: “All merchants and residents will have access into and out of the area…and during the hours of 6pm to 10pm Balboa and all intersecting streets EXCEPT 25th ave will be closed to all non-local through traffic.” – The contact information on the flier: FILM SF 415.554.6241, film@sfgov.org. On-Site Contact Chris Friedman 415.717.0631 and SFPD non-emergency 415.553.7942
Thanks, Cee. I’ll add that to the post.
How does this affect the 31 Balboa? People are coming home from work well into the evening and not everyone drives.
Jonathan, the fog we have had the past couple of months is insipid compared to what we used to get in the 1960s and 1970s. Normal foggy days made it impossible to see the house across the street on most avenues until one got east of Tenth Avenue if south of Geary and east of Sixth Avenue if north of Geary. Cheers.
We’ve ‘arrived’?
Let’s just hope it’s recognizable, at least to us, in the final cut! I am sure the hill below 25th will be featured prominently. Having that at the end of your marathon route would be very dramatic! :))
How do you become an extra? What does the flyer say?
@jonathan–what 4thGen said. Can’t speak to the sixties, but th late seventies & eighties, when I was growing up here, where pretty much foggy all summer, with maybe a bit of midday sun. He weather seems to have changed. Last year was, to me, awful–day after day of heat and humidity. Many of us live here because we like cool, breezy weather. Some of us love rge fog, actually! Maybe not 6 months a year, but nothing is more welcoming to me than seeing the beautiful fog flowing up from the ocean toward Arguello after several days with temps in the nineties-which we get every year, BTW. Bleach! If I wanted that, I’d move to Danville.
I live on 20th, and southbound side of the street (the side on which I live) between Anza and Balboa is the staging area for the production trucks and craft services. The scouting agent went around asking if they could park in front of our driveways on Monday. The 31 bus is going to be rerouted along the route being used for the commercial. I would recommend taking the 38/38R on Monday since I imagine it will be a pain to cross Balboa from the Fulton 5.
Assuming it is not really foggy Monday evening, they are likely making use of sunset/twilight lighting.
Weird. You’d think a company like Nike wouldn’t have to reenact the end of a marathon. It’s not like marathons are things that don’t exist.
Found this on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Film_SF/status/610854452384407552
@MATTYJ
It may be necessary for Nike to reenact the end of a marathon if the other marathons don’t have winners wearing Nike stuff. I suspect that everyone in the commercial will be wearing Nike. Nike could take another approach and have all the losers wearing obvious alternate brands.
Based on my conversation with the scouting agent, they chose Balboa because the roads are hilly in the chosen Aves and it has the overhead lines for the the 31, giving it the “SF look.” The congestion is also less than in the downtown area.
It is odd that they are using evening hours to film the “finish.” Races begin at the crack of dawn. The Nike event in SF is a half-marathon. So, even if you walk a 20 minute mile, you would still be done in 4-5 hours. Not to mention, almost all races require participants to be able to do a 15 min mile.
Drifting fog Friday night, but a nice sunset Sunday night. What’s it going to do Monday night? I’m rooting for old school fog to keep it real, but may the best weather win).
Gee please don’t complain it’s only one day enjoy the moment and be proud of our city by the bay!
Please don’t complain it’s only for one day, enjoy the moment and be proud of our great city by the bay!
According to the tweet ( https://twitter.com/Film_SF/status/610854452384407552 ), Nike will be making two donations to the district (GWHS and PAR) so one night of disruption/excitement is OK by me!
Hmm, I see that they don’t mention anywhere that they’ve also taken over almost all of the parking lots at Ocean Beach for the day. A little notice out here would have been nice, but it IS just the one day (I hope!).
We also got a notice on our block for filming on Monday at 251 18th AVE, which is the Richmond Rec Center. It must be related?
Yes, location is from 18th to 31st. I’m a native and worked in post production and we are in SF soooo yes commercials, movies are filmed in this awesome city. Yes it’s okay 😉 there is plenty of parking at ocean beach…
Thanks for the updates.
I think it is a wrap, the trucks are starting to move out on 20th Ave. I am so glad I am not the one who has to clean up the paper cup props on Balboa.
Didn’t notice anything happening yesterday at the Rec Center, so maybe I have the dates wrong and something else is being filmed there. This would be on 18th between California & Clement, so not immediately close to the Nike shoot.
Wondering why it was necessary to hose down several blocks of Balboa with precious water for this commercial…it must have been tens of thousands of gallons…
Jim, You should have been here when the Pope visited. For the first time in decades the median on Geary was pruned (to the ground) and all manhole covers were welded shut.
Let’s not forget the very late night paving of Crossover Drive/Park Presidio Bypass for a single Olympic torch.
Anywhere a camera goes for mass media…
I was surprised by the amount of water being pulled from hydrants, considering it is umm, a drought. They wet down the pavement to improve the lighting for filming (they actually used 35mm film).