Lady in the Lake , the Apple TV + series starringNatalie PortmanandMoses Ingram, has been shooting for months in Baltimore.
But filming had to stop on Friday due to a case of attempted extortion on set.
A Baltimore police spokesman said the crew was filming in the downtown area around 4pm when the producers were approached by a group of people who threatened armed retaliation if filming was not stopped.
However, they added, there would be no violence if they received a certain amount. According to the local newspaper The Baltimore Banner, the request would have been 50,000 dollars. The producers immediately stopped filming and began the search for a new location.
Endeavor Content, the studio that produces the series, has released a statement with details on what happened:
On Friday afternoon, on the set of our Lady in the Lake production in Baltimore, before the cast and crew arrived, as scheduled, a driver from our crew was confronted by two men, one of whom was holding a pointed gun. against our driver, who then ran away from the location. We are cooperating with the Baltimore Police Department in the ongoing investigation. The safety and security of our crew, our cast and all those who work in our productions are of the highest priority to us, and we are delighted that no one was injured. Processing will resume with an increase in security measures from here on.
It was a privilege to shoot Lady in the Lake in Baltimore, working with her vibrant community across a breadth of fields. Our thanks and appreciation go to the City of Baltimore, Mayor Brandon M. Scott, the Baltimore Film Office, the Maryland Film Office and the Baltimore Police Department for their incredible support as we continue filming in the greater City of Baltimore and neighborhoods. adjacent.
Based on the novel of the same name by Laura Lippman , Lady in the Lake is directed by Alma Har’el , director of Honey Boy , the autobiographical film by Shia LaBeouf . The series is produced by Crazyrose, the company of the late Jean-Marc Vallée ( Dallas Buyers Club ), Bad Wolf America and Endeavor Content. Alma Har’el co-created the series with Dre Ryan , screenwriter of Colony and The Man in the High Castle .
The plot
Lady in the Lake will be set in Baltimore in the 1960s. At the center, the stories of Maddie Schwartz (Portman), a housewife and mother who, following an unsolved murder, reinvents herself as an investigative journalist. Her investigation will lead her to meet Cleo Sherwood (Ingram), a woman who simultaneously manages her family, work, and her life as a black rights climber in the city.