Movie crew’s ‘simulated gunfire’ in downtown Sacramento shoot raises concerns at courthouse

From John Travolta’s “Lucky Numbers” to Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird,” the Sacramento area has been a favored shooting location for movie productions outside of Hollywood.

But a new Leonardo DiCaprio film shooting downtown is causing concern at the nearby Sacramento Superior Court, where workers were warned late Monday that movie work near the courthouse could include “simulated gunfire,” “talent in police uniforms brandishing weapons,” “emergency vehicles with flashing lights” and “car crashes.”

A 7 p.m. email from court spokeswoman Brandy Tuzon Boyd to court workers warned them of various street closures near the courthouse Tuesday and Wednesday, and a follow-up email sent out at 10:11 p.m. by court Executive Officer Lee Seale indicated that court officials had been caught by surprise over the movie company’s plans.

“We are working with city officials to learn more about this late-breaking information that we received this evening,” Seale wrote. “Unfortunately, we were not provided any advance notice of this.”

Another email from Seale went out Tuesday morning updating officials.

“I’ve been in contact with city officials and representatives from the film crew to express our concern regarding any simulated gunfire near the courthouse,” Seale wrote. “I’ve been assured that the scene being filmed is a few blocks away and will not involve the use of actual gunfire and that we won’t hear the simulated noise from our location at the courthouse.

“I’ve asked a court employee to remain in contact with those representatives throughout the day to ensure that that is the case. I’ve also asked those same officials for better notice and communication so that we can stay in front of any concerns going forward.”

Seale did not respond to emailed questions Tuesday, and Boyd replied to requests for information with a one-line email.

“The court has been working with the film production crew and they have been responsive,” she wrote.

A city spokesman also did not respond to questions about when court officials were notified of the movie crew’s plans.

But Superior Court Judge Maryanne Gilliard said Tuesday that she and other judges were concerned about the movie crew staging scenes with “simulated gunfire” and a heavy “police” presence during the busiest day of the week for potential jurors to report for jury duty.

“It’s obvious that you have people coming in and out of this courthouse every day to do what is an important civic duty,” Gilliard said in an interview. “You also have victims, members of the public that are interested in trials.

“And anytime you see a large police presence and you see people dressed up as law enforcement officers engaged in what I understand to be simulated gunfire, that is not an image that we should be projecting given the type of work we do here at the courthouse.”

Gilliard, who is currently presiding over a preliminary hearing for the three defendants in the April 3, 2022, mass shooting downtown, said she would be overseeing the selection of a jury in an unrelated case Tuesday and that she planned to let potential jurors know about the situation.

“That is absolutely my plan, to let them know that we were informed, apparently by the city, that they had approved of the filming of a movie which involves simulated gunfire and people dressed up in law enforcement uniforms and that they’re not to be concerned about that,” she said.

“It’s something that takes time out of jury selection and just creates problems where no problems should be created, given the fact that we have a three-day weekend coming up where the city could have requested that the filming occur then,” Gilliard added.

She said other judges who have trials in progress learned about the movie plans after the close of business Monday, meaning that they could not alert their juries.

“I can guarantee you that our judges would all say it is a very bad idea to be filming this type of production during regular court hours,” Gilliard added. “It makes absolutely no sense, especially in light of the fact that there are two three-day weekends coming this week and next.”

The movie crew, under the auspices of Warner Bros. and director Paul Thomas Anderson, had done some filming downtown Saturday, and its work on Tuesday morning was taking place on Sixth Street between I and J streets, where Sixth was closed down and actors could be seen running down the street carrying what appeared to be firearms.

That area was blocks away from the courthouse at 720 Ninth St., but Gilliard noted that prospective jurors and others easily could run across the set as they walked to court from various parking garages.

“It would not surprise me that they have a level of concern when they see something like this,” Gilliard said.

The Bee’s Hector Amezcua contributed to this report.