Alcatraz

'Missing Alcatraz Inmates' Were Cause of Monday Gunfire in Russian Hill.

— By Zach Perkins |

Production for Alcatraz (the upcoming San Francisco-set JJ Abrams thriller) began on January 19th, but don't expect to see many production crews around the City. As previously discussed, a handful of key shots for the first season will likely be filmed here (and on the Rock), but the overwhelming majority of the series will be shot in Vancouver.  

Monday was one of those exceptions.  As SFist reported, Alcatraz filming resulted in street closures and neighborhood warnings of 'simulated gunfire'.  We at Uptown Almanac sent Jenny Wilson down to Filbert Street between Hyde and Leavenworth, to continue our tradition of bringing you the best in shitty iPhone journalism and paparazzi star-fucking.  

You never know, if you hang around Humphrey Slocombe enough, there's still a chance you might have a 'ZOMG it's Hurley from Lost!' moment in the next few weeks.  

Alcatraz premieres on FOX this Fall, and is centered around a team of FBI Agents tasked with hunting down a group of missing inmates and guards who reappear in the present. 

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

JJ Abrams Presents ...yet another show about an Island; This time set in the San Francisco Bay

— By Zach Perkins |

Will this show be an epic period-piece set in the gritty prison's golden age?  Or a Lost-meets-The Rock flavored travesty?

Deadline Hollywood reports that FOX, which last week gave a pre-green light commitment to Bad Robot's latest spec script, has today given the official go ahead to pilot the show.  After going through several re-writes, the final script for ALCATRAZ was penned by LOST exec-producer Elizabeth Sarnoff.  ALCATRAZ is described as “a show about mysteries, secrets and the most infamous prison of all time: Alcatraz.”  Sarnoff is attached as showrunner and will exec-produce along with Abrams and Bryan Burk. 

While not yet confirmed, I've heard from both some local union crew guys and some kids I know at networks down in LA, that the show will mostly be shot in Vancouver.  This is mostly to be expected, as it follows Bad Robot's current production model with FRINGE, which is supposed to be set in Boston (I think).  

So no, this won't be another TRAUMA.  But is that a good thing or a bad thing for our city?