When the movie cars started rolling into Long Beach’s Belmont Shore last week, no one thought much of it.
The seaside housing estates are such a frequent movie set — Jeep commercials, “Dexter,” the Netflix miniseries “Griselda” — locals usually shrug when the crews arrive, then gently steer their curious dogs away from the catering tents.
But last week the trucks just kept coming, in numbers no one had seen before. And there was an almost comical atmosphere of secrecy as dozens, and then hundreds, of workers buzzed around Rosie’s dog beach.
“I honestly have no idea,” said a worker with a clipboard and a walkie-talkie when asked what they were shooting. Meanwhile, a replica of one of the city’s iconic lifeguard stands was being mounted behind her – only this one was much cleaner and a much more vibrant shade of blue than the real one about 20 meters away.
“I think it’s a commercial,” another worker said as huge cranes with stadium-style lighting rigs were maneuvered into place. He claimed not to know what kind of advertising.
By Saturday morning, when that entire stretch of beach was wrapped in a private tent, word had gotten out that they were filming part of the Olympics closing ceremony — the bit where the torch is passed from the current host city to the next.
Finneas and Billie Eilish perform in Long Beach for the handover celebration of the Olympic Games.
(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for LA28)
When the giant “LA28” sculpture arrived, the mystery was solved.
Soon Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Billie Eilish would be up on the makeshift stage – next to fake palm trees short enough to be caught in frame – doing their thing for a small but adoring crowd of extras.
Apart from the parking and traffic headaches, the locals seemed to take it all in stride. That is, until some media mistakenly identified the location as the much more famous Venice Beach.
Film activity is seen in the distance at Rosie’s dog beach, which was transformed for Olympic purposes.
(Jack Dolan/Los Angeles Times)
“Scandal!” @brandonwenerd yelled at X.
“This is Long Beach deletion,” _alyssayung_ lamented on TikTok. The image on her TV screen clearly showed the offshore oil wells – disguised as islands with palm trees – in the background.
Any SoCal local, certainly anyone from Long Beach, would recognize them instantly.