Frat House

 

Hey, kids, I finally joined a fraternity! Have you ever heard of Phi Nu Alpha, one of the rowdiest, beer-soaked fraternities at Yale? Oh, didn’t I tell you that Kendall, Leah, Charlie, and I have moved to New Haven, Connecticut? Okay, fine…but our house has. A film crew descended on our home this week to transform it into a nonexistent Yale fraternity for the pilot episode of a show that will be airing on TBS.

Unlike our previous filming adventures, our house will get a nice chunk of screen time on this episode since they shot in three different rooms as well as our front lawn. I always find it great fun when Hollywood takes over the premises. I’m fascinated by all the people (and time) it takes to create the “magic.” A few years ago, the production designer who transformed our living room into a London saloon circa 1900 for “The Prestige,” was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the film. He also got a nod last year for “The Dark Knight.” While this was only cable TV, we were lucky to have another Academy Award-nominated production designer work in our house. He’s done many films, such as “A Beautiful Mind,” “Mars Attacks,” and all of Spike Lee’s. But since we were just a modern-day frat house this time around, the period furniture and cool antique props were replaced by liquor bottles, beer kegs, rock posters, a disco ball, and a statue of a naked lady. Oy.

 

The show, called “In Security,” is about two sisters (played by Constance Zimmer and Kat Foster) who take over daddy Hal Linden’s private security company and become bodyguards to the rich and famous. In the pilot they are protecting a Lindsay Lohan-type movie star who, against all advice, escapes to the debauchery of a Yale frat party and gets into all sorts of trouble. Also on hand in the show is the new Superman, Brandon Routh, who promptly beats up a bunch of drunken frat boys on our front lawn. What fun! The director is Peter Segal, a wunderkind who has 11 films in development.

Needless to say, I never went near a fraternity when I was a student at Northwestern. I don’t recall Northwestern as having as big a Greek presence as many other schools and, in fact, neither does Yale. Still, I’m sure both campuses have their fair share of drunken beerfests lasting until all hours. Of all my regrets about not being more engaged during my college years, having never attended such a party is not one of them.

Kendall absconded to her mom’s with our dogs for the duration of the filming but Leah, Charlie, and I braved the crowds and came home from exile at about 10 pm last night. They were filming a scene in our front hall, under the giant buffalo head they nailed to the wall, so we had to wait until a break in the action to scoot upstairs out of camera view. There were 56 extras carousing on our porch and inside our house, 28 “coeds” who all cooed at Charlie as we flew by, and 28 frat boys in various stages of fake (I hope!) intoxication. Kat Foster was chasing after the movie star, played by actress Betsy Beutler, and Brandon Routh was beating up frat boys on our lawn. We had to run past extras on our stairs and pop into our rooms as quickly as possible. 

First, Leah and I felt like we were hiding in Anne Frank’s attic since we couldn’t use the bathroom for fear of making too much noise. Then, when Charlie started crying, we felt like the Von Trapps hiding in the cemetery at the end of “The Sound of Music” trying not to make a peep so as not to tip off the Nazis. Not that I’m comparing the cast and crew of this TV show to Nazis, they couldn’t have been friendlier. Luckily, Charlie didn’t ruin any of the shots, one more bottle and he was sound asleep for the rest of the night. Good thing, too, since the fight scene they were filming lasted until almost 2:00 am.

Because today is Good Friday, followed by Easter weekend, the production company told us they couldn’t strike the set until Monday. This morning I awoke to a house full of empty beer cups and other frat house accoutrements. Leah was particularly fascinated by the hazing paddle sitting on our mantle next to some sports trophies and a lava lamp.

Anyone up for an Easter kegger at our place? 

Comments

[margalit]

Damn, that sounds fun. I lived across the street from a frat house in college, but fraternities were popular with the engineering students, and I'm sorry to say, I had no interest whatsoever in anyone in engineering school. Funny how I ended up working with them for 20+ years. Heh.

LOVE the buffalo head. Do you get to keep that? Perfect for a baby's room, doncha think? Take photos of the kegger party. I'm sure it will be plenty of fun. :-)

[Arlene]

Hi Danny....love your house! I'll be over for the kegger!! Maybe you should have a toga party too! Have fun...

[K Wild]

At first I thought this was an April Fools post, but as I read on, it was far to realistic (not to mention a day late). We lived a block away from frat/sorority row at the University of KY when I was in high school, and I always felt like I was observing another species, sorority girls parading in hoop skirts and umbrellas during pledge week stands out in my memory... your house looks very cool (and very unlike my image of LA).

[Julie R.]

Just another day at the Hailey/Miller house!

[Frances]

Danny, even your house is famous.

[Nichole]

That's crazy! And awesome!

[Kurt]

Whenever I start to wonder if my life is too exciting, I read one of your posts and the utter tedium of my life is put immediately into perspective.

[Pam G]

My now ex-husband & I lived in Oakland (Pittsburgh's University District) in an apartment building sandwiched in between the campuses of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon for 12 years and have more than our share of both funny & unpleasant stories from this period. From a keg rolling down our street in the middle of the night to some pretty bad vandalism of our cars by random drunken strangers. This neighborhood was also popular for film shoots at that time--with both Hoffa & Silence of the Lambs, as well as other lesser movies, filmed on our doorstep. After awhile we became very blase and even a bit annoyed about the whole continuous disruptive business.

Now I live in a former slum that's becoming a gentrified hipster haven. Thurs. night the cops came because of a punk band practice that got too loud (no I wasn't the caller) and last night this same crew kept me up till the wee hours with their drunken outdoor chatter on an unseasonably warm evening. And I was just thinking "boy, am I getting too old for this?" when I read your post. Maybe I'll find a way to become enthused about such artistic interruptions again as you are. LOL

Looking forward to seeing your famous house on the screen once again, too!

[Pam G]

Forgot to mention that this neighborhood is also a film center now, too. The currently screening She's Out of My League was filmed here last year and some upcoming Jude Law film was being made here over the winter. A few years back Smart People was filmed right on this "crappy" street. So while I thought I escaped the young frat boys & constant filming when I left our University District, it seems to have followed me across town!

[Shari]

Only you, my dear friend, could find a way to make associations to the Holocaust from a frat party being filmed in your house.

[Katie A]

When I was studying in London, our landlord rented out the downstairs of our flat for a short film.

I remember one scene required a cat, and it was VERY IMPORTANT that there be silence at all times when the cat was on set. As I snuck up to my room one day, I spotted the cat sleeping on the living room couch amid all the noise and bustle of filming -- it couldn't care less.

Luckily, we were compensated with free breakfast and unlimited tea from craft services during the filming.

(First-time poster -- love your blog, and Charlie!)

[Merrilymarylee]

Um... what happens if the pilot sells? Will that buffalo head be hanging around indefinitely in that case?

When we lived in MN I was dozing during a late-night rerun of Matlock and opened my eyes just in time to see him leaving a house just like the one we'd just purchased in Wilmington, NC. Weird feeling!

I'll pass on the kegger...and the buffalo head, thank you. Yowsah, that thing is ugly!

[jeff]

your lucky they were not drinking morgan david

[churlita]

That's great. Forensic Files wanted to use my living room for an episode that took place in Iowa City, but it was my daughter's 10th birthday, so I couldn't help them.

[Elisabeth]

Reading this post was beyond fun. Sorry I have not been exactly a faithful visitor to your blog. I wanted to check on how you, the family, and Charlie were doing.