Nobody paid much attention when the film trucks began to arrive at Long Beach’s Belmont Shore last week in the Olympics Closing Ceremony.
The residential seaside neighbourhood is used for many film sets, including Jeep ads, Netflix drama “Griselda,” and “Dexter.” Locals usually just shrug when the crews show up and gently nudge their inquisitive dogs away from the catering tents.
However, last week, trucks simply started arriving in quantities that no one had ever seen. Additionally, there was a somewhat humorous aura of secrecy as hundreds of workmen eventually surrounded Rosie’s dog beach in dozens.
Another worker remarked, “I think it’s a commercial,” as massive cranes with lighting equipment like stadiums were moved into position. He said he had no idea what kind of advertisement it was.
Word spread that they were recording a portion of the Olympic closing ceremony, which is the phase where the torch is passed from the current host city to the next, by Saturday morning, when the entire beach was being covered with a privacy tent.
The enigma was resolved by the arrival of the enormous “LA28” sculpture.
Soon, a small but devoted throng of extras will watch Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Billie Eilish perform on the improvised stage, which was positioned beside fake palm trees short enough to be caught in the frame.
Locals appeared to be accepting of the situation overall, despite the hassles caused by parking and traffic. That is until a few media sources mistook the spot for the far more well-known Venice Beach.
📢📢📢
— brandon wenerd (@brandonwenerd) August 12, 2024
I’ve been telling y’all all afternoon to whoever will listen this is the first LA 2028 Olympic scandal!!!!!!! https://t.co/YtZXmn8W5L
“Outrageous!” yelled on X @brandonwenerd.
“This is the erasure of Long Beach,” said _alyssayung_ on TikTok. The image on her TV screen made the offshore oil wells in the background, which were camouflaged as islands with palm trees, quite evident.
Those would be instantly recognizable to any Long Beach resident or other SoCal local.
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