‘Snowfall’ is a crime drama series set in 1983 Los Angeles when everything changed in the neighborhoods when the crack cocaine epidemic took over. The series revolves around the gangs who want in on the crack business and the violence that results from it. Ever since the show premiered in July 2017, the location manager Brian O’Neill and his team have been greatly appreciated for the aesthetic visuals. They have also won California On-Location Awards for their work on the show. Naturally, you must be wondering where this television show is filmed. Well, we’ve got your back!
Snowfall Filming Locations
The events in the series primarily take place in Los Angeles, with South Central LA and East LA being two of the most frequented settings. The production for the series was not untouched by the Coronavirus pandemic since it was forced to halt filming in March 2020 when the production was halfway through season 4. The fourth season finally wrapped up filming in January 2021. Here are the details!
Los Angeles, California
‘Snowfall’ is filmed on location in Los Angeles, California. As O’Neill stated, unlike other shows filmed in LA, this series does not usually film in the “standard filming world,” with well-known restaurants and sprawling mansions. After scouting several locations, O’Neill and his team decided to film in specific neighborhoods, such as Pacoima and Lincoln Heights.
The team went door-to-door to speak with people to get a sense of whether they would be alright with a filming crew shooting there for at least five years (since the series is planned for five seasons). This means that season 4 has also been filmed in the usual filming locations used since season 1. The production team made several changes in the neighborhoods to depict the 80s.
Since the series is filmed in South and East Los Angeles, the team goes an extra mile to ensure the comfort of the residents as these parts of LA are not used to filming crews. Therefore, gaining trust and access has not been easy. Entire neighborhoods are often locked down for filming since all possible anachronisms have to be removed.
All the modern-day cars have to be moved to different parking lots all over the city since these cars cannot even be seen in the driveways of the private properties. The streets are then replaced with period cars. For the scenes set in the early 80s, fences and security bars on the windows are removed and put back every time during filming since these features only became part of homes in the late 80s after drugs and gang wars took over the neighborhoods.
Let’s get this money. #SnowfallFX pic.twitter.com/nGteBo8Jrf
— Snowfall (@SnowfallFX) September 12, 2019
Apart from Lincoln Heights and Pacoima, a few scenes have also been filmed at Broadway and San Pedro Street. A funeral scene was shot at the Evergreen Cemetery on 204 North Evergreen Avenue. While local production of films and television series dropped by about 25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 due to COVID-19, ‘Snowfall’ continued to shoot there since it is the primary setting and filming location. Naturally, all safety protocols and guidelines had to be followed for filming season 4.
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