COLONIE — A film crew took over a town street on Sunday, Nov. 18.
The cast and crew were tightlipped, but neighbors of surrounding Dory Lane, a dead end street off Frederick Avenue, got a notice in the mail soliciting the use of their home for filming the movie “Shoplifters of the World.”
Most of the filming took place outside of 3 Dory Lane and it appeared crews were setting up to take some footage inside the home too.
According to the industry website IMDb, the comedy is set in Colorado in 1987 and: “One crazy night in the life of four friends reeling from the sudden demise of iconic British ban The Smiths, while the local airwaves are hijacked at gunpoint by an impassioned Smiths fan.”
The fans take over a radio station at gunpoint and force the DJ to play Smiths songs over and over again, according to a story in the trade publication Pitchfork.
The title comes from one of the Smiths’ most famous songs: “Shoplifters of the World Unite.” The Smiths were a rock band from England in the early 1980s, and were called one of the more influential bands of their day. In 2003, three of their albums appeared in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The film is written by Lorianne Hall and is being directed by Stephen Kijak.
Kijak has been involved with music documentaries like “If I leave Here Tomorrow” based on the Southern Rock band Lynard Skynard, “The Backstreet Boys, show ‘em what your made of,” and “Stones in Exile,” about the iconic band the Rolling Stones
Hall’s credits include the action film “Two Graves,” “Bus Stop,” “The Last Fiction” and “Soul Boy.”
The film has been at least a couple years in the works, and was initially supposed to kick off in 2012 with the blessing of Steven Morrissey, the Smiths lead singer, according to Pitchfork.
Shoplifters of the World is staring Abby Awe, who also appeared in “The Tick,” “God Friended Me” and “Binge.” Other actors in the film are Tahla Kahn, Tonatiuh Elizarraraz and Nacia Walsh.
Lt. Robert Donnelly of the Colonie Police Department said the production company, SOTW FSP, Inc. applied for a permit with the Town Clerk similar to one given to someone wanting to hold a block party. They did not plan to shut down any roads while filming, he said, but did want permission to soak the roads with water.
They initially wanted to hire a Colonie police officer to help with traffic control, he said, but must have opted against that idea because they did not make a formal request.
There is not yet a release date for the film.
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