Brooklyn Heights Business Owner Says She Won’t Allow Movie Shoots in Her Store

By on May 28, 2014 7:37 am in News

Rocco and Jezebel’s Andrea Demetropoulos takes a stand against film shoots – at least in her store – in a recent New York Times article about movie making in Brooklyn.

And it was Adam Sandler’s The Cobbler that might have pushed her to that decision.

NYT: Andrea Demetropoulos has been approached about filming inside her Brooklyn Heights pet store several times, but usually refuses out of consideration for the neighbors, she said.

When “The Cobbler,” in which Adam Sandler plays a shoe repairman who can magically inhabit his customers’ lives, was filming in a nearby toy store last fall, officious production assistants kept her customers out of her store. And when the Coen brothers were filming Brooklyn Heights (playing Washington) for their film “Burn After Reading,” she defied an assistant who tried to stop her from crossing the street to her own home, which was surrounded by a gaggle of young women gawking at Brad Pitt.

Ms. Demetropoulos remained stubbornly un-starstruck. “What do they think, he’s going to run up and kiss them?” she said.

Share this Story:
  • DIBS

    I will miss Rose & Primo as I’m now down in PA a lot more.

  • Fritz

    This is a headline? Is this a pet store?

  • Argo

    Some of us who live in the neighborhood depend on the movie and TV industry to feed our families. Neighborhood shoots are especially welcome because we can see our kids (and dogs) instead of spending days away. I will find a pet store that is more family friendly.

  • MonroeOrange

    Argo, you’re the exception that proves the rule. The great majority of us are inconvenienced by these movie shoots, be it, parking restrictions, or not being able to walk down our own street bc of filming!

    I applaud their decision, as they are thinking of the majority of the community they serve (and i remind you, that they are turning down good money also). Even more reason, that they should be aplauded.

    And to say they aren’t family friendly bc you can’t work from a location near your house, is off base and wrong.

  • Heights Observer

    Sorry, but most of us who live in the neighborhood are tied of being hassled all of the time by the production crews. That’s why we have a temporary moratorium on filming because they are so disruptive.

    I have to agree with the pet store owner. The picture people are generally an arrogant bunch who trod over the folks that live here with impunity. When “The Cobbler” was filming on Orange Street, they left bag after bag of garbage along the length of two blocks. Disgraceful.

    And boy, you are really stretching it to say that the Pet shop is not “family friendly” because they don’t like the way picture people behave. Our lives are disrupted and our property “requisitioned” without any compensation. When I politely asked a fellow to remove his massive amount of equipment from my stoop (he was trespassing) I was informed by him that he was “not authorized” to speak to me. Mind you, he was on my property, without permission and somehow I was in the wrong.
    Talk about self-entitled!

  • johnny cakes

    Hurray for the Pet Store people. Boo for the Argo.

  • ltap917

    Seriously? Do you even live in the Heights? Andrea and John are not only pet store owners but they have been BH residents for decades.
    I side with Andrea on this issue.
    I was on the Promenade about 2 years ago and came across a film crew that was trying to hose off some snow from the Promenade that had been used in the shoot. This was summertime so the snow had been brought in for the shoot. Anyway, the guy with the hose was pushing the snow at great force down onto the BQE. I yelled at him to stop because what would happen if you were actually driving a car on the BQE and stuff started falling on your car? He yelled back at me.
    Clueless people taking over the neighborhood is definitely NOT a good thing!