Crew members and security staff are being tight-lipped about a major Hollywood production—featuring stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn—that is being filmed on location in downtown San Juan Bautista.
Shooting for the movie, currently known only as “BC Project,” began Feb. 25 and was expected to resume for several days this week in the historic downtown. Although the cast’s biggest stars are presumably on location for the filming, their appearance was elusive as onlookers gathered and security crews kept a tight perimeter around the filming and production areas.
Production crews have been in town a few weeks prior to filming, according to local residents.
Throngs of fans and local residents on Feb. 26 gathered outside the roped-off production areas—including a night scene in front of the San Juan Bautista Plaza Hotel—in hopes of meeting or catching a glimpse of the film’s stars.
Area resident Kenny Holthouse showed up in downtown San Juan Bautista Monday evening where the filming was unfolding. He said he grew up on a cattle ranch there and still lives on one.
“I remember back around 1954-55 when Hollywood came here to film ‘Vertigo’,” he said. “I met Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak — the stars of the film. And I met Alfred Hitchcock. It was a pretty big deal. I was also hired to build some of the bricks and do work on the renovation of the Mission.”
Details about “BC Project” and its plot or release date are scarce. Trucks associated with the film parked in downtown San Juan Bautista bore the Warner Brothers logo.
According to IMDb.com, “BC Project” is directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, and stars DiCaprio, Penn, Teyana Taylor and Wood Harris. Anderson is known for directing “Boogie Nights,” “There Will Be Blood” and other successful Hollywood films.
The IMDb page adds, “Plot under wraps.”
San Juan Bautista City Manager Don Reynolds told the media earlier this week that hotels in and around the historic town have been booked for several weeks, likely in relation to the filming of “BC Project.”
