When the movie trucks started rolling into Belmont Shore in Long Beach last week, no one thought much of it.
The residential waterfront neighborhood is such a frequent movie set (Jeep commercials, “Dexter,” the Netflix miniseries “Griselda”) that locals mostly shrug when crews arrive, then carefully steer their curious dogs away from the catering tents.
But last week, the trucks kept arriving in numbers no one had ever seen before. And there was an almost comical air of secrecy as dozens, then hundreds, of workers moved quickly around Rosie's dog beach.
“I honestly have no idea,” said a worker with a clipboard and a walkie-talkie when asked what they were filming. Meanwhile, behind her, a replica of one of the city’s iconic lifeguard huts was being set up — only this one was much cleaner and a much more vivid shade of blue than the real one, about 20 metres away.
“I think it's an advertisement,” said another worker as they maneuvered huge cranes with stadium-style lighting equipment into place. He said he didn't know what kind of advertisement it was.
On Saturday morning, as that entire section of beach was being encased in a privacy tent, word spread that they were filming part of the Olympics closing ceremony — the part where the torch is passed from the current host city to the next.
Finneas and Billie Eilish perform in Long Beach for the Olympic Games kick-off celebration.
(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for LA28)
When the giant sculpture “LA28” arrived, the mystery was solved.
Soon, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Billie Eilish would be on the makeshift stage (located next to fake palm trees low enough to be caught in frame) doing their thing in front of a small but adoring crowd of extras.
Parking and traffic issues aside, locals seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride, until some media outlets incorrectly identified the spot as the much more well-known Venice Beach.
Filming activity is seen from a distance at Rosie's Dog Beach, which was transformed for the Olympics.
(Jack Dolan/Los Angeles Times)
“Scandal!” shouted @brandonwenerd on X.
“This is the erasure of Long Beach,” _alyssayung_ lamented on TikTok. The image on her TV screen clearly showed the offshore oil wells camouflaged by palm-lined islands in the background.
Any Southern Californian, and especially anyone from Long Beach, would instantly recognize them.
