ANIMAL

"Truck Topples Camera Boom"

Sonoma Index Tribune, 3 November 2000

A Federal Express delivery truck knocked over a small camera crane in front of Sonoma's City Hall Tuesday afternoon.

Used as a "camera boom" to elevate a movie camera and its operator, the crane belongs to Elle Pictures, which has been filming scenes of "The Animal" in downtown Sonoma this week.

The film crew shot scenes in front of City Hall on Monday, and had moved across Plaza park to First Street West on Tuesday. Not needed for Tuesday's filming, the crane was covered with plastic to protect it from any rain, and parked on the edge of the horseshoe-shaped driveway leading up to City Hall.

At about 1 p.m., the delivery truck driven by John Silva, 29, of Santa Rosa, attempted to enter the driveway, where movie crew members Brigitte Jones, 37, of Concord, was sitting in her stopped car.

Silva attempted to maneuver around Jones' car, and accidentally struck the crane, toppling it over. No official value for the cost of the crane has been filed yet, said a spokeswoman for the Sonoma Police Department.

©2000 Sonoma Index Tribune

Photo by Robbi Pengelly / Index-Tribune

A movie crew transformed Sonoma's City Hall into the Elkerton Police department for the filming of "The Animal," starring Rob Schneider.

Photo by Robbi Pengelly / Index-Tribune

Up, up and away — Star Rob Schneider, right, gets a flying lesson from his stunt double Gary Guercio, prior to Schneider performing the scene himself. The movie crew that's been filming "The Animal" in and around Sonoma Plaza all this week will be packing up its equipment and heading off to another location tonight. Except for a minor accident involving a delivery truck and an unused camera boom, the week has gone pretty smoothly, said location manager Molly Allen.