Dear Readers,
It
is late afternoon on a sunny day in May in the Mojave dessert; I am traveling up
the Chiriaco Pass just east of Indio on Interstate 10. It is 101 degrees in the shade, I have to go
easy on the accelerator, I do not want to push the engine and over heat it. My destination is a few miles away, a lonely
road that time forgot, Pinto Road; surrounded by sage brush, mountains, rattle
snacks, jack rabbits and host of bugs that love to fly in your face. Pinto Road is the perfect place to shoot a
road that few cars ever venture on, mainly because the road does not
exist. There are no signs for Pinto Road;
I had to use my iPhone to locate it once I got off of Cotton Spring Road. Pinto
road is dirt at first, at least for a quarter of a mile, then it is paved
before it is becomes dirt road again just past the bridge. I found the perfect place to park my motor
home, flat and out of the way, big enough to accommodate ten to fifteen
vehicles. On Cottonwood Spring road,
just to the west there is a pull out to park another twenty vehicles.
I
get calls from Clients all the time regarding lonely dessert roads to shoot at;
the problem is if it is a maintained road that the public has access to, one
has to pay for local police or the highway patrol to block the street. This can
be very expensive, especially if you have a modest budget. Not the case if the road abandoned and the
county does not maintain such road, all you need is a film permit and a
certificate of insurance, (this may vary from city to city or county to county
and size of crew).
I
was working on a night shoot, we had a couple of hours to set up the generators
and lights, position the car for the shot and get the talent ready. As the sun slowly started to set, the pace of
the crew pick up, stingers were everywhere, 5K and 10K lights seem to come out
of Joshua Trees. The AD was screaming
some incoherent instruction, as the actors were whisked out of the motor home
and onto set. By 4am we were finished for
the night. In thirty minutes; everyone
was gone except for me, I decided to crash for a few hours, I was dead tired.
What
makes Pinto Road so perfect for shooting is most people do not know the road
exist, unless you have a good map or an iPhone.
Pinto Road runs along I-10 on the south side of the freeway, I assume at
some point before I-10 was built this was the main road to Arizona. Indio, the nearest town is about thirty
minutes from Pinto, and Palm Springs is about an hour west. Though one might think you are in the middle
of nowhere, you are very close to restaurants, grocery stores and lodging. One of my favorite places is the Fantasy
Springs Resort Casino (760.342.5000) because it has plenty of parking for
vehicles of all sizes including large trucks and motor homes, fine dining and a
pool to relax in after a long day of shooting.
The Best Western Date Tree Hotel 760.347.3421 is another place to stay
at for the night(s), high speed Internet, comfortable beds, and a free
breakfast. In Indio, there is a TA Truck
stop for fuel for both cars and trucks, off of I-10 on Dillon Road (760.342.6200). The nearest dump station is at the Flying J
in Thousand Palms (760.343.1500). If you
need a film permit call Sheri Davis at the Inland Film Commission at (909.888.9011)
And if you have any questions and you need motor homes, portable restrooms or
help finding this location or other locations, call me Mike Green at
818.317.7099.
