Christmas came to the 7700 Block of Adams Street during the week of Sept. 12-16. Despite temperatures in the 80s, there was “snow” everywhere for the shooting of a holiday commercial. The director was Ted Melfi, who wrote and directed the 2014 film, St. Vincent, starring Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy and Naomi Watts.
The commercial was reportedly a Toyota ad.
The location manager was Dan Marcus, a Forest Park resident, who previously arranged for a beer commercial to be filmed in the village.
“We were looking for a very Midwestern town,” he said, “with a variety of different kinds of houses on the block. We show the diversity of residents all getting along. The people on the block were excited.”
Marcus noted that village officials are very “film friendly” in Forest Park. Filming here is also a boon to the local economy.
“The cast and crew were having lunches on Madison Street,” he said. “They were also buying supplies in town.”
The commercial was produced by a company called Brother and should be airing when real snow falls in Forest Park.
