(Seguin) — Seguin will serve as the backdrop for a limited series that will appear on HBO Max. The production will be shot in Seguin starting next week. The series is a true-crime drama called Love and Death and is based on actual events that took place in the 1970’s and 1980’s era.
Seguin Main Street and CVB Director Kyle Kramm says they are excited about this project, which will feature a number of locations around Seguin.
“Staff has been working with HBO Max on a limited TV series. They are looking to film some of the scenes here in Seguin and so they are going to be filming here next week on the 14th and 15th of December and they’ve got five locations that they will be filming at including Arlan’s, ZDT’s Amusement Park, Schultz Saloon, Palace Theater and Saegert Middle School and so for the first day, they are pretty much on private property, no impact to the general public but on Wednesday, there will be some impact to the general public because there will be some intermittent traffic control on Austin and Court Street while they are filming,” said Kramm.
Kramm explained how the project will work during a presentation on Tuesday to the Seguin City Council. He says there will be some traffic disruptions around some of the shooting locations next week.
“On Tuesday, they do have some filming going on at the Palace Theater but it’s not a whole lot but just a few hours. There might be a little traffic interruption but then on Wednesday is when it’s the big day. So, they have asked for some reserved parking around downtown for all their trucks and lighting equipment –”
“Things like that that need to be in those parking spaces, and this is a period time piece set in the 1970s so they can’t have any vehicles on the street that don’t match the 1970s. So, they are going to be asking for intermittent traffic control with officers to stop vehicles from traveling down Austin Street while they are filming. So, the street will be closed for up to five minutes at any one time and then traffic will be able to resume again,” said Kramm.
Most of the locations call for streets to be intermittently closed, but some of the streets near the Saegert campus will be completely shut down during the production.
In addition to the traffic changes, Kramm says that parking could also be impacted near some of these locations. He says they have been working closely with HBO Max and the production company to make sure that this project works well for everyone.
“Saegert is where they are requesting the actual street closure request which street closures are required to be approved by city council and so they are requesting the 100 and 200 block of North of Bowie as well as the 300 block of West Gonzales and so we have been working diligently with the location’s cast and production team on all the details in making sure that everything is covered so they have rented numerous facilities across Seguin for shooting as well as for staging purposes – different parking lots for vehicles so they’ll be all over Seguin,” said Kramm.
This is a big production and Kramm says there will be economic benefit to Seguin, as well as an opportunity for the town to be featured as part of a major production on HBO Max.
“There’s going to be about 330 people with the set, with the crew and with the cast. Additionally, they have hired lots of local extras, so some Seguinites are getting a little bump in their Christmas pay with going and being an extra on set,” said Kramm.
Kramm says they are excited about this project. He says it’s part of the reason why the city worked to make itself friendly to producers looking for filming locations around the state. He says they hope that more productions will look at Seguin for future filming sites.
“I’m looking forward to watching the series and going ‘oh, I know that place.’ They have been all over Central Texas so I’m glad they have included us. This is the first time that we’ve had a major production in quite a while. The last major production was the television show called Revolution. I believe they filmed back here in ‘09 or 2010 and that was just at that one location at the Aumont and so this was the goal of us becoming a Certified Film Friendly Community through the Governor’s office and so, we are excited and hope that this means more good things to come in the future,” said Kramm.
Motorists are again reminded that the filming will take place mostly on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, and traffic and parking could be impacted in those areas.
The Love and Death series is produced by well-known Hollywood veterans David E. Kelley and Nicole Kidman. A number of well-known stars will also appear in the cast, including Elizabeth Olson. The limited series is expected to appear on HBO Max sometime in 2022.