Fortunately, by that time, they had negotiated with
the city to completely "own" the street.
"I tried one last time," Keener says. "I told them,
'look, you can come aboard, let us affect your building
and we'll pay you, or you can be open when we're not
working but nobody will be able to park in front of
your store because we're going to cover the street in
dirt and the road's going to be closed. You won't even
be able to park in front of your store."
The owner would not budge, so when it came time
to film, the store's façade was creatively obscured by
fruit stands with large canvas backings and 1920's
picture cars.
Keener continued to speak with the woman, who
cooperated when she could. "She let us take down this
big sign she didn't like and the art department made her
a new one. We wound up doing some other things that
helped us and, in the end, probably helped her too."
Keener still has a voice mail from the woman about
what a wonderful experience it was.
Photo by Mike Walton
