The “FlashForward” FBI Headquarters Building

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I was thoroughly disappointed to learn about the cancellation of the ABC television series FlashForward earlier this week, as the show was one of my favorites of the 2009 Fall Season.  What makes the cancellation most heartbreaking, though, for me at least, is the fact that because the season finale was filmed long before the series was canceled, producers did not get a chance to wrap-up the show’s central mystery.  I am afraid that unless a different network purchases FlashForward (which does happen on occasion), its fans will not be offered any sort of ending, resolution, or closure.  Not only will it remain a mystery as to what exactly caused the two minute and seventeen second worldwide blackout, but we will also never know how the lives of the main characters turn out.  UGH!  So annoying!  Anyway, a few weeks back, long before I left for Minnesota, I dragged my fiancé out to Downtown L.A. to stalk the John Ferraro building, which is used as the FBI Headquarters building each week on FlashForward.  Oddly enough, even though the building looked familiar to me when I first watched the pilot episode of the series, I couldn’t figure out exactly where I had seen it before.  Thankfully, though, fellow stalker Owen clued me into the fact that Gary, from the Seeing Stars website, was putting together a FlashForward locations page.  So, I emailed him to ask where the headquarters building was located and he wrote back immediately.  Yay!  Thank you, Gary! 

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The John Ferraro building, which was originally known as the Department of Water and Power’s General Office building, took four years to construct at a cost of $30 million and was first dedicated on June 24th, 1965.  The 17-story building, which was built entirely out of glass, steel, and concrete, was designed by architect Albert C. Martin of AC Martin Partners, an architectural firm who, according to a 1979 Los Angeles Times article, designed “more than 50 percent of all the major buildings erected in downtown Los Angeles since World War II”.  Martin, who was apparently light years ahead of his time, incorporated many “green” elements into the construction of the building, including a system which used the property’s fountains to cool the interior and its lighting to heat it.  Amazingly enough, that system is still in use today!  On November 16, 2000, the City of Los Angeles renamed the Department of Water and Power building in honor of former L.A. Councilman John Ferraro, who at the time had dedicated over 50 years of his life to public service.

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I can quite honestly say that the John Ferraro building is one of the most beautiful structures in all of L.A. – and one of my favorites!  With its 360 degree views of the Downtown Los Angeles skyline and ginormous fountain which surrounds its perimeter, the building is nothing short of majestic.  If you haven’t had the chance to stalk the place yet, I HIGHLY recommend doing so.  As was made apparent by the group of people enjoying a leisurely walk around the building, the photographers taking time-lapse pictures of the fountains, and the many couples just sitting and enjoying the unparalleled views, this is one building that can be appreciated by stalkers and non-stalkers alike.  It’s simply breathtaking!  And a place I never would have even known about had it not been for FlashForward!

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In addition to being used each week in establishing shots of the FBI Headquarters on FlashForward . . .

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. . . some filming has also taken place on location at the John Ferraro Building, including the fight scene between Detective Janis Hawk (aka Christine Woods) and Marcie Turoff (aka Amy Rosoff) in the episode titled “Queen Sacrifice” (pictured above) and the suicide scene of Agent Al Gough (aka Lee Thompson Young) in the episode titled “The Gift”.

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The parking structure of the John Ferraro Building was also used in the big chase scene between Sarah Connor (aka Linda Hamilton), Kyle Reese (aka Michael Biehn) and The Terminator (aka Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the first Terminator movie.  There are also some reports floating around that the John Ferraro Building stood in for both New York’s 14th Precinct on the 1980’s television series Cagney & Lacey and a Tacoma police station in the 1989 movie Three Fugitives, but that information is actually incorrect. 

On a side note – For those who have yet to visit the Google website today, you really need to do so NOW!  In honor of the 30th anniversary of PacMan,Google has implanted a fully-functional mini-version of the 80’s classic arcade game on their homepage.  It is just about the coolest thing ever and I’ve already spent WAY too much time today playing it.  Love it, love it, love it!

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Big THANK YOU to Gary, from Seeing Stars, for finding this location.  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The John Ferraro Building, aka FBI Headquarters from FlashForward, is located at 111 North Hope Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

Flash Forward!

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This past weekend, while out doing some stalking, my boyfriend and I happened upon a rather large film shoot that shut down an entire block in Downtown Los Angeles.  So, of course, we just had to pull the car over to find out what was being filmed.  🙂  Turns out it was the pilot episode of a new Lost-esque television series entitled Flash Forward  that is set to premiere on ABC this Spring.  The series is based on a science fiction novel of the same name written by Robert J. Sawyer.  While the crew members were pretty tight-lipped about plot details and the show’s cast, they did let me snap some pics of the production.  🙂 

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And what a production it was!!  I’ve don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie set that was quite so large or quite so involved.  And what amazed me the most was how realistic everything seemed.  It truly felt as if we were viewing a real life disaster area.  The scene being filmed centered around a major accident involving several overturned cars and two totalled buses.  If you look closely at the above pics, you’ll notice that both buses used in the filming feature advertising for ABC shows (Lost  and Desperate Housewives) on their sides.  LOL   Gee, I wonder what network this show will be airing on.  😉  

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When I got home from stalking the Flash Forward  set, I did some cyber-research on the show and this is the info I was able to gather. The script for the pilot episode, which is entitled “No More Good Days”, was written by David S. Goyer (author of The Dark Knight  and Batman Begins  movies among many others) and Brannon Braga (co-executive producer of the series 24).  The show’s premise is this: at the exact same time all across the globe all of humanity loses consciousness for approximately two minutes.  During that brief period of time people everywhere “flash forward” to a moment exactly five months into their future to witness an unexpected event in their lives.  Sort of like what happened when the Ghost of Christmas Future visited Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.   🙂    Adding to the drama is that fact that during the worldwide black-out, chaos takes over the earth – there are plane crashes, car accidents, deadly falls, etc. – and 40 million people lose their lives.   Even though I am not a fan of the science fiction genre (I’ve never watched even one episode of Lost), I have to admit that Flash Forward’s  already got me hooked and I am for sure going to tune in!  The show stars Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, and Courtney B. Vance.  You can read a great article about the new series here.

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And although I didn’t see any stars while stalking the Flash Forward  filming, I did spot an actor walking around in his tighty-whities (pictured above).  LOL   

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Flash Forward  was filmed on South Broadway in between 8th and 9th Streets in Downtown Los Angeles.  Look for Flash Forward  to premiere on ABC sometime this Spring in the time slot before Lost.