Robert Downey will be in the building

Filming of the movie "The Soloist," based on Steve Lopez's series of LAT columns and book on Downtown homeless musician Nathaniel Ayers, will move into the Times city room on Monday. Jamie Foxx plays Ayers, Robert Downey Jr. is Lopez, and Catherine Keener fits in there somewhere as a Times editor. A memo went out preparing the newsroom inhabitants to be on their best behavior.

From: Wolinsky, Leo
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2008 2:30 PM
Subject: filming

Beginning Monday, crews will begin setting up on the third floor newsroom to shoot scenes for a new movie, "The Soloist," starring Robert Downey Jr. This is the story of Nathaniel, the homeless musician who Steve Lopez has written about extensively in his columns.

Below you will see a schedule that calls for five days of preparation, four days of filming and three more days to strike the set. Preparation is planned at night and in the early morning hours to minimize disruption. Some of the filming will be done during working hours to accurately capture the look and feel of our newsroom.

Dave Rickley and Susan Larriva have worked tirelessly with the producers to do everything possible to keep this from interrupting our work. Please contact one of them if you have any questions or concerns.

Of course some disruption is inevitable. But this is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the paper and to show the world what we do and why it matters. Thanks for your understanding.