Great Neck got a glimpse of some Hollywood movie magic Saturday afternoon, as a Middle Neck Road storefront was turned into a movie set for an upcoming Jason Bateman and Tina Fey film.
Tennis Junction was transformed inside and out into Altman Sporting Goods as Bateman filmed scenes for “This is Where I Leave You,” the screen adaptation of author Jonathan Tropper’s 2009 darkly comic bestseller about a family brought together to sit shiva for their father.
Norman Lee, Tennis Junction’s owner, said the film’s director of locations had checked out his store and found it an ideal setting for filming.
“He said this looks like a place that we could shoot, we need a mom-and-pop sporting goods store,” Lee said. “They’ve had people here now since April.”
The inside of the store was transformed, with tents and sporting equipment brought in as props and ladders, gaffers tape and lighting equipment placed both inside the storefront and outside on the sidewalk.
“The place is like a mad house,” Lee said.
Lee said he was excited to have his business used for the film, and that the filming was a novel process for him.
“I’ve never been in a movie shoot before,”he said.
Lee was not the only Great Neck resident excited about the Hollywood spectacle.
Harley Centner, a Great Neck North High School student, stood with his mother Leslie next to the production equipment lining the sidewalk, waiting to catch sight of the film’s stars and director Shawn Levy.
“I think it’s really interesting,” Harley said.
The change in the store’s signage caused some confusion among residents who thought Tennis Junction had changed ownership, but that has not deterred residents’ excitement about the filming, said Leslie Centner.
“We’re waiting to get a glimpse,” Leslie said. “I think everyone is excited this is going on.”
And for Lee, he hopes the experience could come with an additional perk – a Hollywood film credit.
Lee found a disused ice skate sharpener in his store, which was incorporated into shooting, he said.
“They brought it up and I had to teach them how to use it,” Lee said. “Maybe they’ll have a thing in the credits.”
“This is Where I Leave You” has been filming across the North Shore, including a stint in Manhasset’s Munsey Park from May 20 through June 11.
Residents of the Munsey Park cul-de-sac used by Warner Bros. for the shoot said they often saw the cast walking around the house being used for shooting, including Fey, Bateman, Adam Driver, Timothy Olyphant and Jane Fonda.
Though Fey and many of the film’s stars were absent from Saturday’s Great Neck shoot, residents did get to see Bateman work, as he filmed multiple takes of entering the store early Saturday afternoon.
