“Pan Am” Films in Glen Cove

Glen Cove will be well represented when the new show “Pan Am” airs, as television crews filmed in locations throughout the city last week.

It’s been almost impossible to ignore the big gray bus stopped in various places, or the yellow signs with “Pan Am” on them. Once the great American international airline, Pan Am fizzled out of business in 1991. Stay tuned for its rebirth as an ABC-TV original series, beginning Sunday, Sept. 25. 

“With respect to picking Glen Cove for locations for our show, ‘Pan Am’ is set in 1963 at the dawn of the jet age, and follows an adventurous flight crew as they travel the world,” said Pat Weber Sones, location manager for the show. “Glen Cove is home to a number of extraordinary estates that remain intact, including the mansions. Many of these estates are film-friendly, which offers a show like ours the opportunity to feature locations that can portray foreign sites. For example, the Woolworth Mansion is playing as several different places in the current script.”

In addition to “Pan Am,” the city has had some prominent exposure over the past year, most notably in the HBO mini-series “Mildred Pierce,” starring Academy Award winner Kate Winslet, and the feature film, “Our Idiot Brother,” with Paul Rudd. A two days after Tropical Storm Irene.

“The City of Glen Cove has been very hospitable to our industry, and we truly appreciate all of the assistance that has been extended to ‘Pan Am’ by Susan Tripp (Mayor’s Office) and Lt. Ralph Bruschini (Police Department)," she said. "We could not get our work done without their input and guidance.”

Residential areas throughout the city have also lent themselves to the show’s time period.

“We were fortunate to find a lovely house with a white picket fence
that really represents the ideal image people have of American homes
during the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Sones explained. “The house is supposed to be in East Granby, CT, for these scenes, and you wouldn’t know that we aren’t in a suburban hamlet of that town.”

One local house, belonging to Glen Cove High School film and media teacher, Chris Barry, was chosen for part of the shoot. One of his students was able to stop by and observe the process, getting “a sense of the efforts that go into location filming,” according to Sones.

“It’s great when we can give an up-close view to someone who is interested in pursuing a career in the business,” she said.

“Pan Am” features stars with a long list of film credits, including Christina Ricci, Margot Robbie, Michael Mosley, Karine Vanasse, Mike Vogel and Kelli Garner.

Even after this first round of shooting, they may not be through with the city just yet, according to Sones.

“There are other ideas for locations to be explored in Glen Cove beyond the estates,” she said. “We hope that ‘Pan Am’ continues to be welcomed by the community as we continue filming the inaugural season of the show.”