Hollywood glamor comes to the streets of Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT – Hollywood has arrived! Trucks carrying cameras, lights, and actors were scheduled to begin rolling into town last night for three days of filming the new Mark Wahlberg movie “Ted.” But while many associate the movies with glitz, glamour and spectacle, filming a live-action and animated comedy about a man and his teddy bear is a little less conspicuous.”There’s nothing (in terms of events) in town scheduled,” said Town Administrator Andrew Maylor last week. “They’re in the evening of the 3rd, out on the 7th.””It’s a great event for Swampscott, but as far as adversely impacting our operations – not at all,” said Fire Chief Kevin Breen. In fact, he said that the department’s primary concern is to make sure that those personnel on shifts during filming consider how the movie schedule might impact their response to other incidents in the neighborhood.”Certainly our goal is to have as little impact on traffic flow or citizens’ (lives) as possible,” Police Chief Ronald Madigan added, saying that he doesn’t anticipate any road closures, but that “temporary, very short periods where the traffic is stopped during takes,” may be possible.According to film production company Media Rights Capital, Ted follows a Boston man (played by Wahlberg) who, as a child, made a wish that his teddy bear be brought to life. The wish was granted and, decades later, the two remain best friends.But, while Wahlberg’s character has grown up, his furry (and computer-animated) friend is a foul-mouthed slacker voiced by director Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the animated hit comedy “Family Guy.” With Wahlberg’s character stuck in a dead-end job, the teddy bear title character is an unwelcome influence according to Wahlberg’s love interest, played by Mila Kunis.And while filming an action thriller may require explosions, gunfights and car chases, Maylor said that the filming will be less obtrusive, occurring overnight and primarily featuring the interior of a house on Atlantic Avenue.Unit Publicist Scott Levine said the set will be closed, as is typical in the early stages of filming (the movie began filming in Boston last week). Levine did disclose that the Swampscott scene involves a big house party to which most of the major characters (he couldn’t confirm which) are invited.So you might catch a glimpse of the stars within Swampscott boundaries. But the biggest sign of the production is the staging areas at Temple Israel and Congregation Shirat Hayam where the equipment trucks trailers, and all sorts of other filming accessories will be parked.The temple sites might even be the better bet for star-gazing. Public Works Director Gino Cresta said that his department has two contributions to the production: one is to provide sawhorses to the police detail at the shoot and the other is to open up a fire hydrant.Unfortunately for those hoping to make their Hollywood debut walking along the beach with Mark Wahlberg, Cresta said the film needs a “couple of thousand gallons” of water because the scene calls for rain.