There has been a lot of rock ‘n’ roll (and sex and drugs) going on in Port Washington—orchestrated, in part, by Mick Jagger.
Jagger was among A-list celebrities in Sands Point last week to help oversee filming of a so-far untitled HBO drama about music in the 1970’s, when punk and disco were having their beginnings.
In addition to filming at a Sands Point waterfront mansion, the cast and crew used Sousa Elementary School as its base camp.
The pilot has quite a pedigree. In addition to Jagger’s participation, Martin Scorsese is directing, and was said to be on-site, and Sopranos writer Terence Winter is an executive producer. All three created the story.
Comedian Ray Romano has a role as the right hand man of a music industry executive and Andrew “Dice” Clay will be an “obnoxious” cocaine addict who owns a chain of radio stations, according to reports.
Jagger’s son, James, will reportedly play the lead singer of punk band the Nasty Bits.
Scorsese and Jagger, who worked together on the Rolling Stones documentary Shine A Light, began the rock and roll project as a feature after Jagger told Scorsese they ought to make a movie like Casino about the music world.
The pilot has been in the works at HBO since 2010, moving slowly because of the principles’ busy schedules.
Local officials say the monetary benefit to the area was robust while the crew and actors were here.
“It’s tremendous,” said Kim Kaiman, executive director of the Town of North Hempstead Business and Tourism Development Corporation. Kaiman could not give a dollar figure, but said businesses that benefited included Port delis, hardware stores, restaurants and even laundromats.
