Filming for Apple TV’s ‘Lady in the Lake’ Halted After Crews Threatened with Extortion and Shooting in Baltimore

Filming for Apple TV’s Lady in the Lake, starring Natalie Portman, was shut down on Friday after thugs threatened members of the production crew with extortion and violence unless they paid a protection fee.

Producers shut down the filming in an effort to “err on the side of caution” after two men — one of whom reportedly displayed a gun — approached the film crew and demanded money and threatened to shoot someone if their extortion fee of $50,000 was not paid, according to Variety.

{snip}

The series starring Natalie Portman — who is a big supporter of defunding the police — and Moses Ingram is set in 1966 and follows Portman’s character after she leaves her posh Pikesville life in Baltimore and becomes a reporter following up on an unsolved murder while advocating for the city’s minority population. The series is based on a 2019 book by the same name by detective fiction writer Laura Lippman.

Filming began on April and is expected to continue through October. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan welcomed the production and said that the series “generates a positive impact through job creation and revenue for the local businesses.”

Crime has been soaring in Baltimore this year.

As of July, Baltimore had already suffered more than 200 murders. And Forbes had reported that Baltimore was the fifth most dangerous city in the country last year. {snip}

{snip}