Crowds filled the street corners near 45th and Leavenworth Tuesday evening. A small group of people could be seen repeatedly walking out of La Casa Pizzaria. As the sun set, the classic, dancing neon sign above the parking lot lit brightly, as movie cameras rolled.
"The difference of the movie of course is that it's done so slowly. They say in the usual shoot day you're lucky if you get two minutes of usable footage,” said “Downsizing” producer Mark Johnson. He spoke exclusively on set with KMTV Action 3 News.
Tuesday was the second of four days movie crews took over businesses and neighborhoods for Nebraska-native Alexander Payne’s latest project. The movie also stars Matt Damon and Kristin Wiig. Matt Damon was spotted in Omaha earlier in the week, but was not on set at La Casa Tuesday.
Crowds looked on as the sun set and crews began packing up the set.
"I thought they maybe [the movie crew] were just going to do a few shots, like maybe this afternoon. When I saw them fixing up the La Casa sign I was like, ‘Oh maybe they're going to do something!’ one woman said as she watched.
Johnson said the scene would be just a tiny part in the movie, which shot for six days in Los Angeles before coming to Omaha. The production will be in Nebraska just four days before moving on to Canada.
“II think it has a lot to say, so I'm hoping [the audience] will get lots of laughs out of it, they'll learn something about it, and it may it just may peak their curiosity a little bit,” said Johnson.
Alexander Payne was busy directing crews Tuesday night. He joined the cast and crew at a special dinner inside La Casa after the group finished the shoot.
