March 21, 2024
Kristin Hunt/PhillyVoice
The film crew for HBO's 'Task' took over the 700 block of South Ninth Street near the Italian Market on Tuesday and Wednesday. Restaurants including Ralph's and Mawn were affected by the shoot.
Pedestrians strolling South Ninth Street earlier this week may have walked right through a TV set on their way to dinner.
"Task," the latest HBO series from "Mare of Easttown" creator Brad Ingelsby, took over much of the 700 block of South Ninth Street from Tuesday through Wednesday night. The production temporarily closed the Italian restaurant Ralph's and various crew members were also seen darting in and out of a neighboring home. Mawn, the Cambodian restaurant one more door over, continued business as usual — or as usual as possible.
"We had a few people cancel kind of early on," said Rachel Lorn, co-owner of Mawn with her husband, Phila. "I don't know if it was directly related or not, but we were able to end up filling those seats with some walk-ins. I think people were curious what was going on, which was great because there was a lot more foot traffic."
The upcoming crime drama will star Mark Ruffalo as an FBI agent leading a task force in the Philadelphia area. The Academy Award nominee was spotted at a Newton Square deli earlier this month and is liable to appear in many more selfies over the spring and summer. Filming is expected to stretch into August.
Lights, cameras and boxes of equipment piled into the street Wednesday night as the crew filmed interior scenes. Some of that gear even spilled into Mawn's back driveway, where the crew set up a tent with the Lorns' permission. The shoot had little impact on dinner service, Lorn said, other than mildly messing with her sense of time.
"We really didn't see any much of anything other than all the crew and the lights and everything like that," she said. "It was pretty bright in the restaurant last night, which was really weird because it felt like it was like 6:30 p.m. all night. It got to be nine o'clock, 10 o'clock and I couldn't believe that it was as late as it was. So that was kind of strange."
"Task" hasn't just been tapping Philadelphia for locations; it's been looking for talent, too. Heery Loftus Casting, an agency based in Olde Richmond, has sent out numerous calls since January looking for twins, a courtroom sketch artist, an older Hispanic woman and "tough criminal types" to participate in the show. The show is directed by Jeremiah Zagar, the South Philly-native filmmaker behind "Hustle" and "In a Dream," the documentary about his artist father Isaiah Zagar. And Ingelsby, the show's writer and creator, grew up in Chester County.
When the film crew exited Ninth Street after their night shoot Wednesday, Lorn said they left the back space of her restaurant "nice and tidy" and that she's looking forward to tuning into the show.
"We love a crime drama," Lorn said. "We're really excited. I don't know what era it takes place in, I don't know if the front of our restaurant will be shown at all, but we're definitely going to look out for that."
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