This week they are scheduled to do a shoot at our friends house in NYC.

Merika Nea gia tin Seira pou tha paixtei apo to Mega to Oktombri :)

 Lights, Camera, Honey Cookies: A Soap Opera, Greek Style

Uli Seit for The New York Times

Andreas Georgiou and Sofia Karvela, actors on the set of “On 31st Street.”

By JEFF VANDAMPublished: January 14, 2007

Film crews seem to blanket New York these days, and on a balmy afternoon early this month, one of them was shooting in a most unlikely place: the concrete backyard of a two-story brick house on 23rd Street in Astoria.

As trucks and vans noisily ascended the Triborough Bridge in the very near background, the camera operators set up their shots under a netless basketball hoop. The crew assistants ferried coffee to higher-ups, and a stubbled young actor in a brown velvet blazer paced about, wearing an iPod. He had the magazine-ready looks of a soap opera actor, and that is what he was — the co-star of a Greek soap opera that chose this Greek-heavy neighborhood as its actual and on-screen location.

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The jeans-clad director of the show, Demetri Demirakos, shouted orders at crew members and swore frequently in a good-natured way. The occupant of the house, a portly, grinning man, hovered about, munching on crew-provided doughnuts and occasionally peering down from an upstairs window. Earlier in the day, his mother had prepared soup for the female lead and melomakarona, or Greek honey cookies, for the crew.

All of Astoria has the welcome mat out.

“People, they keep calling the office,” said George Stamou, the executive producer of the show, which is called “On 31st Street.” “They say, ‘If you need cars, if you need a house, we will help.’ ” He paused. “One said, ‘I’ll send my yaya,’ ” he recalled, using a Greek word for grandmother.

The title of the program, which will air on the Mega Channel in Greece and its satellite channels worldwide, refers to the commercial strip in Astoria that sits under the elevated tracks of the N and W trains and serves as the backbone of New York’s Greek community. The show, which has scenes in Greek and English, attempts to echo the experience of many Greek newcomers to the city through the life of a character named Christina, a young woman from a wealthy family who breaks off an engagement in Greece to find a new life in America.

After running away from her initial boardinghouse, which is occupied by drunken and ornery Brooklynites, Christina, played by Sofia Karvela, meets Alex, a dashing Greek-American who seems to hold the same promise as the city he inhabits. The two then have 26 episodes’ worth of adventures together, taking them to as-yet-undisclosed locations across the borough, the country and the world. The producers and stars of the show are mum about where, and why.

For some of the young stars of the show, it is their first time acting, or even living, in the United States. Andreas Georgiou, 24, the young man in the blazer, plays Alex; he won a talent program in Greece called “Dream Show” and has attracted at least one fan club on the Web. He spent his own money to travel to New York and star in the soap opera, which he also produces.

“It’s kind of an investment for me,” Mr. Georgiou said as he waited for his scene to begin, his spiky black hair set just so. He has taken up residence in Astoria and seems to enjoy life in the United States. At one point, referring to a prominent Greek-American actress, he said in an awestruck tone, “We had lunch with Olympia Dukakis!”

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George Delis, the district manager of Community Board 1, noted that Astoria and its inhabitants are no strangers to filmmaking. Just before “On 31st Street” began filming, he said, Uma Thurman was in the neighborhood doing scenes for a coming movie, “The Accidental Husband.” And Mr. Delis himself had a tiny part in “A Bronx Tale,” the 1993 film that Robert De Niro directed and starred in.

Now, Mr. Delis is anticipating another turn before the camera. “Demetri said I was going to be a gangster in his program,” Mr. Delis said, referring to the show’s director. “I said, ‘Why not? It’d be nice.’ ”

Astoria residents and Greeks worldwide will have to wait until October to see Alex and Christina set off on their adventures. As for the day the program will air, Mr. Stamou, the executive producer, said that decision was easy.

“Mondays,” he declared. “On Greek TV, that’s prime time.”

 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/nyregion/thecity/14stre.html

lol.  I got some behind the seane photos, but i'm not allowed to show them.  Atleast not yet.  I'm suprised the times reported.  The PR guy for the show wanted it to be a secret.  He had gotten angry before (funny story in that).  Hopefully i'll be able to tell you some stuff as the show gets closer.  I got a funny picture where Sofia is laying on our friends bed reading a nitro magazine with Paparizou on the cover. 

Burble wrote:

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Why do you say that you have photos, but you won't show the? :) Now we're interested..

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lol.  you are new here.  My friend is Anna's personal assistant in New York when she is in town.  The article is from when they shot the show's episode at his house.  He had told me about it before, and I asked him to take pictures.  I got them, but i'm not alowed to show them.  Atleast not yet.  Maybe toward the premire of the show.  Right now they want to keep alot of the info secret.