At the beginning of the Super Bowl, Hyundai ran an ad featuring a fictitious community known as “Ryanville”, where all the male residents were some version of Ryan Reynolds.
I’ve been to Los Angeles several times and driven through most of it at one time or another over a period of several days, and I can’t think of a single time I ever found myself in a neighborhood like the one shown in this ad. Mostly when I’ve seen neighborhoods with trees and houses like those in the ad, they’ve been in areas at the outer edges of the ‘old money’ parts of town in various of the larger cities of the midwest.
Therefore I’m curious as to whether the ad was filmed in L.A. (likely given the talent and production requirements) or whether it was likely filmed elsewhere. I’m curious basically because it isn’t the sort of area I ever think of when I think of Los Angeles. So, L.A. area residents and travelers, have you ever seen such a neighborhood in or around L.A., and if so where?
Here’s the ad, which is pretty entertaining in its own right. Reynolds mentioned on The Today Show that it was filmed in just one day, which I found surprising given how long it normally takes to set up and film just a few seconds or minutes of action in Hollywood. Anyway, here it is:
That’s interesting, thanks. I’d tried Googling production info on the commercial and came up empty. It’s good to learn about iSpot. It’s also interesting the actresses never met Reynolds. They do a good job of acting smitten.
I’ve never really been into The Valley but I’ve been all over the areas from South Pasadena/Pasadena, Burbank, downtown, Hollywood, Beverley Hills and Bel Air, and Redondo Beach down to Long Beach. Mostly what I think of when I think of L.A. is palm trees, cypress trees and Spanish influence in the architecture along with a sprinkling of bungalows, ranch and craftsman style homes here and there, none of which were evident in the commercial.
Oops, forgot to thank you, kinetic. Your 30 years in the valley plus mention from iSpot that some of the ad was shot in the studio convinces me you’re quite likely right about the location being somewhere in the valley. Thanks for the answer.
I actually grew up in the Pasadena area and my street was indistinguishable from the one in that ad other than being hilly. Ditto for the Burbank and a lot of those other areas you listed. Palm trees are not very common, though Spanish-style houses do pop up every couple of streets. You’d really have to go out of your way to convince yourself that all of Southern California was like what you described. Remember a lot of “average American suburban streets” you see on screen are filmed there.
Perhaps you’re right. It’s been around 35 years since I spent time in the Pasadena/South Pasadena/Eagle Rock area, but my memory of them is hills and palm and cypress trees, though with less Spanish architecture and homes more of a bungalow style. I know a lot of ‘average American street’ scenes are filmed in L.A., and that’s one of the reasons why I was wondering what parts of L.A. contained them as I had no memory of having ever seen any of them while I was out there. Such areas are more what I’ve known living in the midwest and I always felt I was in a completely different atmosphere architecturally when I was in L.A.
The trees with the light-colored trunks make me think Southern California, as does the vintage Camaro, but the absence of painted curbs and the very wide houselots suggest otherwise. My gut feeling is Houston (pine tree, possible crape myrtles), though Atlanta or Dallas or even Nashville are also possibilities.
I can’t help but think it must be somewhere in the L.A. area because Ryan Reynolds commented that the director did a great job of planning the commercial and it was shot in just one day. Then the poster on iSpot who seemed familiar with the filming (1st unit = women in the car; 2nd unit = scenes with Reynolds), said it was filmed both on location and in the studio with green screen). So it was either filmed somewhere in L.A. or in another city somewhere that also had film production facilities. Mostly I’ve seen these types of areas in the midwest, but a couple of people familiar with L.A., including a longtime resident of the valley, have suggested a couple of areas where it could have been filmed. Still, flat terrain, no palm or cypress trees, not a hint of Spanish architecture or tile roofing anywhere…sure doesn’t seem like L.A. to me.
Mostly I’m just surprised because I’ve always felt I had acquired a pretty good familiarity with the entire Los Angeles area, priding myself on one occasion for having spent the better part of three days with a map and covering as much of the area as I could, yet I haven’t the vaguest recollection of any area like that, which is much more reminiscent of areas in the midwest (Dallas, Tulsa, Wichita, etc.) which I’m familiar with from having been raised or visited there. Seems like home, in other words, which is a feeling I never got during any of the time I spent in L.A., so I’m just curious as to where it might be.
I’m thinking The Valley and Sherman Oaks are good candidates, mostly because for some reason I never made it into those areas, and because people familiar with them identify them as such. Next time I’m in L.A. if I have the time and am still curious I’ll have to go exploring and see.
Thanks to everyone who’s contributed a possible locale. Any other suggestions are welcome too. If I get enough I’ll have to compile a list of areas to visit the next time I’m in Los Angeles during those times when I have nothing else to do.
It was apparently shot all over the place. At one spot, there is summer deciduous foliage on the trees, then suddenly it is late falll and then back to summer again. It doesn’t look like California trees, more likely someplace like Texas.
I spent the better part of two years with a map (a Thomas guide), driving a taxi around L.A.
Most of those streets in the ad have lots with houses deeply set and no sidewalk. That’s characteristic of many parts of the valley and Pasadena area–often areas that were farming communities before they became “suburbs.”
Speaking as someone who has done quite a bit of delivery driving in the San Fernando Valley, I must respectfully disagree. The mix of foliage I saw in the commercial is very typical of the nicer neighborhoods in Burbank, which were started in the Twenties and AFAIK never mass-landscaped apart from the curbside trees. And because the houses aren’t just copied from a few model plans, I think it is highly plausible that a location unit could achieve the variety we saw by blocking off a single street for no more than a day.
I think a good candidate would be the neighborhood of Burbank near Warner Brothers, back behind the Smokehouse. Toluca lake area. Wander around street viewhere. Wander west a bit.
The thing about nearly all of Southern California is that the lots are narrow: usually only 33 to 50 feet wide. Southland subdivisions also typically have more walls along the street, with more of the small front yards paved. So a street of wide ramblers like you see in the ad is pretty hard to find.
Not so hard as you might think. As I already said above, quite a few areas didn’t go directly from farm to compact tract housing. They developed more in the manner of farm-like communities, with wider, deeper lots, and without sidewalks. South Pasadena and those parts of the San Fernando Valley already mentioned, as well as some places in the San Gabriel Valley.
Just spent a little time in the Burbank/Toluca Lake area with Google Street View and see definite possibilities for that area. Would make sense too with location shooting being so near a movie studio, and the city would probably be more amenable to closing off a street for a day I would think. And the wide streets fit. The areas i’ve been thinking of in the midwest typically have more narrow streets than the one in the ad. Thanks again for the suggestions, everyone.
Side note, go to the Smokehouse if you like a great prime rib. Also their Sunday brunch is amazing (WITH bottomless mimosas, of course). My wife and her friends have been kicked out on more than a few occasions.
