Barstow, Calico Ghost Town to be featured in Japanese documentary

BARSTOW • Barstow Station and Calico Ghost Town will soon be part of a Route 66 documentary that will be aired in Japan.

Other filming companies have also recently used Barstow for shoots. Scenes from the trailer for the film “Pizza Man,” which stars Frankie Muniz, were shot on Thursday along Main Street.

Laura Moraco, an administrative assistant for the city of Barstow, said that the Kellwood Company came to Barstow last week to shoot video and stills for clothing company XOXO’s spring line.

The city now requires film crews to pay $100 for a permit, which helps provide money for staff time during the filming.

A film crew from Japan shooting a documentary about Route 66 filmed Barstow Station on Friday morning and then went to Calico Ghost Town for some shots of the famous mining town. The crew is part of Tokyo Broadcasting System, which is a major television network in Japan.

Yoko Honda, the location and production manager for the documentary, said the documentary should be aired early next year. She said that there will also be a DVD made and that she plans to give a copy to the City of Barstow.

Honda said that she is based in Los Angeles, but said that the rest of the film crew was from Japan. She said that the crew was looking forward to the rest of their trip on Route 66.

“We started in Santa Monica this morning and we will be traveling along Route 66 for most of the way into Needles tonight,” said Honda.

Honda said that the crew was going to travel to Arizona on this trip along Route 66 before flying back to Los Angeles. The crew is going to be filming the documentary in several segments.

Honda said that the documentary will feature famous and historic places around Route 66.
Honda said that she enjoyed Calico Ghost Town, especially with the holiday decorations that employees were putting up.

“I like this place,” said Honda. “It reminds me of Disneyland, only it’s actually real.”

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