Film trucks lined up on East Grand Ave. Credit: Chris Ozyck photo Production trucks, film crews, and camera equipment were spotted outside of a Fair Haven Heights mansion and State Street restaurant last week. The filmmaker’s permit lists the video’s “product” as WhatsApp, a messaging service owned by Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company. Users on X (formerly known as Twitter), Reddit, and Facebook speculated about the filming activity last Wednesday. On Friday, Chris Ozyck, a Fair Haven Heights resident and associate director for the Urban Resources Initiative, texted pictures of the crew’s filming permit to the Independent. (Approval from the Department of Arts, Culture, Tourism (DACT) is required for many video, TV, and photography projects in New Haven.) The document is dated Feb. 6 and states that filming would take place on Feb. 10. It also indicates that DACT allowed the crew to film at 154 E Grand Ave., a Gothic Victorian mansion known as the Mary B. Moody House, and at September in Bangkok, a Thai restaurant on State Street. The mansion — also known as Chetstone — is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Set Scouter, a platform that advertises film locations. The permit describes the plot of the portion filmed at September in Bangkok as “Real moms having dinner at restaurant.” The mansion, meanwhile, was slated to feature a “Mom kids playdate.” Sixty crew members, 12 cast members, 25 cars, six trucks, and two motorhomes were approved for filming, according to the permit photo. Freelance photographer Kate Eisemann, whose name is listed on the permit, declined to comment on the video, citing a non-disclosure agreement. Dress Code, a Brooklyn-based producer also listed on the permit, did not respond to requests for comment. When Ozyck investigated the activity at 154 E Grand Ave., he said the crew seemed like “super nice people.” Eisemann also praised city officials, describing the Parking Authority and DACT as “really helpful.” She noted the challenge of finding parking for “22 working vehicles, some of which were 60+ feet long,” in downtown New Haven. A manager at September in Bangkok told the Independent on Monday that the 754 State St. restaurant closed all day on Wednesday to accommodate the film crew. “It was kind of exciting,” said the manager, Nan Thomas. “I’m glad they picked our restaurant.” She said the crew members first started setting up Wednesday at around noon and left at around 10:30 p.m. While September in Bangkok’s food was not featured on camera — Thomas said she thinks the crew brought in their own pizza — she said that some members of the crew stopped by for dinner at the restaurant the night before the shoot. She also said that the film crew picked September in Bangkok because a crew member used to live in New Haven and used to go to the restaurant on a regular basis. “They liked the restaurant, how beautiful” it is on the inside, she said, and so chose that location to film. This isn’t the first time filmmakers have turned to New Haven for sets. In March 2023, a feel-good Christmas movie was filmed on a block of Chapel Street in Wooster Square. The next year, filmmakers returned to Chapel Street, this time for the horror-thriller “Twisted”, which was originally called “The Monster.” Perhaps even “After the Hunt” — a 2025 film that created scenes from downtown New Haven through digital editing — also counts… Thomas Breen contributed to this report. The post “Real Moms Having Dinner” Filmed In New Haven appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less