Livestock including cattle, hens and horses were “terrified” by what
sounded “like a war going on” during filming of a Hollywood movie.
The film, lost City of Z, is being shot on location near Ballygally in
County Antrim, Northern Ireland, by Brad Pitt’s production company, plan
B.
Local resident Jason McKillion says that livestock had been “terrified”
by the noise.
“It started last Monday with bangs, gunfire and small explosions. Then
on Tuesday the bigger explosions started,” he said.
“The explosions shook the house and windows and the boom echoed through
the glen.
“My neighbors horses were in the field near the film set and they went spare, trying to jump the ditches.
On Wednesday,
there was another explosion and my animals went daft. The chickens were squawking and
the dog was outside, barking and shaking.
I went to Larne and when I came back the dog was shivering under a chair
and the hens had all gone. Then I heard there had been another
explosion while I was out.
I was sitting outside and the chickens had just come back when there was
another explosion, even louder than the last. Another neighbors cow
and calf jumped the hedge and the cows were bellowing in fear.
“On Friday morning, it sounded like a war was going on, and later there
was another explosion. My neighbor was feeding bulls in the field when
it happened. They stampeded and knocked him and the feeding trough
over.”
Jason said he believes residents should have been notified in advance in
order to care for their livestock.
“There wasn’t a single notification about this, which would have been
common courtesy,” he claimed. “I support companies filming here, but
they need to keep local people in the loop.
If we had a schedule, we could put the animals into barns. At the minute
we are on tenterhooks.”
Jason said he and neighbors were not aware there was to be filming in
the area until news of it appeared on Facebook. He added: “It’s great
they are filming here: it’s just the disruption it has caused, and we
know nothing about it.”
He added: “It’s totally agricultural here, totally tranquil. There’s
never a sound and that makes it more disruptive as the animals aren’t
used to the noise and they just went hysterical.
This is supposed to be an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) and tranquility.
It was madness for a week and we don’t know if filming is finished yet.”
An NI Screen spokeswoman said that she would contact the film’s
production team and LA publicist over the concerns.
