Maryland businesses reaped major benefits from "Lady in the Lake" filming

BALTIMORE - The production of the miniseries "Lady in the Lake" in Baltimore provided a major economic boost in Maryland.

The Apple+ series, featuring Natalie Portman and Baltimore native Moses Ingram, will premiere on Friday, July 19.

"Lady in the Lady" is based on a novel by former Baltimore Sun reporter Laura Lippman, which is inspired by the two real, unrelated disappearances of a white Jewish girl and a Black woman in 1960s Baltimore.

Their disappearances are connected by the book's protagonist Maddie Schwartz, who begins investigating.

Esther Lebowitz, an 11-year-old Jewish girl was abducted and murdered, while 33-year-old Shirley Parker, a Black woman, was found dead in the fountain of the Druid Hill Park Reservoir.

Portman plays Schwartz, the housewife who reinvents herself as an investigative journalist. In her journey, Schwartz will collide with Cleo Sherwood (Ingram), a mother who juggles "many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore's Black progressive agenda," Apple said.

"I love these period shows because it takes you back in time to see Baltimore back in a certain era," said Debbie Dorsey, from the Baltimore Film Office.

Even though the show is turning back the clock, there will be some familiar landmarks.

The "Lady in the Lake" production team started scouting Baltimore in November 2021 and began shooting in May 2022, filming throughout the region for three and a half months.

"I can say you're going to see Hollins Market," Dorsey said. "You're going to see a parade route, there is a big Thanksgiving Day parade Baltimore used to hold, so there is a big parade scene. You're going to see some really great-looking areas up in the Hamilton area."

Dorsey says the Motion Picture Association estimates shows, like "Lady in the Lake," spend around $250,000 per day in locations where they are filming.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the show's production created 1,132 jobs , utilized goods and services from 2,456 local businesses and generated more than $100 million while filming in Maryland.

"There's a tropical fish store in Glen Burnie that sold them aquariums and rented them tropical fish for a big scene," said Jack Gerbers, a Maryland Film Office Director. "That is an important scene in the show."

"Film production benefits, not only the crew, not only the actors, but lots of small businesses in Baltimore and Maryland," Dorsey said.