Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Keeping true to the original production of Dawn of the Dead, our characters find refuge in a suburban mall. While working on the 1979 version, Romero and his crew had to shoot during a window from midnight until 6:00 a.m. every morning in a functioning Pittsburgh mall. To replicate this shooting schedule would have been impossible for the filmmakers, crew and cast. So location scouted the 20-year-old Thorn Hill Square shopping mall slated for demolition in Toronto, Canada.

Production designer Andrew Neskoromny (who had been researching different malls not only in North America but also in Japan and the U.K.) had only eight weeks to take this location (“…that had the ambience of a bus station,” recalls Abraham) and turn it into an upscale suburban Mecca called Crossroads Mall.

“In many instances, we merged a variety of aspects of different designs we saw to create one superb mall, a modern-day shoppers’ paradise,” states the designer.

In order to accomplish this, the approximately 45,000-square-foot location had to be stripped down to its steel support beams and completely remodeled. The resulting “mall” included a welcoming common area (with high-dollar water feature); 14 fully functioning, individually designed stores; an open-concept coffee shop/bookstore; and parking structures and warehouse areas.

Snyder was particularly impressed with Neskoromny’s attention to detail and his ambition to create a high-caliber set. “Andrew was always looking to take things one step further. If we talked about one design, he’d always come back and ask, ‘What if we take it a step further and do this?’ My reaction was always, ‘Great!’ I loved how much thought and effort went into his work.”

Neskoromny explains, “Zack and I worked closely together. He had very specific ideas and requirements about what he needed for shooting in the mall. So we talked about all the stores and went through all the sketches. We discussed materials that would work well for lighting and for the camera. It was a completely collaborative process.”

While some of the retail businesses approached were reticent to participate in the production, three stores were glad to have their outlets in the fictional Crossroads Mall. Producer Abraham says, “Nike, Panasonic and the clothing store Roots stood up and said ‘Hey this is cool. This is something we want to be apart of.’”

To fill the other spaces, Neskoromny and his crew created their own companies with names like Reflex Sports, Case Hardware, RPM Records, Concepts, Hallowed Grounds Coffee Shop—along with Wooley’s Diner and a clothing store called Gaylen Ross as tiny tributes to the 1979 film (Gaylen Ross was the actress who played Francine and Wooley was the character name of actor Jim Baffico).

“Andrew has done a brilliant job, these are not just the storefronts. We had to shoot inside all of these places so they all had to be completely finished, down to the last detail and fully stocked,” comments Abraham. “And he pulled it all off in eight weeks.”

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