the OCB a.k.a. Gold Coast Shipping building


airtommy

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The Vice squad is headquartered at the Organized Crime Bureau a.k.a. OCB.  While the interior scenes were never filmed there, Vice fans have fallen in love with the building we see so often in the exterior establishing shots.  The sign on the front of the building reads "Gold Coast Shipping".  Presumably this name is part of the Vice squad's undercover work, though this was never explicitly stated. The working title of Miami Vice during its initial development was "Gold Coast".

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In real life this building was located at 615 SW 2nd Avenue across the river from downtown Miami.  It was a historically designated piece of Art Deco architecture (specifically, Art Moderne).  It was built in 1942 by the Miami Shipbuilding Corporation (later called Miami Shipyards Corp) as they were ramping up production for World War II.  The large bas relief panel above the corner entrance shows a man holding up a ship while kneeling in water and surrounded by a ship's helm, propeller, and gear.   Sadly the building was demolished in 2007 and replaced with a high-rise condominium.

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Miami Historic Preservation:  http://www.historicpreservationmiami.com/miamiship.html

The most extensive article on the building's history that I've found (sourced in part from MiamiJimF's book):  http://miami-history.com/miami-vice-shipyard/

In Stone's War they forgot to put up the "Gold Coast Shipping" sign.  Instead, we see "Miami Shipyards Corp", the name of the company which occupied the building in real life:

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In the pilot movie "Brother's Keeper" the OCB interior scenes were filmed at a building located at 3033 NW North River Drive.  Starting in "Heart of Darkness, the interior scenes were filmed on a set constructed at Ivan Tors Studios (now Greenwich Studios) in North Miami.  

Edited by airtommy
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Interesting.  I didn't realize that the Gold Coast sign over the front door was a Vice prop, probably built before the title of the series was changed to Miami Vice.  This photo looks like it was taken while the company was still in business.  There is always something new to learn about Vice and Miami.

 

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Edited by miamijimf
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5 hours ago, miamijimf said:

There is always something new to learn about Vice and Miami.

Thanks to all the Vice family  for all the interesting tidbits about this great show.  I really do learn something new every time I log on. 

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6 hours ago, miamijimf said:

Interesting.  I didn't realize that the Gold Coast sign over the front door was a Vice prop, probably built before the title of the series was changed to Miami Vice.  This photo looks like it was taken while the company was still in business.  There is always something new to learn about Vice and Miami.

 

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Fantastic photo - what a great building it was :hippie:

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Early in Heart of Darkness, we see the OCB interior studio set for the first time.  It begins in the hallway.  Three doorways have signs sticking out.  One very clearly reads "Barges & Tugs Landing Craft".  Can somebody with Bluray make out what the other two signs read?

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These signs make no sense at all.  Why would the building's cover as a fake shipping company be extended to this highly sensitive area where only select personnel are allowed?  Maybe the explanation is that "Gold Coast Shipping" was a real company (within the Miami Vice fictional universe) that went bankrupt or had their building seized by the police, and the police decided to leave the sign on the front of the building and in the hallway to use as their cover.

When Sonny walks through this same hallway in Season 5's Redemption in Blood, those signs are gone.

sign first pointed out in this thread:  http://miamiviceonline.com/index.php?/topic/7497-an-inscription-on-the-wall-in-heart-of-darkness/

Edited by airtommy
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4 hours ago, airtommy said:

Can somebody with Bluray make out what the other two signs read?

I believe the sign says LCL Cargo Containerization.

4 hours ago, airtommy said:

"Gold Coast Shipping" was a real company (within the Miami Vice fictional universe) that went bankrupt or had their building seized by the police

Sounds plausible to me)

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I was flipping channels and watched a few minutes of By Hooker By Crook on Cozi network, and I noticed this:

 

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So by Season 3 they have changed the sign on Room 203 from "Barges & Tugs Landing Craft"  to "Accounting".  Then another thing occurred to me.  Both of these signs are stupid:  This "Room 203" door in reality leads directly into the kitchen section of the OCB's main room! 

Edited by airtommy
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Cool. Kinda like star Trek. If you follow me on facebook you know I just took a tour of the original Star Trek studio sets. You imagine these huge sets for the Enterprise but in reality there is just one curved hallway for about 30-40 yards  with a couple short halls and rooms off of it. They would film them walking down the hall, stop change the signs by the doors and then film again repeatedly changing signs. Spocks room and Captain Kirks were the same room with two separate doors about 8-10 feet apart. Real cool. Been thinking about (since I have completed the first run through the series for my sites) going through all the eps and capturing all the different interior ocb shots and putting them together to get a full layout of the place.

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  • 1 month later...

https://i.imgur.com/Sg86mRx.mp4   Links won't embed.

 

The hallway also seen in "Evan" with those three signs. The first sign Tubbs and Gina pass by, I believe says Marine Bulk Carriers, where it wasn't  this close filmed in "Heart of Darkness." 

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https://i.imgur.com/Uamo61e.mp4

And in the link is that hallway again this time opened door to the kitchen. Think I also saw these signs in "Cuba Libre," but will check. Edit: The same as seen in "Hooker by Crook"

Edited by summer84
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Very nice!

7 hours ago, summer84 said:

https://i.imgur.com/Uamo61e.mp4

And in the link is that hallway again this time opened door to the kitchen.

I noticed another bit of nonsense in this clip.  Behind them the hallway goes back a bit and then turns to the left.  But where does that hallway lead to?  That goes behind the wall where Sony & Rico's desks are, but of course that wall has windows to the outside, so there can't be a hallway there.

Apparently the OCB set was designed by M.C. Escher.  :)

 

Edited by airtommy
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6 hours ago, airtommy said:

Very nice!

I noticed another bit of nonsense in this clip.  Behind them the hallway goes back a bit and then turns to the left.  But where does that hallway lead to?  That goes behind the wall where Sony & Rico's desks are, but of course that wall has windows to the outside, so there can't be a hallway there.

Apparently the OCB set was designed by M.C. Escher.  :)

 

You mean something like this  http://www.artsology.com/escher-relativity.php :)

I seem to recall their lockers somewhere around there to the left or right. Or maybe that's in an entirely different  place. 

In the Miami Vice museum interviews one of the painters who worked on the set, mentions "talks" about the main office set being expanded they are possibly talking about  the 3rd season here. Making them more efficient. And also a permanent meeting place at a diner, which we did see occasionally on the show although there was never a permanent place where the squad got together. Would have been cool though! 

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6 hours ago, summer84 said:

You mean something like this  http://www.artsology.com/escher-relativity.php :)

I seem to recall their lockers somewhere around there to the left or right. Or maybe that's in an entirely different  place. 

In the Miami Vice museum interviews one of the painters who worked on the set, mentions "talks" about the main office set being expanded they are possibly talking about  the 3rd season here. Making them more efficient. And also a permanent meeting place at a diner, which we did see occasionally on the show although there was never a permanent place where the squad got together. Would have been cool though! 

summer - where or what is the Miami Vice Museum?   I forget.  Thanx.

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2 hours ago, miamijimf said:

summer - where or what is the Miami Vice Museum?   I forget.  Thanx.

It's clips from the wolfsonsarchives, where it's called Icons of Miami Vice Museum Documentary. I don't know, if the museum still exists... It exhibits sculptures, props and sets from the show. There is also a clip on YouTube. 

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18 hours ago, summer84 said:

I seem to recall their lockers somewhere around there to the left or right. Or maybe that's in an entirely different  place.

Yes, on the right from this perspective as C+T+C walk towards the camera.  It's possible you could see the lockers from Crockett's desk if someone held the doors open.

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I know this goes against everything I have heard and read about where the OCB was filmed so I know it's not likely they filmed inside the Miami Shipbuilding Corp. building but is it possible that a few hallway scenes were shot there?  I know that prop people can create anything for authenticity but why would they bother to make up signs like "Barges & Tugs Landing Craft" and "LCL Cargo Containerization?"  They sound like pretty authentic departments.  Just wondering.

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34 minutes ago, miamijimf said:

I know this goes against everything I have heard and read about where the OCB was filmed so I know it's not likely they filmed inside the Miami Shipbuilding Corp. building but is it possible that a few hallway scenes were shot there?  I know that prop people can create anything for authenticity but why would they bother to make up signs like "Barges & Tugs Landing Craft" and "LCL Cargo Containerization?"  They sound like pretty authentic departments.  Just wondering.

I just watched the first OCB scene in "Heart of Darkness", and it's not an isolated hallway scene.  There is one long uncut camera shot that starts in the hallway and ends up panning around the entire main room including side offices like Castillo's and the conference room.  So, the Miami Shipyards would have had to look exactly like the entire OCB set.

It's possible that they got the idea for the signs from the interior of the building used in the pilot episode.    Or maybe they did a tour of the Miami Shipyards building and got the idea there.

Edited by airtommy
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On 14/10/2017 at 5:43 AM, airtommy said:

I just watched the first OCB scene in "Heart of Darkness", and it's not an isolated hallway scene.  There is one long uncut camera shot that starts in the hallway and ends up panning around the entire main room including side offices like Castillo's and the conference room.  So, the Miami Shipyards would have had to look exactly like the entire OCB set.

It's possible that they got the idea for the signs from the interior of the building used in the pilot episode.    Or maybe they did a tour of the Miami Shipyards building and got the idea there.

Interesting airtommy :hippie:

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1 hour ago, Dadrian said:

I have a pic of the foyer of that building from 2003. Would that help? 

I would like to see that pic.  Thanks.

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I just remembered we also get a look of the set here. The kitchen,  main office, lockers and the hallway to the left. 

Edited by summer84
added kitchen
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6 hours ago, miamijimf said:

I would like to see that pic.  Thanks.

Okay, turns out I have more than one pic. Hard to believe this was nearly 15 years ago! Anyway, this may not help the above questions, but still cool:

 

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Great pics Dadrian.  I like the nautical themed deco railing.  These may be the only surviving pics of the building's interior.

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I still have hopes of finding mine someday. The interior had a lot of woodworking and the offices reminded me of a 1940's detective movie set. Very cool, very unique but like nothing ever seen on Vice.

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