Billie Eilish on Her New Movie, 'Happier Than Ever:' "I Owed Los Angeles Some Love"

A paean to the Golden Age of Hollywood, Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles sees Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas, team up with esteemed musical formations like the Los Angeles Children's Chorus and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The movie offers a unique depiction of Billie and Finneas's hometown, Los Angeles. Taking viewers behind the scenes, it also captures how the city has shaped Billie's work as a singer and songwriter. So, when was the movie filmed?

Billed as a cinematic concert experience, Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, which will stream on Disney Plus, provides viewers with a more nuanced way of listening to Billie's latest album with the same title. The 16 songs on the album, including "Getting Older" and "Oxytocin," will feature in the movie in sequential order. Animated sequences, courtesy of Patrick Osborne, will add even more depth. So, when was Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles filmed?

"Happier Than Ever" was reportedly recorded between April 1, 2020, and Feb. 16, 2021. The filming dates of the corresponding movie are unknown.

As Patrick, the Academy Award-winning director in charge of the animated sequences, told Animation Magazine, the crew shot about 90 minutes' worth of motion capture footage of Billie. Some scenes were filmed at the Hollywood Bowl, a true Los Angeles institution.

"Billie is a big fan of classic movies that are set in Los Angeles as well as hybrid animation/live-action classics like Richard Edmund Williams' Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Ralph Bakshi's Cool World," Patrick said. "We wanted to pay homage to these fictitious versions of Los Angeles that only exist in movies."

"We did about 90-minutes of motion capture of Billie, but what we got was iconic," Patrick added. "She has this way of moving and interacting with the camera as well as breaking the fourth wall. We only had about 12 weeks, so we had to do everything very quickly."

Asked about why she chose Los Angeles as the setting of the new movie in an interview with Good Morning America, Billie explained that it was time for her to honor her hometown and share details about the many ways it has shaped her.

"It formed me. It made me who I am. It gave me the opportunities that I got. I don't think I'd have any of the same anything if it wasn't for my hometown," Billie told GMA. "I owed Los Angeles some love."

Billie's world tour promoting "Happier Than Ever" will begin with a concert on Sept. 18, 2021, at the iHeartRadio Music Festival 2021 in Las Vegas.

She will also perform at the Governors Ball Music Festival in New York and The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. before embarking on the European leg of the tour, which features locations across the U.K., France, Germany, and other countries.

Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles premieres on Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, on Disney Plus.