PRODUCTION GHOSTBUSTERS
Scouting was handled virtually between the two units after the director, DOP and producers had scouted New York in prep. The New York library exterior was a partial build in the studio parking lot, surrounded by blue screens, and a scene of New York firefighters set at the turn of the century was filmed at the Rothschild estate in Tring. Steelberg is particularly proud of scenes shot in the firehouse, which actually comprise a large part of the movie. “It was an enormous set, and so iconic,” he explains. “Levels of it were spread across four stages. It’s something I desperately did not want to mess up. It was such a fixture of the original two movies and people are so familiar with it, I needed to make sure it looked and felt familiar. And since so much happens to that location, it becomes a character itself and has its own arc. “We spend a lot of time coming up with lighting plans for various sequences and scenes, but always remembered we
SLIME SCENE After sitting out of 2021’s Afterlife, Slimer is back to wreak havoc
had to maintain its identity,” he continues. “It’s somewhat easy for me to have an idea, or series of ideas, which can be very complicated, but my gaffer Mark Taylor and his team went above and beyond executing it all, as did our lab set. Gil had specific ideas of what he wanted that to look like at various stages, and the lighting team pulled it off.” Steelberg was just seven when the original Ghostbusters came out in 1984,
but he remembers it all too well. “I was scared to death… terrified!” he exclaims. “In fact, it took years for me to watch it again on home video because of how scared I was. Those terror dogs – they weren’t joking around.” First meeting as teenagers, his relationship with Jason Reitman spans decades and multiple projects. “We were friends before we became filmmakers. We have a lot of similar tastes in films and grew up going to the same theatres, influenced by the same filmmakers. We allow one another to meander through storytelling attempts with full support. There’s no judgement. “Ultimately, we always want the same thing,” he concludes. “To tell the best story we know how to using our individual strengths, which happen to complement one another exceptionally well.”
SINCE SO MUCH HAPPENS to that location, IT BECOMES A character ”
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