-Notes provided by Columbia Pictures-

An Ivan Reitman Film

"Ghostbusters"

Bill Hurray

Dan Aykroyd

Sigourney Weaver

Harold Ramts

Produced & Directed by IVAN REITMAN

Screenplay by DAN AYKROYD & HAROLD RAMIS

"Ghostbusters"

Preliminary Production Information

New York City has a problem: paranormal occurrences have been plaguing the city in increasing numbers and the only ones who know this are three extraordinarily bright, slightly off-beat N.Y.U, parapsychologists who have lost their research grant, are forced out of academia and start their own business--"Ghostbusters."

Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver and Harold Ramis star in Columbia Pictures' new comedy, "Ghostbusters," produced and directed by Ivan. Reitman.

In a virtual soup combining in one film the consummate comic talents of our time, "Ghostbusters" pairs Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd together on screen for the first time, and reunites Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis ("Animal House," "Meatballs" and "Stripes"),

The unique talents of Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis and Reitman are brought together in combination to create a contemporary, new generation comedy in "Ghostbusters." Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis portray characters who, because of their advanced intelligence, walk that fire line between genius and lunacy--that they are parapsychologists adds yet another ingredient to this fine comic stew.

Columbia Pictures presents an Ivan Reitman Film, "Ghostbusters,." starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver and Harold Ramis, produced and directed by Ivan Reitman from a screenplay by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.

About the Cast...

BILL MURRAY stars as Venkman in "Ghostbusters," which marks his third outing with director Ivan Reitman (after the successful "Meatballs" and "Stripes"). Back in an all-out comedy after his portrayal of Larry Darrell in the Just-completed "The Razor's Edge," Murray is right at home with his co-stars and director, alumni of "Saturday Night Live" and/or the National Lampoon, in-varied combinations.

Murray was born in Evanston, Illinois, and raised in nearby Wilmette. He won a scholarship to Chicago's Second City Workshop and later went to New York, where he joined "The National Lampoon Radio Show." In 1975 he joined the off-Broadway satirical revue "The National Lampoon Show" along with John Belushi, Harold Ramis, Gilda Radner and brother Brian Doyle-Murray. After a stint on "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cose11," Lorne Michaels chose him for his "NBC's Saturday Night Live."

After four years as one of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" with, among others, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, Murray took his first feature role as Tripper in "Meatballs," which was directed by Ivan Reitman and co-written by Harold Ramis. Murray also starred as journalist Hunter Thompson in "Where the Buffalo Roam" and with Chevy Chase in "Caddyshack," also co-written and directed by Harold Ramis.

Murray's re-teaming with Reitman in Columbia's "Stripes" (which also starred Harold Ramis) was enormously successful and firmly established Murray as one of America's finest comic actors. Most recently, Murray starred as Dustin Hoffman's roommate in "Tootsie" and as Larry Darrell in "The Razor's Edge."

DAN AYKROYD, one of the original and brightest stars of "NBC's Saturday Night Live," continues his string of motion picture comedy roles as Stantz in "Ghostbusters."

In one of the smash hit films of 1983, Aykroyd starred with yet another "SNL" player, Eddie Murphy, ~n "Trading Places," in which he played an arrogant, wealthy snob stripped of his riches.

Born and raised in Canada, Aykroyd was not a rich kid but, rather, a rebellious youth who dropped out of school and joined the Toronto company of the Second City improvisational troupe, where he developed his comedic talents. While a member of Second City, Aykroyd was spotted by "Saturday Night Live" executive producer Lorne Michaels and cast as an actor and waiter for five seasons of "SNL." Aykroyd's uncanny impressions of Tom Snyder, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, as well as scores of original creations including the Coneheads and the Blues Brothers (with John Belushi)~, propelled him to stardom.

After winning an Emmy Award in 1977 for his work on "Saturday Night Live,." Aykroyd made his film debut in 1979 with Steven Spielberg's "1941." His next film was John Landis' international success "The Blues Brothers" with John Belushi, which was followed in 1982 with another Belushi collaboration, John Avildsen's "Neighbors."

Most recently, Aykroyd starred in "Dr. Detroit," appeared in "The Twilight Zone" and starred with Eddie Murphy in "Trading (laces."

For HAROLD RAMIE, who stars as Spengler in "Ghostbusters," the film reunites him with old friends and colleagues. Having previously teamed with Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman on screen and performed with "SNL" players such as Bill Murray, John Belushi and Gilda Radner during his National Lampoon days, this is his first time in tandem with Dan Aykroyd, which, in a way, completes the overall picture.

In his most recent directorial outing, Ramis presided over a cast including "SNL" alumnus Chevy Chase in "National Lampoon's Vacation," one of 1983's summer hits.

Although Ramis is better known as a writer and director (having cp-written "Animal House," "Meatballs" and "Caddyshack" rd having directed "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation"), he has solid acting credentials. His first film role was opposite Bill Murray in "Stripes," though he performed with the Second City TV troupe and also toured with the Second City Road Company from 1976 to 1978. In 1975 he appeared in the satirical "The National Lampoon Show."

"Ghostbusters," which Ramis co-wrote and in which he stars, marks his fourth film association with Bilk Murray and his fourth film association with Ivan Reitman.

Beautiful and talented SIGOURNEY WEAVER is Dana in "Ghostbusters." Born in New York City to former NBC president Sylvester "Pat" Weaver and English actress Elizabeth Inglis, Miss Weaver changed her first name from Susan to Sigourney after an F. Scott Fitzgerald character. Miss Weaver studied English at Stanford University and then received her M.F.A. from the

Yale University School of Drama. Her first professional job was as understudy in Sir John Gielgud's production of "The Constant Wide" starring Ingrid Bergman. She subsequently appeared1n several productions for Joseph Papp in New York, as well as in the off-Broadway productions "Gemini," "Marco Polo Sings a Solo" and "New Jerusalem."

Following roles on television in "The Best of Families" and the daytime drama "Somerset," Miss Weaver broke into films with Ridley Scott's "Alien." Next came the part of the newscaster in "Eyewitness" for director Peter Yates opposite William Hurt, after which Australian director Peter Weir tapped her for the lead opposite Mel Gibson in "The Year of Living Dangerously." Most recently, Miss Weaver starred with Chevy Chase in William Friedkin's "Deal of the Century."

ERNIE HUDSON is Winston .in "Ghostbusters." A Michigan native, Hudson is an accomplished actor, writer and theatrical producer who spent nearly a decade after high school in the academic community studying, acting and producing plays at Wayne State University, Yale University and the University of Minnesota. He Won excellent notices for his performance in "The Great White Hope," which, first performed in Minneapolis, was brought to Los Angeles for a successful run.

His first screen role was in the film "Leadbelly," followed by featured roles in "The Main Event" with Barbra Streisand, "The Jazz Singer" with Neil Diamond, "Penitentiary II," "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone," "National Lampoon's Joy of Sex" and "Two of a Kind" opposite John Travolta. For television,

Hudson has made decent appearances on "The A Team" and "Webster," and has done several telefilms, including "Roots II," "White Mama," "King" and "The Women of San Quentin."

Emmy Award-winner RICA MORANIS is Louis in "Ghostbusters." Within less than two years, Moranis, who joined "SCTV" in 1980, had created with fellow SCTV-er Dave Thomas the now-famous Canadian "hosers," the McKenzie Brothers, cut an album which went gold and wrote, directed and starred in the film "Strange Brew." While

still in high school in his native Toronto, Moranis began working part time at a radio station, which led to a job with the. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (C$C) in which he engineered and produced radio shows, as well as wrote material for the disc jockeys. He began writing and acting for CBC on radio and television, wrote and performed in, two pilots for CBC and appeared nationally 4n CBC on "The Alan Hamel Show" and "90 Minutes Live."

On ''SCTV," Moranis earned acclaim for his portrayals of such personalities as Woody Allen, Dick Cavett and Merv Griffin. The program went network on NBC in 1981 and Moranis earned Emmys for comedy writing in 1981 and 1982 for his contributions to the show.

Kentucky-born .ANNIE POTTS is Janine in "Ghostbusters." After studying drama in high school, she attended Stephens College in Missouri, where she majored irk drama. After graduation, she performed in summer stock, did Shakespeare and larded local radio and TV bit parts. A car accident interrupted her career, but while she was recuperating with two broken legs, Miss Potts became involved in Community theatre designing sets and costumes in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she lived with her husband. Moving to California,

where she attended the California Institute of the Arts, Miss Potts appeared with the L.A. Globe Theatre Shakespeare Society in "Richard III" and "Cymbeline." In 1976 she joined the road company of "Charley's Aunt" starring Vincent Price. For television, she has appeared in the CBS movies "Flatbed Annie and Sweetiepie" and "Cowboy" with James Brolin and Ted Danson, and in the ABC comedy series "Goodtime Girls" with Lorna, Patterson. Miss Potts includes among her film credits "Corvette Summer," "King of the Gypsies" and "Heartaches."

About the Filmmakers...

IVAN REITMAN continues to deliver hit films, one after another.. He has been involved in every aspect of entertainment: producing and directing plays, distributing films, writing and producing for television and making motion pictures.

A native Czech whose family fled to Canada when he was 4, Reitman accomplished much at an early age. After winning a music prize in a national student competition for the Canadian Bicentennial and producing and directing several shorts in college which were aired on Canadian television, Reitman started the New Cinema of Canada, a non-theatrical film distribution company which is still active.

Reitman produced a live television variety show, "Greed, which was basted by a young comedian, Dan Aykroyd. Shortly thereafter, he produced "Spellbound" for the Toronto stage, which evolved into "The Magic Show," a five-year hit on Broadway and the 13th longest-running show in Broadway history.

After "The Magic Show," Reitman produced the off-Broadway hit, "The National Lampoon Show," and its subsequent year-long tour. The success of this show and the rapport established with National Lampoon magazine editor Matty Simmons led to the development And production of "National Lampoon's Animal House." Released in 197$, this wild comedy became one of the 15 top-grossing films of all time.

Reitman followed this success with another summer release the next year, "Meatballs," starring Bill Murray, which Reitman directed and Harold Ramis co-wrote. In 1981 Reitman hit paydirt twice, first with the surprise hit of that summer, "Stripes" (again with Bill Murray and co-starring Harold Ramis, who also co-wrote), followed by the critically acclaimed feature-length animated hit, "Heavy Metal."

In ,early 1983 Reitman returned to the Broadway stage, producing and directing the hit musical magic show, "Merlin," starring Doug Henning.

Director of photography LASZLO KOVACS has a most impressive list of film credits, including "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces," "What's Up Doe?," "Paper Moon," "New York, New York," "Paradise Alley," "Butch and Sundance: The Early Days," "Heart Beat,," "Inside Moves," "The Legend of the Lone Ranger," "Francis" and "Crackers,"

Academy Award-winning editor SHELDON F. KAHN has edited such 'films as "The Electric Horseman," "Same Time, Next Year," "Bloodbrothers," "Enemy of the People," "A Time for Love" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," for which he won the Oscar.

JOHN DE CUIR, production designer for "Ghostbusters," is one of the tops in his field, with credits including such memorable films as "South Pacific," "Cleopatra, " "The Agony and the Ecstasy," "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," "The Great White Hope," "Hello, Dolly I," "Once. Is Not Enough," "That's Entertainment," "The Other Side of Midnight" and, most recently, "Raise the Titanic," "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" and "Monsignor." De Cuir has received 10 Academy Award nominations and has won three Oscars for art direction -of "The King and I" (1956), "Cleopatra" (1963) and "Hello, Dolly!" (1969).

RICHARD EDLUND, a graduate of U.S.C. Film School, has been involved in special visual effects for some of the most successful science fiction motion pictures and television shows in history, including "The Outer Limits," "Twilight Zone" and "Star Trek" for television, and such hit films as "The China Syndrome," "Poltergeist," "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the latter three of which garnered Academy Awards for Edlund. Most recently, Edlund was co-supervisor of special effects for the third in the "Star Wars" trilogy, "Return of the Jedi."

Costumer THEONI V. ALDREDGE has designed for several films, from the visually rich "The Great Gatsby" (for which she won the Oscar for best costume -design in 1974) to "Harry and Walter Go to New York," "The Cheap Detective," "Network," "The Champ," "The Rose" and "Semi-Tough."

Columbia Pictures presents an Ivan Reitman Film, ''Ghostbusters," starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver and Harold Ramis, produced aced directed by Ivan Reitman from a screenplay by Dan Aykroyd aid Harold Ramis.

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