"Ghostbusters"

Production Information

New York City has a problem: paranormal .occurrences have .

beenplaguing the city in increasing numbers and the only ones

who know this are three extraordinarily bright, slightly off-beat

University parapsychologists who lose their research grant, are

forced out of academia and start their own business-- "Ghostbusters.

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

In a virtual coup, combining the consummate comic talents of our time in one film, "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 cosmic crusaders who, because of their advanced intelligence, walk that fine line between genius and lunacy--that

they are parapsychologists adds yet ;mother ingredient to this fine comic stew.

"The 'ghostbusters' and I go way back," says director Reitman.

"I first worked with Dan when I was directing television in

Toronto. The show was called 'Greed,' and Dan was the announcer. The show had so little money that Dan had to kick back half of his salary to us each week. I started working with Bill- and Harold on a stage revue I directed in New York called "The National Lampoon Show," which also starred Gilda Radner and John Belushi. Since then, of course, I've worked with Bi11 and Harold on a number of features and am pleased to finally be working with Dan again."

"The opportunity to do a comedy with Bill, Dan, Harold and Rick Moranis, who plays my weird neighbor, was part of the great appeal the film had for me," adds co-star Sigourney Weaver. Her character, Dana, calls the ghostbusters For help. "I knew the work would be loose, crazy and spontaneous. I've worked on the stage-, so-I've done a lot of improvisation, but this was a different atmosphere for film. Having come out of Second City, the guys were all very generous. There was no ego on this show. It was all very giving, which was wonderful."

"We approaches 'Ghostbusters' from the point of view of a team," says co-writer/co-star Harold Ramis. "My character, Spengler, is the brains because I tend to be rationalistic. Danny's character, Stan, is the heart because he tends to be enthusiastic and sincere, and Bill's character, Venkman, is the mouth because he really can talk. Together, we add up to a whole person."

"Ghostbusters" is: the brainchild of Dan Aykroyd. After

writing the first draft of the script himself, Aykroyd brought

in Ramis, Reitman and Murray. A card-carrying member of the

American Society for Psychical Research, Aykroyd believes that

gnosts and American humor are linked forever in film history by

groups like Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, the Bowery

Boys, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and Bob Hope. "All comedy per

formers have dealt with ghosts in some of their work," says

Aykroyd. "We're just doing the modern version of the old-time

ghost movies. The only difference is that we have a little more

theory, perhaps a little more science and a lot more technology

than our predecessors."

In June of 1983, Ivan Reitman began assembling his production cam. Production designer John De Cuir and visual effects supervisor Richard Edlund were brought in not only because of their impeccable credentials but because of their unique experience .pith large-scale productions. De Cuir has won Academy Awards ~or "The King and I," "Cleopatra'.' and "Hello, Dolly!," Edlund nor "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Return of the Jedi." The well-respected cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs joined the group, as did the talented and prolific costume designer Theoni V, Aldredge. Michael Gross and Joe Medjuck came on board as associate producers.

"Ghostbusters" presented its filmmakers with some unusual design problems--from a rooftop temple to the exotic equipment the ghostbusters would carry,. "Part of the package that Dan delivered to me with that first draft was a series of illustrations that showed some of the equipment he felt the ghostbusters

would use to apprehend the vari.aus, ghosts, what some of the

ghouls would look like and what their vehicle would look like.

Says Reitman. "Although these elements have evolved a great

deal since then, the original ideas were Dan's. There's none

of that 'Star Trek' gloss to the equipment. It may look crude and dirty,

but it looks like it works."

"Dan had a friend of his make the proton pack (the back pack)," elaborates Harold Ramis. "The first one was made out

of styrofoam and old radio parts. He bought a jumpsuit, put all the stuff on in his house and videotaped himself trapping a ghost. When Dan turned all the stuff over to the special affects department, I think everyone was surprised. The designs are amazing. We wear very sophisticated backpacks, and we carry neutrona wands that throw a particle stream. We drive the first functional Ectomobile in the world, 'Ecto 1.' It's a very elegant 1959 Cadillac ambulance outfitted with a variety of electronic devices to allow the ghostbuszers to locate any large psychokinetic disturbance, remove the ectoplasmic material and then store it before returning to the ectobase. I might add that Dan loved driving it around New York with the sirens going."

Production began in October of 1983 in New York City. For its month-long stay, "Ghostbusters" utilized locations that included the New York Public Library, City Hall, Columbia University, Tavern on the Green, Central Park West, Columbus Circle and the old New York Police Department lock-up, among ethers.

Shooting on Central Park West, the location for Dana and

Louis' ghost-infested apartment building, was not only a complicated proposition for the filmmakers but for the city of New York

as well. "At times we had tour or five hundred extras working," says associate producer Joe Medjuck. "As if blocking the traffic on Central Park West wasn't bad enough, we also ended up blocking the crosstown traffic coming through Central Park. At one time, think we had the whole upper-third of Manhattan in gridlock. the police department and the film commission gave us all the necessary permits, but they also put restrictions on us--the biggest of which was that we could only work until midnight. however, because we were under the gun, a kind of excitement drew, and I think you can see it in the footage we have of those huge crowd scenes."

"Ivan had good preparation for those scenes--particularly for the physical side of it," adds Ramis. "When we were doing 'Stripes' you could see how Ivan loved to call out the tanks when we were shooting at Fort Knox. He had 700 soldiers, as many tanks as he needed, heavy artillery, mortars. He was like a kid in a toy store."

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, John De Cuir's crew was

nearing completion of the temple set at The Burbank Studios.

Standing over 60 feet tall, the set covered an entire sound

stage and cost over $1 million to build. It was surrounded by

a backlit, 360-degree panorama of New York City. "The top of the

Central Park West building is probably one of the most complicated

sets we've ever built," comments production designer John De Cuir.

"We've had some like 'Cleopatra' where we built cities and barges

all over the world, and we've had 'The Agonv and the Ecstasy'

where we had to construct the Sistene Chapel. But with this one,

Ivan's played it against the great tapestry of New York -- the real New York--so, of course, we had to live up to it in Hollywood on the studio sets."

Despite blowing up streets and having close to 500 extras, cast and crew members running around, we got out o£ New York two and a half days ahead of schedule," remembers associate producer Michael Gross. "Then we went right on to Stage 16 in Burbank, where the big set was, and it immediately ground us to a halt. We figured it would be simple to shoot because we were on the safety of a set, but the set was so big! It required so much light that Laszlo Kovacs had to use 14 of the existing 16 largest spotlights ever built in Hollywood. The whole studio has the capacity to supply 80,000 amps, and we needed 50,000. They actually had to shut down other stages when we shot. Stage 16 was surrounded by huge generators; we had 12 separate vehicles generating power whenever we turned on the lights."

The interior of Dana's apartment and a partial hotel set were built on a second sound stage. Additional Los Angeles shooting was done at a downtown firehouse, MacArthur Park, the Biltmore Hotel and The Burbank Studios' ranch, where a two-story facade of Dana's Central Park West apartment building was re-created.

All the while, Richard Edlund and his staff at Entertainment Effects Group (in conjunction with Boss Film Corporation) had been creating the 200 special effects shots required for "Ghostbusters.' Working at their shop in Marina del Rey and on the sound stages at The Burbank Studios, they created creatures and ghosts with stopmotion, rotoscoping and cell animation. Using miniatures, they

re-created the Central Park West apartment building and brought to life the various fates that befall it. By injecting dyes and pigment into the water of a cloud tank, they were able to generate rolling skies and assorted atmospheric conditions. In addition,

'terror dogs" (stone manifestations of ancient apparitions) were

created in various sizes, each with different capabilities. Back

at the studio, the sets had to be built six feet off the stage

floor so that puppeteers and technicians could get underneath

the animals to operate them. These large dogs required people

inside them, while ethers required 10 people to operate all the

mechanisms.

"Quite apart from the visual effects," explains director

Reitman, "there are the mechanical effects, under Chuck Gasper's

direction. The audience will think a lot of what they are seeing

in the movie is visual effects, but much of it will have occurred

live on camera. Whenever possible, I try to do the effects right

on camera. This gives the actors the opportunity to respond to

something immediate and real."

After 15 weeks of shooting, "Ghostbusters" wrapped in

February. "We had dearly 200 special effects shots that had

to be put into the film," says Joe Medjuck. "And the majority

of the work could only be done after we finished shooting. 'that's

when the hard work really began."

The music for "Ghostbusters" is being supplied by some of the hottest acts in music today. In addition to the score by Elmer Bernstein and the title song by Ray Parker Jr., there is original music from Laura Branigan, the Thompson Twins, Air Supply,

the Alessi Brothers, the Bus' Boys and Mick Smiley. There is also a music video, directed by Ivan Reitman and featuring Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, with Ray Parker Jr, performing the "Ghostbusters" title song. The soundtrack album is available on Arista Records.

Columbia pictures presents an Ivan Reitman Film, "Ghostbusters," starting Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis, 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 soon-to-be-released "The Razor's Edge," Murray is right at home with his co-stars and director, alumni of "Saturday Night Live," "The National Lampoon Show" and/or SCTV in varied combinations.

Murray was born in Evanston, Illinois, and raised in nearby

Wilmette. He won a scholarship to Chicago's Second City Worshop .and latex 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,

Giida Radner and brother Brian Doyle-Murray. Following a stint on

"Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell," 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's re-teaming with Reitman and Ramis in Columbia's "Stripes" was enormously successful and firmly established Murray as one of America's finest comic actors. More recently, he starred as Dustin Hoffman's roommate in "Tootsie" and as Larry Darrell in "The Razor's Edge," a film which he co-wrote with its director John Byrum.

DAN AYKROYD, one of the original 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, in "Trading Places," in which he played an arrogant, wealthy snob stripped of his riches.

Born and raised in Canada, Aykroyd was a rather 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 Michael and cast as an actor and writer for five seasons of "SNL." Aykcoyd'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."

More recently, Aykroyd starred in "Dr. Detroit," appeared in "Twilight Zone--The Movie" and starred with Eddie Murphy in "Trading Places." Together with Harold Ramis, Aykroyd co-wrote the screenplay for "Ghostbusters."

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, a minor character in F. Scott Fitzgerald's

"The Great Gatsby." She attended the Brearley, Chapin and Ether

Walker schools before going to Stanford University, where she

studied English literature. Upon graduation, she enrolled in the

Yale University School of Drama, from which she received an M.F.A.

Her first professional job was as understudy in Sir John Gielgud's

production of "The Constant Wife" starring Ingrid Bergman. She

subsequently appeared in 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."

Miss Weaver next starred with Chevy Chase and Gregory Hines in

"Deal of the Century." Most recently, she co-starred with

Harvey Keitel, William Hurt and Christopher Walken in "Hurly

Burly," a play directed by Mike Nichols at the Goodman Theatre

in Chicago.'

For HAROLD RAMIS, 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 with "Meatballs" and "Stripes," and performed with "Saturday Night Live" 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 that included Chevy Chase in "National Lampoon's Vacation," one of 1983's summer hits.

Although Ramis is better known as a writer and director (having co-written "Animal House," "Meatballs" and "Caddyshack" and 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 revue, "The National Lampoon Show," produced by Ivan Reitman, in which Ramis was a featured player with newcomers Bill Murray, John Belushi, Brian Doyle-Murray and Gilda Radner.

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

Emmy Award-winner RICK MORANIS is Louis in "Ghostbusters." In less than two years, Moranis, who joined "SCTV" in 1980, 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 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 (CBC) 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 on CBC on "The Alan Hamel Show" and "90 Minutes Live."

Moranis joined Second City Television Company in 1980, during which time he co-created the McKenzie Brothers and earned acclaim for his portrayals of such personalities as Woody Allen, Dick Cavett and Merv Griffin. "SCTV" went network on NBC 1981 and Moranis earned Emmys for comedy writing in 1982 and 1983 for his contributions to the show.

Moranis' more recent work includes "Streets of Eire" for director Walter Hill, as well as the upcoming "The Breakfast Club" and "The Wild Life."

Kentucky-born ANNIE POTTS is Janine in "Ghostbusters." She attended Stephens College in Missouri, where she majored in drama. After graudation, she performed in summer stock, did Shakespeare and landed 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, Phew Mexico, where she

lived with her husband. Moving to California, where she attended 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 appeared in

the CBS movies "Flatbed Annie & Sweetiepie" and "Cowboy" with

James Brolin and Ted Danson, and in the ABC comedy series "Goodtime

Girls" with Lorna Patterson. Miss Potts' film credits include

"Corvette Summer," "King of the Gypsies" and "Heartaches." More

recently, she co-starred with Burt Reynolds in the soon-to-he

released "Stick," as well as an upcoming telefilm with Mickey

Rooney, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." She will soon begin a

new film for director Ken Russell, "Crimes of Passion."

WILLIAM ATHERTON, who plays Peck in "Ghostbusters," has starred in a rich and varied group of motion pictures, plays and television productions. He has starred in Steven Spielberg's "The Sugarland Express" opposite Goldie Hawn, John Schlesinger's "The Day of the Locust," Robert Wise's "The Hindenburg" and in Richard Brooks' "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." On television, he has starred in the mini-series "Centennial," Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" opposite Geraldine Chaplin for PBS, NBC's "Tomorrow's

Child" and ABC's "Malibu."

Atherton received the Drama Desk Award, Outer Circle Critics Award, two Obie nominations and the Theatre World Award for creating the title role in Joseph Papp's original production of David Rabe's prize-winning play, "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel," David Wilste's "Suggs in the City," the original Ronnie in John Guare's

award-winning "The House of Blue Leaves" and his Broadway debut

in "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window." His numerous credits also include, among others, Steven Tesich' s "The Passing Game," John Guare's "Rich and Famous" and the Kennedy Center's~

highly acclaimed bicentennial production of "The Scarecrow."

ERNIE HUDSON portrays 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" with John Travolta. For television, Hudson has made recent appearances in the series "The A-Team" and "Webster," and has done several television films, including the miniseries "Roots II," "White Mama," "King" and "The Women of San Quentin."

About the Filmmakers...

Producer/director IVAN REITIMAN continues to shape America's

perception of contemporary comedy. From the groundbreaking off-.

Broadway "National Lampoon Show" to the influential blockbuster

"Animal House," from the hilarious "Meatballs" to the international success of "Stripes," Reitman's films have become a kind

of standard by which movie comedy is measured.

A native Czech whose family filed 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 New Cinema of Canada, anon-theatrical film distribution company which is still active.

Reitman produced a live television variety show, "Greed," and the announcer was a young comedian, pan 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 led to the development of "National Lampoon's Animal House," which Reitman produced. Released in 1978, 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," which he produced.

In early 1983, Reitman returned to the Broadway stage, earning a Tony nomination for directing the hit musical magic show, "Merlin," which he also produced, starring Doug Henning.

JOHN DE CUIR, production designer for "Ghostbusters," is one of the tops in his field, with credits including such memorable films as "Daddy Long Legs," "South Pacific," "Cleopatra," "The Agony and the Ecstasy," "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," "The Great White Hope," "Hello, Dolly!," "Once Is Not Enough," "That's Entertainment," "The Other Side of Midnight," and, more recently, "Raise the Titanic," "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" and "Monsignor." De Cuir has received 11 Academy Award nominations and has won three Oscars for art direction of "The King and I" (1956), "Cleopatra" (1963) and "Hello, Dolly!" (1969).

A graduate of U.S.C. Film School, RICHARD EDLUND 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 hits as "The China Syndrome," "Poltergeist," "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Return of the Jedi," the last four of which garnered Academy Awards for Edlund.

Director of photography LASZLO KOVACS has a most impressive list of film credits, including "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces,"

"What's Up Doc?," "Paper Moon," "New York, New York," "Paradise Alley," -"Butch and Sundance: The Early Days," "Heart Beat," "Inside Moves," "The Legend of the Lone Ranger," "Frances" and "Crackers."

Costume designer THEONI W. ALDREDGE has created the costumes for films from the visually rich "The Great Gatsby" (for which she won the Oscar far best costume design in 1974) to "Harry and Walter Go To New York," "The Cheap Detective," "Network," "The Champ," "The Rose" and "Semi-Tough." On Broadway, her designs can currently be seen in "La Cage Aux Folles," "Dreamgirls" and "42nd Street."

SHELDON F. KAHN has edited such films as "The Electric Horseman," "Same Time, Next Year," "Bloodbrothers," "An Enemy

of the People" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," for which

he was nominated for an Academy Award.

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