When Steven Spielberg walked onto the lawn, these kids perked up.
They watched as he moved his arms around, directing the hundreds of extras, camera people and production assistants on Yale’s Old Campus. Renee Noyan (pictured at left with Chante’ Lewis and Sabir Abdussabur) said it looked like a lot of work.
Noyan and the other youths gathered Saturday are learning video production. They were invited by Barbara Lamb, the city’s director of Cultural Affairs, to visit the Indiana Jones set and see how the film industry works.
Two groups brought youth to the set—Youth Rights Media and Gateway to National Prominence, an “urban arts initiative for youth” formed by Officer Shafiq Adbussabur, director of CTRIBAT, and Chip Croft of Sea TV (pictured, left to right).
“We’re seeing a proliferation of youth media stuff in New Haven,” said Laura McCargar, Executive Director of Youth Rights Media. “And we decided we should try to pull some of the groups together and work together.”
McCargar said Lamb reached out to her because she wanted to get city kids involved in video to be a part of the big movie production in town. McCargar said the Indiana Jones movie set was a great way to begin to merge the various youth media groups.
New Haven Location Manager David Martin, pictured, led the group under the yellow “do not cross” tape line and into the completely closed-off set.
Inside Old campus a vintage car was set up with lights and camera equipment strapped to the hood. The actors were dressed in clothing from 1957. Production people roamed the classic Yale campus with walkie-talkies and head sets. And unfortunately the no photography rule was strictly enforced.
Lamb brought the location manager for the movie, Mike Fantasia, to speak with the kids. He told them about what a locations scout does and why they chose Yale.
“We looked at 15 different college campuses, but we chose Yale,” he said. He also added that Spielberg had received an honorary degree from Yale.
Toward the end of the afternoon someone else arrived. Harrison Ford, with a mop of gray hair and the garb of an intellectual professor, strolled across the campus. He wasn’t dressed like Indiana Jones, but everyone knew it was him.
