"Ontario, Calif., Airport Serves as Backdrop for Hollywood Movie Scenes"

Monday, April 1, 2002

Ontario, Calif., Airport Serves as Backdrop for Hollywood Movie Scenes
Business Press, Ontario, CA


For five days between March 22-27, pastel-colored spring fashions and
1960s bouffant and Brylcreem hairstyles combined with the magic of
Hollywood to transform a retired section of Ontario International
Airport into a bustling retro image of the Miami International Airport.

Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg was shooting exterior
crowd scenes for a major new Hollywood motion picture.

"Rolling!" yelled a series of assistant directors.

The call, "Background!" set 400 extras in motion, simulating a busy
airport scene set in the mid-1960s, while the sounds of Frank Sinatra's
"Come Fly With Me" played over loudspeakers.

Located adjacent to the remote north parking lot, the former main
terminal of the carefully disguised Ontario International Airport was
recently featured in several scenes of the new DreamWorks SKG feature,
"Catch Me If You Can," set between 1964 and 1966.

The cast and crew at Ontario spent hours of standing around waiting for
four or five takes of carefully choreographed chaos. Interior crowd
scenes shot March 25 required only 225 extras.

"This is the biggest [film project] we've had here in the 13 years I've
been here," said ONT Chief of Operations Kim Ellis.

Spielberg sat behind the Panavision camera, American and Florida flags
snapping in the breeze. Along the curb a string of early 1960s-era
Checker cabs disgorged bit players in period costume. Beyond the
camera's view a row of 15 white semi-tractor trailers and heavy
truck-based cranes with double banks of high-intensity Bebee lights
illuminated the scene.

"We enjoy the hustle and bustle," said airport spokeswoman Maria Fermin.
Airport administration offices are housed in the old terminal building.

"Catch Me If You Can" is based on the story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a con
artist and bank robber, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who became the
youngest man to make the FBI's Most Wanted list; his nemesis in this
cat-and- mouse tale is FBI agent Carl Hanratty, portrayed by Academy
Award winner Tom Hanks. Both stars were involved in all the shooting at
ONT.

Mike Fantasia, locations manager for DreamWorks SKG, first became
acquainted with the Ontario airport three years ago, filming portions of
the Johnny Depp-Penelope Cruz film, "Blow," there.

The airport provided security, electrical and maintenance staff. Filming
did not disrupt normal airport operations.

"If every day of filming was as easy as it is in Ontario, I wouldn't
have all this gray hair," Fantasia laughed.

The crew scouted the airport eight to 10 times, bringing set designers
and art directors.

The four days of local shooting was bookended by six days of preparation
and three days for cleanup. Filming wrapped up March 27. Spielberg and
his crew left March 28.

The production company's expenditures "easily translate into hundreds of
thousands of dollars every day," Fantasia said, however, little of the
spending occurred locally; almost all of the extras, classic cars,
equipment and catering were brought in from Hollywood.

Most of the crew of 125 stayed in local hotels, but about 30 commuted
from their Los Angeles-area homes. The high-profile stars shuttled back
and forth from Santa Monica and their Malibu homes by helicopter,
landing at the Mercury Air Center VIP reception area on the airport's
south side.

Even Ontario airport profited little from the elaborate transformation.
Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn wants the Los Angeles World Airports,
including Ontario, to be accessible to the motion picture industry.

Because the airport falls under city of Los Angeles jurisdiction, the
production required little assistance from Sheri Davis, director of the
Inland Empire Film Commission.

The crew looked at several Inland Empire airports, Davis said. She
joined with the production staff in urging Hahn's office to ease access
to areas adjacent to the old terminal building despite airport security
restrictions.

A high-profile film like "Catch Me If You Can," set for release in late
November, could boost Ontario's reputation in the film community, Davis
and Ellis agreed.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID8

*****************************************