R.I.P. Ivan Reitman

Sadly, filmmaker Ivan Reitman died over the weekend.  He was, of course, most famous for directing GHOSTBUSTERS, which was a seminal film for those in my generation (and one of the first films I ever saw twice in theaters, it played so long).  He's also known for STRIPES, TWINS, MEATBALLS, KINDERGARTEN COP, and DAVE.

I met the man back in 2000 when I worked a few days on his film EVOLUTION.  I played a student, a soldier, a partygoer, and an ice cream shop employee, and had a good time working on it.*  I'll always remember the seventeen-and-a-half hour day I spent on it, the longest one of my experience, and the shouts of joy from the Union members when they reached the sixteenth hour and "Golden Time" began.

It's sad how badly this photo turned out.  Ah well, better luck next life.

Reitman recently produced GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, which was directed by his son Jason (and I just read today that Ivan himself played ghostly Egon Spengler in the film's finale, and that's pretty great way to go out.

Reitman died on February 12, in his sleep.  He was seventy-five.  I read the Deadline obituary, and there was no mention of EVOLUTION.  Hmmm, guess they liked it as much as I did.

*I did learn, for the first time, not to overexert myself on a film shoot, as I leapt out of a truck in my National Guard uniform and ran past the camera, then had to do it over and over again for additional takes, making me wish I had taken it easy like the dudes around me.