If you make the effort, you will get noticed.
That’s exactly what happened for the Calgary Ghostbusters who showed up over the August long weekend in Crossfield, Alta., one of the shooting locations of the new Ghostbusters movie.
The friendly group of super fans were itching to meet one of their idols, none other than Dan Aykroyd -- and thanks to a blend of passion and persistence, it paid off in a photo op to last a lifetime for each of them.
It all started with a visit from the director, which was almost as good as getting to meet Akroyd, said Calgary Ghostbusters member Jessica Smith.
“Jason Reitman, the director of the movie, came over and posed with some pictures of us, which was awesome," Smith said.
"That made our day, (and) that's all we thought was really going to happen."
But the group, donned in full Ghostbusters attire, left an impression on the one cast member they were angling to meet.
“Out of the blue, Dan Aykroyd comes over and was good enough to take a very quick photo with us,” said Smith, who added that their costumes may have been the deciding factor in making the dream become a reality.
“He was very admanant on just getting the people in the Ghostbusters gear in the photo," she said.
Aykroyd’s character in the 1984 movie was Ray Stantz, a paranormal activity expert.
Smith believes having a motion picture the size of the Ghostbusters franchise filming in Alberta benefits everyone in the province, both financially and emotionally.
“The whole town of Crossfield was crazy when we went there," she said.
“It's created some new fans, because there was a lot of people that maybe weren’t so into Ghostbusters and with this big hype of it being here, it brought in some new people who are like ‘hey thats pretty cool, maybe it's something I can get into’," Smith said.
The Calgary Ghostbusters are a charitable group of more than 20 members that raise money for the Alberta Children’s Hospital and various animal shelters.
“We all bring our unique spins to how we want do our cosplay,” said Smith. “I guess we are a little more of a unique and creative group than most.”
By the end of the day, the Calgary Ghostbusters were drawing crowds of their own.
“We had a lot of fans come over, approach us, (to) get pictures,” said Smith.
The movie has already shot scenes in Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood, as well as in the communities of Fort Macleod and Beiseker.
Cast and crew will be in the Calgary area until October.
The third instalment of Ghostbusters will be released in July, 2020.
