While American audiences revisited Thor last weekend, a group of Ohio University students got to see another Avenger before anyone else.
Allie Levin, a senior studying film, along with junior Lindsay Hatcher and 2013 OU graduates in the media arts & sciences school Joe Battaglia, Mike Rhoa, Alex Bolinger and Willem Holzer, spent their summers alongside the patriotic Avenger himself, Captain America, as they worked as production assistants on the Cleveland shoot of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
The job of a production assistant can encompass many odd jobs, depending on whether someone works as an assistant for a specific person on set — an actor, for instance — or a level of production, such as transportation.
Levin served as a production assistant for Sebastian Stan, who plays the titular villain, the Winter Soldier, in the film. Levin got the job by submitting her résumé to a general crew call that was announced through the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. After getting a good recommendation from Ivan Schwarz, executive director for the film commission, she got a call asking if she would like to work as a production assistant.
“Working with talent will never be my first choice for a position on set,” Levin said. “But Sebastian Stan was an absolute pleasure to work for. He was so down to earth. … We spent most of our time joking around with Chris Evans (Captain America), Anthony Mackie (The Falcon), and the hair, makeup and wardrobe people.”
Overall, in their different positions, each student took away a different experience. Levin said hers was extremely rewarding.
“The experience was way more exciting than nerve-wracking,” Levin said. “The wrap party was the same day as my 21st birthday. There’s nothing more exciting than dancing with Anthony Mackie to the theme song of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and later running into one of the directors, Joe Russo, at the solstice party for the Cleveland Museum of Art and having him give me all his drink tickets.”
However, some students—such as Hatcher, who worked as a production assistant for the transportation department—found the experience fun, but a little tiring as well.
“I look back on my experience as very rewarding, but at times exhausting,” Hatcher said. “Now I know what it’s like to have a real job and I’m only a junior in college.”
Battaglia was able to learn more about the industry through his position.
“Everyone starts somewhere, including the top guys in the industry,” Battaglia said. “The people coordinating the car crashes, stunts and pyrotechnics all started on low-budget films where they had a chance to learn and observe.”
Having worked on both big and small films, Bolinger said he is able to appreciate both type of films in different ways.
“I really can’t say I like one or the other,” he said. “The smaller more independent ones are more rewarding in a personal sense … they are extremely beneficial towards your creativity and skill sets.”
Overall, however, Holzer summed up the position in a few words:
“I saw some cool things and watched the organization of an entire film put into the motion,” Holzer said. “I would say it was an amazing learning experience, but that’s it.”
wa054010@ohiou.edu
@thewillofash
This article was updated 11.17.13
