Mount Pleasant native making movie in NYC
A 27-year-old Mount Pleasant native is living his dream in New York City of working on a major motion picture. Colby Shrefler serves as a location assistant working on “The Good Shepherd” currently filming in New York City, and the Robert DeNiro film, written by Eric Roth, has an outstanding cast and crew, according to Shrefler.
“Matt Damon, DeNiro, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, Alec Baldwin and William Hurt are just a few of the many fine actors staring in the turbulent early history of one of the most covert and powerful government agencies in the world,” said Shrefler.
Shrefler said the plot of the movie revolves around James Wilson (Matt Damon) who understands the value of secrecy, discretion and commitment to honor, which have been embedded in his soul since childhood, when he was the sole witness to his father’s suicide.
Shrefler explained as an eager, optimistic student at Yale, Wilson is recruited to join the sacrosanct Skull and Bones fraternity, a brotherhood and breeding ground for future world leaders.
“Wilson’s acute mind, spotless reputation and sincere belief in the American way of life make him a prime candidate for a career in intelligence and he is soon recruited to work for the CIA during its World War II infancy,” said Shrefler.
While working within the heart of the organization, Wilson’s idealism is soon replaced by a growing suspicious nature dealing with the long paranoia of the Cold War. Wilson develops into one of the agency’s veteran operative while his work comes at an ever-increasing price and eventually forces him to sacrifice everything in pursuit of his job.
In the end, the job not only costs Wilson his innocence but his family as well.
Shrefler said basically he is a liaison between the film and the location that is used for filming.
“We are shooting around New York City right now, but in actuality we are shooting all over the world,” said Shrefler. “Filming began in August and we expect to wrap it up sometime in January.”
Shrefler said the film is expected to be released sometime in December 2006 because that is when Oscar-contender films are normally released. He additionally said that Universal Pictures and DeNiro are hoping that the thriller film will fall into that category.
Shrefler said the movie itself is a period piece, so when they are on location they have to make the storefronts and towns look like the 1940s and 1950s.
“We work very long hours, anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a day, to make the location look real,” said Shrefler. “We bring in old cars and make the front and the inside of the buildings look like the era we are working in.”
Shrefler said he was always interested in film when he was growing up in Mount Pleasant. However, he enrolled in journalism at the University of Pittsburgh when he decided to take some film classes at the Pittsburgh Film Makers.
“That’s when I got my first break,” said Shrefler “working on the ‘The Mothman Prophecies’ when parts of the movie were being filmed in Pittsburgh.”
Shrefler said when Derek Manganelli, a close friend of his from Mount Pleasant Area Senior High School, kind of went the same route as he did he decided to move to New York, too.
“That’s when Derek got me the job on ‘The Good Shepherd,'” said Shrefler. “In fact we are both working on the film.”
Shrefler said he loves living in New York and the work is very rewarding.
“It’s nice to have something that I can see at the end of a project,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of long hours, but, in the end, I know that I was a part of something good and I get my name on the credits.”
Shrefler said another point of interest in his job is the special effects involved in a thriller movie. He has seen people jump off buildings and has had to deal with a lot of paparazzi issues.
Shrefler said although he hasn’t had extended conversations with the actors he has had short conversations.
“They are there to do a job the same as me,” said Shrefler. “We don’t just sit around and talk on a daily basis, but we do speak and, so far, all of the actors have been really nice. I have probably talked with Robert DeNiro more than anyone because he’s the director.”
Shrefler said DeNiro is a really a laid-back guy who is kind of quiet but pleasant.
Shrefler said the movie bug bit him when he was 12 years old and served as an extra in a horror movie produced by master of horror director George Romero called “Two Evil Eyes.”
Shrefler said he got the part through the Pittsburgh Playhouse where he was taking acting lessons at the time.
Shrefler, who lives in Queens, said, although he sometimes misses home, he is pleased with the direction his life has taken.
“Most of my friends up here are all from the Pittsburgh area, so that made the transition easier,” he said. “I miss my folks, but they know that I am doing something that I always wanted to do.
Shrefler is the son of Gary Shrefler of Pittsburgh and Rebecka and Dr. John Halfhill of Scottdale. Dr. Halfhill is Southmoreland Area School District superintendent of schools.