Victoria E. Freile

Staff writer

Dozens of area residents who worked as Spider-Man extras will attend a local premiere Thursday night

Columbia Pictures brought a 200-person crew to shoot downtown for 10 days last spring

Many of the action scenes were shot along Main Street%2C which was transformed to look like NYC

As dozens of police cars screeched to a halt on Rochester's Main Street last spring, Mario Arena of Pittsford had more than a front-row seat.

The retired financial services manager was part of the action as one of more than 100 extras in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

And Arena said he's hoping to see himself pointing toward the sky on the big screen as Spider-Man swoops in to save the day.

"I'm looking forward to seeing if I made the final cut," he said. "It was a once in a lifetime deal when you get a movie made in Rochester."

Take after take, day after day, a high-speed chase, a gunfight and other action scenes for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 slowly came together on Rochester's main thoroughfare.

And although other movies have been filmed here since, none have come close to the scope or economic impact of the Spider-Man shoot. Empire State Development's film office estimated that Columbia Pictures and its crews spent more than $1 million in the city.

Yet for many Rochesterians, what's exciting is perhaps spotting Rochester landmarks in the film. For months, we've seen movie trailers and squinted through the fast-moving action to see which downtown buildings made the cut.

On Thursday night, we'll be able to see the final product when Spider-Man opens at theaters locally and around the country.

Dozens of area residents who worked as Spider-Man extras will be heading to AMC Loews Webster for a local premiere. The theater's general manager, Kevin Deutsch, has set aside the building's two largest auditoriums so extras and their families can sit together and watch the movie at 7 p.m., the earliest showing permitted by movie distributors.

"With part of the movie being filmed here, it's going to do well," Deutsch said. "It's an exciting thing. Hearing the buzz and seeing the excitement on their faces — we can't wait for it."

Columbia Pictures brought a 200-person crew to shoot downtown for 10 days last spring. Filmmakers also hired 250 local crew members and 150 local extras, according to the film office. Most extras were positioned along Main Street throughout the shoot and asked to react, as one would, upon seeing a truck barreling down the road, a 25-car police chase or gunfire erupt from the rear of an armored car.

A few extras, like Arena and Patrick Alletto, 45, of Gates, were pulled aside for special assignments, such as pointing to the sky during a burst of gunshots.

"We were just steps away from fake gunfire. It was unbelievable," said Alletto, a former FedEx driver who now owns and oversees several local routes. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Many hours of filming grew long and at times were tedious, but PJ Ryan, 68, of Henrietta said he didn't mind. "I'd chat with other extras or read on my Nook."

Besides, he was excited to simply be on the closed set and watch the professionals work.

"There was actually a lot of standing around, a lot of build up for not-that-long sequences," said local lawyer Avik Ganguly, who served as an extra most days of the shoot. "It was interesting to see how tedious the process is and to see what goes into making an action scene."

Ganguly, 37, of Greece said he regularly tried to position himself as close to the action as possible. And the big crash scene filmed at State and Main — Ganguly was the closest extra, who wasn't a paid stuntman.

"I'm hoping you can see my face flash by," he said, noting that he enjoyed the experience but certainly won't be leaving his law career behind. "It was a unique experience I never would have guess I'd have. A great break to the routine of life."

Ryan said, like many extras, his car also had a paid role in the film. He earned an extra $35 per day to park in an ever-changing designated spot so the roads would appear to be full on camera.

"I thought it was great to park in downtown Rochester each day and get paid instead of putting money in a meter," Ryan said.

A former priest of 34 years, Ryan is the executive director of a senior living community in Henrietta, but has lately dabbled in acting. Since Spider-Man, he's among the extras who have continued to seek out acting jobs. Ryan had roles in several more movies, including Like The Spider by local filmmaker Randy Huckabone. And, he said, he should know this week if he landed a role in a TV sitcom.

Aidan Baker, 37, lived in Gates when he worked as an extra nearly every day of the Rochester shoot. Within a month, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career and has completed several paid acting jobs, including a mid-April role in a skit on Comedy Central's The Daily Show. The film, he said, paved the way for Baker to get his Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists card, which he says "opens up doors" and takes many actors years to obtain.

Baker said he plans to see the movie and will look for Rochester — and himself — in the action-packed footage.

"It was one of the most incredible things I've done," Baker said of the Spider-Man shoot. "Seeing everything that goes into a production like that was mind-blowing."

During one chase sequence, Arena, the retired financial manager, said he watched a speeding police car clip a parked car and send its taillight spinning into the street.

"I ran after it and heard someone yell, 'Mario, get out of the street,' " he laughed. "It was exciting every single day."

Arena said he expected Spider-Man to be his one and only movie and is hoping he made the final cut.

"But getting back together with the other extras, as we had a great camaraderie, will be something special," he said.

VFREILE@DemocratandChronicle.com

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